Decorating A First-Time Student Room

*This is a collaborative post 

There’s a sense of real freedom when you enter your student dorms or room for the first time. For many, it’s the first time living away from home for an extended period of time. For others, it can show the start of a new beginning or a means in which to reinvent themselves. However, unless you’re tremendously lucky, this can also be the time of thorough budgeting and struggling to manage your money.

That being said, you don’t want to live in squalor or in an undecorated, unkempt space. You deserve to make any space you live in feel like home, even if you’re moving out of there in a year’s time. But here’s another secret – those decorations can also move with you. So, how can you best decorate a first-time student room? Furthermore, how can you make this special after the global pandemic caused college semesters to end abruptly and after normality has (tentatively), begun to return?

With the following advice, we hope you can consider that information carefully:

Simple, Worthwhile Additions

It’s very important to consider the simple, worthwhile additions that comprise any room. These don’t have to be expensive. For instance, a large Felix wall clock can look beautiful, stand as a decorative piece for that side of the room, and is a practical measure of marketing the time. Those are three functions in one decoration. You’ll come to see that a limited student budget isn’t always a bad thing, because it keeps your decorative overambition in check. Furthermore, they are easier to clean and organize. That’s important for a first-time home.

Markets & Online Stores

You can find a range of fantastic deals if you just shop online. Auction sites such as eBay and others can be a great help, as can Gumtree, or Freecycle or Preloved. You would be astonished at the items people are willing to sell for cheap or give away. If someone has a second-hand leather sofa, for instance, it might be that taking it off their hands, even for free, is more convenient for them than selling it, especially as they need the immediate space to use their new sofa. If you can find items like this, you can bring certain additions home that will help you in the long run.

Practicalities

It’s also important to consider the practicalities of your student room, and what may help you keep it tidy. Storage units are useful for helping you keep the room organized. Waste bins (or perhaps more than one), will help you prevent the trash from piling up. Investing in a mini-fridge may also help you keep snacks and refreshments away from your housemates because we all know that food can sometimes go missing in a student house. Whatever you decide to decorate with or place in your room, be sure to go for practicality over beauty, that can always come later.

With this advice, decorating your first-time student room should be easier done than said.