How to jazz up your room on a student budget
Jordan, Senior Property Advisor, provides students with a few ideas to help add some character, ambience and practical solutions to their student accommodation...
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes.
So, you’re looking around your student room and wondering what you can do to jazz up the decoration and make it feel a little more homely. Your tenancy agreement likely restricts you from doing many changes, so putting up feature wall paper, re-painting the alcove in a bold new colour or removing the carpet to reveal rustic wooden floorboards are probably out of the question. Not to mention many changes cost money and the last thing you want to do is dip deep into your student budget, even for the changes or additions that you’re permitted to make to yours.
You’ll be living in this space for the foreseeable so you’ll want to be comfortable and happy with where you are. Especially considering university years are some of the most important years of your life.
Below you’ll find some tips to help add character and practical solutions to your student abode without breaking the bank. So, let’s get stuck in…
Change your bedding
It may sound boring, but the bedding that you choose can have a profound effect on your bedroom. The bed is probably the largest piece of furniture in your private student room so choosing bedding that fits in with the style of the room is key to blending it all together. You won’t only be sleeping on your bed, but you’ll likely be hanging out on it a lot too, watching movies on the laptop, and stressing over assignments. You can add throws or blankets as well to add to that homely feel - quite helpful once winter sets in as well!
Get some green plants
Buying fresh flowers for your room every week would prove costly, so instead consider some house plants. They are a fantastic way to add a relaxing atmosphere to your room, are low maintenance, and last a long time. In fact, you could even consider plastic plants - some are super realistic - but you can judge that based on whether you’ll be around enough to keep living plants alive with enough water and sunlight. Things like fake cacti can add a pop of colour and interest to your room, and if you wanted to try some realistic looking fake flowers you could get creative with the vases you present them in.
Read: Finding student accommodation in Cardiff
Drape some fairy lights
To bring some chilled ambience to your homely student spot you need to take a good look at the lighting set up. The main light will probably be too bright and harsh for you to want to have on unless you’re studying, so you’ll need solutions to help you wind down during your off-time. Lamps are one solution, but fairy lights are quite the rage right now. They offer soft mood lighting, can be draped anywhere, and are inexpensive. If you wanted to knock nails into the walls to have them hanging, you’d have to get the nod of approval from your landlord, so maybe you want to look at easier options such as placing them around your headboard.
Utilise some storage baskets
Most students have plenty of stuff, and if you don’t have a lot of stuff to begin with, you’ll no doubt find that you gather more and more things as the university year progresses. Finding where to put everything is the problem. Unless you’re in a student house that’s blessed with space and storage rooms, you’ll have to get creative. Most student rooms don’t offer a whole lot of storage - the wardrobe is often quite small or average at best, and you may not have the free space to be adding drawers and extra wardrobes. This is where storage boxes can be useful and they come in all shapes, sizes and designs. Some you can fit under your bed to store away shoes and the like, while others can be neatly stacked wherever space allows.
Read: A tidy student room for improved productivity
Lay down some rugs
We mentioned that you won’t be able to go ripping up carpets or laying them down, but one great alternative is rugs. If there are marks that you can’t wash away, you aren’t too keen on the existing carpet, have floorboards that get cold, or simply want to add some personality to your room - get yourself down to a rug store. They do come in a wide range of sizes, designs, and of course… prices, so you may want to shop around to get something that keeps within your budget (Ikea, anyone?).
Smell the diffusers
You’re spending a lot of time in that room, so things could get a little stale. Airing the space by opening the windows will help, but may not be ideal for long periods of time when the cold sets in. So, what’s the solution? The scent of diffusers and room sprays! It’ll certainly make your student room far more welcoming and a much nicer place for you to spend long periods of time in. They are also much safer than candles but still come in the same wide range of scents, so you can change things up depending on your mood or the season.
We hope some of these tips can help you bring some personality and comfort to your student room. You may plan to spend just a year or two in the space, but you’ll still be spending a whole lot of time between those four walls, so it’s great being able to make it your own in as many ways as possible.
Here at CPS Homes, our expert student lettings team are here to help you find the perfect student accommodation in Cardiff. For help and advice, be sure to check out our useful student guide, and to get the ball rolling with your move don’t hesitate to contact us. You can reach out by calling 02920 668585, e-mailing enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or by popping into one of our three Cardiff based branches.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
