Your new digs will probably resemble what you imagine a prison cell to look like, especially if you are in Old Goodricke (that’s James N Block) or Derwent- the grey concrete, drafty rooms with single glazed windows and occasional leaks and mould really make those rooms special.
Here are some simple tips, and things to remember to bring with you, to make your room homey and cosy, and look more like a nice student room than a cell.
A scarf/throw
Trawl charity and vintage shops for cheap throws/shawls/big scarves to drape over your bed. If you get a few, you can make a nest to huddle in in winter. Look for cute indian-esque beaded ones. It’ll make your room look lived-in and interesting, and pretty!
Pillows and cushions
Look in flea markets and charity shops for lots of little pillows to chuck over your bed. Decorative pillows are apparently cool, and good if you have a visitor and they forget to bring a pillow to rest their head upon. I have a fluffy leopard-print one. Classy.
Bathmat
If you have an ensuite, this looks cool outside your bathroom and stops your carpet going rotten if your shower overflows. I had a rainbow striped one!
Posters/Pictures/Letters
You’ll get a notice board and this is how you make a statement about how right-on and cool you are. I bet you’ll have one of a marijuana leaf, or Bob Marley or Che Guevara, you pretentious freak. Stick a picture of your mum up so you can see her disapproving face whenever you think about bringing a beau back to your room to do the naughty. Also in case you get homesick. Stick up pictures of your friends from home to remind you to keep in contact with them lest you become a loner over Christmas from neglecting them.
Makeshift stuff
I draped my jewelry over my shelves to make my room look glittery and pretty and cool, and lined up my books on my shelf, I brought a selection of my favourite poetry books because a) I’m pretentious b) they remind me of home c) reading them cheers me up when I’m sad. Bring something that reminds you of home, and reminds you of who you are for when you feel like a little fish in a huge pond. You can’t bring actual fish though. That’s against the rules.