Top tips on making your university room feel more like home

Wondering how to make your university room feel more like home? Undergraduate student Hilary Ho shares her favourite tips for transforming your space into a place that feels comfortable and uniquely yours. 

Living at university with an empty room can sometimes feel a little daunting, especially as an international student. However, a blank canvas also gives you the perfect opportunity to make your room your own. Here are my top tips to make your room feel more homely and organised. 

Wall Collage

First, decorations are really important. It’s hard to change the original room layout due to space restrictions and built-in furniture. However, a lot of accommodation has pinboards or at least a piece of blank wall. You can build a collage with fairy lights which makes the room feel warmer and cosier. The collage can be made up of anything you like, whether that’s photos with your friends, family or even singers and actors that you like. These work as reminders of the people you love, no matter where they are in the world.

It can also be quotes that you like, particularly those that can encourage you during harder times. For myself, I have a combination of photos with friends and postcards from all the places I have travelled to at university. It’s like a time capsule that shows me all of my memorable experiences and all the people I love.

Built decorations

Secondly, even if you don’t feel particularly creative or don’t want to make your own decorations, you can still personalise your room by using ready-made décor. For example, paintings, figures and stuffed toys. These decorations can help you feel more relaxed after busy days at university. I personally love stuffed toys the most and have a huge collection I brought from home. They provide comfort as I can hug them, talk to them, and sleep with them. They also remind me of my bed at home, providing a sense of familiarity and security that helps me fall asleep easily. 

Organisation

Finally, keeping the room clean and organised is key. Most of the rooms in student accommodation are fairly small, and this allows more space for movement and comfort in the room. It sounds simple but make sure to fully utilize bookshelves, cupboards and wardrobes that are provided. If you’re looking to save space on bookshelves, I would advise using the large collection of e-books at the university. Alternatively, if you have space, you could use the bookshelf as a display shelf to showcase the things you love. For wardrobes, most of them are tall with lots of space to store things underneath the clothes. You can fit baskets underneath to keep organized and separate out things like accessories, bags, hats and belts.

If you have time to spare, why not try these tips out before exam hits!