There are two types of student accommodation when you move to university. There are fancy accommodations where you will pay a ridiculous amount of money for them. Then you have the rundown accommodations that you will pay very little for. 

We all want to save money and go for the more affordable option with University; however, we also want it to look nice. One of the main issues with accommodation is that you can change very little of it. Nevertheless, there are plenty of things you can add and change in your student accommodation so let’s get into it! 

Improve Your Lighting

When you move into your student accommodation, there are plenty of things that you can change. However, the first thing you should change is the lighting. 

Student accommodation lighting is awful as they are usually bright white and fluorescent light bulbs. Not only are these ridiculously bright but they also give you headaches. That is why you should consider changing your lightbulbs to a much warmer colour. 

The easy go-to for student accommodation is fairy lights. You can also opt for a tall lamp in the corner of your room. Furthermore, fairy lights are easy to put up. All you need to buy are adhesive hooks on your walls and hang them up. You can hang fairy lights around your room or hang them from one corner to the other and dangle them down.  

There are plenty of ways to change the lighting in your room so make sure you look at the different options to see what suits your room. 

Go Crazy With Greenery

Another great way to add more life to your student accommodation is by buying plants. These can be artificial plants, succulent plants, or plants you tend to every few days. 

There is no reason why you shouldn’t buy a plant for your bedroom. They are very affordable and give your room a bit more colour. As mentioned before, you can choose to buy artificial plants if you don’t think you can look after a real plant. Adding greenery to your student accommodation will not only make it look better but also smell better. 

Rearrange The Furniture 

The furniture isn’t great with student accommodation. However, this isn’t something that you can change easily. Firstly, furniture is expensive. It isn’t something you won’t be able to go out and purchase with your student loan. Furthermore, you won’t be able to replace the furniture because the accommodation owns it. 

Although you cannot replace the furniture, you can rearrange it in your room. Try to get creative with the space you have and optimise the area that you have. Additionally, you could create room for a bean bag or even buy a rug to add more colour to the room. 

Give Your Room A Better Small

Another thing which we advise you to do is to make sure your accommodation smells nice. It can be difficult with alcohol spilt everywhere and people not doing their dishes. Nevertheless, you can still make certain rooms smell a lot better than what they do smell like. 

Another tip which we advise is to put all of your bins in the same room but not a room that you go into regularly. It may be in the kitchen or a garden room extension. 

Soft Furnishings

Soft furnishings are another great way to make your student accommodation feel like home. Again, this isn’t an expensive addition to your bedroom, which is why you should consider getting some soft furnishings. 

Soft furnishings are anything made out of fabric. That would include towels, cushions, throws, pillowcases, etc. It is another great way to make your accommodation feel like it is yours plus, it is an opportunity to give it more colour.

Changing the curtains of your student accommodation is another great way to make your accommodation feel like home. Amazon is a great place to look for curtains which are suitable for your bedroom and other rooms. Make sure you buy the right ones and make sure they are bigger than the actual window. Just measure the area of the window and then add a few inches to either side. This is to make sure the sides are well covered so there isn’t light that gets in.

If you are going to replace your curtains or other soft furnishings of your student accommodation, make sure you keep the ones you replace. These are owned by the landlord and if you don’t put them back, they will take it away from your deposit. 

Buy Your Own Kettle 

A kettle It is something else that you can buy for your accommodation. You may already have a kettle for your home but having a small teapot for your accommodation is great. Plus, it is perfect for when you have guests around at your home (mainly for the parents).  Again, this is one of those items that isn’t too expensive and can make your accommodation feel more homely. 

Add Photos To Your Accommodation

Another great thing to add to your home and should be at the top of your list is pictures of friends and family. In your bedroom, we advise you to have all of your family photos. Then in your living room, put up pictures of your friends/ who you live with, showing all the memories you have had together. 

There are many ways you can put pictures around your home. One method is to put pictures on your fridge using magnets. Another method is to put them in a picture frame and put them around your accommodation. The most common method of hanging pictures in student accommodation is putting string on the wall using adhesive hooks or blue tac. Then hang these pictures on the string using washing line hooks. It is a cost-effective way of hanging pictures up around your house. 

To Conclude

As you can see, there are many things that you can add and change in your student accommodation. Some are more expensive than others however when you’re a student, you will need cheaper items. 

Before you start shopping online, go to your local shopping centre and visit the different homeware stores. You can get a general idea of the size of the item and how it will fit in your home. Shopping centres aren’t all about fashion and beauty stores which sell natural skin care products. They also have wonderful homeware stores as well. 

Shopping centres in Leeds have many homeware stores which sell soft furnishings which you can add to your student accommodation. Whether that is a rug, a blanket, cushions or curtains. There are so many different things you can buy for your accommodation.