The first few months at University can be very disorientating. You’re away from home from the first time, you’re surrounded by new people who you don’t know, and you’re in a new and unfamiliar space. Being in a new and unfamiliar space is perhaps, one of the most disjointing things about the first few months at University, and many Uni dorm rooms feel at the start of the year, like cold, clinical places, that will never really feel like home. So here are some simple and easy ways to help your uni dorm room feel like home, because we all know how difficult those first few days can be, and setting really can be, everything.
What is more homely, than being surrounded by photographs of the ones you love? Throughout University, my uni dorm room has been covered in photographs of the people closest to me. From framed pictures of my nearest and dearest, to the door to my uni dorm room which is covered in pictures from my time at uni, to pictures of my favourite places in the world which I’ve visited, it is incredibly grounding to be surrounded by photographs of loved ones and happy memories.
My favourite possessions in the world are my books, and my room is covered in books from head to toe. Whether it’s books, musical instruments, art or video games, what you care about is a part of who you are, and your uni dorm room should be reflective of that.
Here I have some perfumes, pictures and a plant, it’s a little cluttered and could easily be tidier, but I love how it’s arranged and I find it really homely. Particularly the perfumes, as they are presents from my step mum and remind me of home.
Primarily, this is simply practical, because if you buy a white bowl, your flatmates are inevitably going to steal it, claiming it is their identical £2 Ikea cereal bowl. But you can’t do that with personal crockery, no sir. Go with funny mugs, colourful bowls and patterned plates (and if you want to be really UK, pinch a few glasses from a pub). Everything is more homely when it is bright and colourful, and reminiscent of something other than clinical white walls.
Your bed is the most important space in your room, and there is no bigger mistake to make, than buying sheets issued by your university, which will be blue, horrible and scratchy, and leaving them all your bed all year. It’s uncomfortable and makes your whole room feel clinical and depressing – this is your uni dorm room, not a hospital ward. Go with nice sheets (preferably not white, because you’ll inevitably come in from a night out and spill chips and curry on them), nice comfortable cushions in a pattern that is different but not clashing with your sheets, and surround your bed with positive objects. Books, artworks and plants, for example, not dirty dishes, or god forbid textbooks.
While your uni room should be a place that you feel comfortable working in, it’s equally (or more important, in my humble opinion) that your uni dorm room is somewhere you can relax in, somewhere you can unwind, somewhere you can feel at home.
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