The best part of a new school year is getting to decorate your new room. It’s a fresh slate, a chance to be creative and make the space your own. One of the best ways we have found to battle homesickness in the first few weeks of school is by making your room feel homey. You want your room to be a comforting place to go back to on days when you’re stressed out or homesick. Here are 6 tips to help make your accommodation feel like home away from home:
1. Hang Up Photos
Everyone loves reminiscing about good times, and what better way to cheer yourself up than to surround yourself with photos to remind you of all of your fondest memories? From pictures of your family and friends back home, to photos of times with your friends here at Exeter, having photos on your walls will be sure to put a smile on your face every time you walk into your room.
2. Bring a Stuffed Animal
No matter how old you are, sometimes you need something to cuddle when you’re feeling down. A stuffed animal from home can be the perfect solution! It’s soft and cosy and will remind you of hugs from your family, which is the best pick-me-up.
3. Brighten Up Your Room With a Colorful Duvet
Every room needs some color to help make it look more cheerful, and a perfect way to achieve this is with a colorful patterned duvet to decorate your bed! I found mine at Primark, and there are plenty of stores that have affordable, fun collections. In our small rooms at university, the bed is undoubtedly the centerpiece, so it should be dressed to its best!
4. Hang Up Some Fairy Lights
We all know accommodation can have harsh overhead lights, so fairy lights can be a perfect feature. They’ll set a great ambiance by providing just enough light for you to hang out and chill in your room before bed. Plus, they’ll look cool whether or not they’re on. You can also clip some of your photos to the strand of lights for extra cheer!
5. Make Use of Your Notice Board
Luckily for us, the accommodation at Exeter has fantastic notice boards over the beds which are perfect for decorating! You can use it to hang up your photos, but you can also make it into a collage with all kinds of memorabilia, from old posters to train and theatre tickets you collect throughout the year, creating a cool visual representation of all the fun things you have done.
6. Get Creative
There are so many creative additions you can make to decorate your dorm, simply with things you have on hand. For example, if you have a lot of scarves you can hang some of them around your room using command hooks. They’re easy to access if you want to wear them, but when you’re not wearing them they add a nice pop of color! Check out what you have on hand that could add that extra interesting pizazz to your room.
These are just a few ideas to help you make the most of decorating your room this year! We hope they help make it feel cheerful and like a second home. It’s so nice to have that comforting space to go back to at the end of the day, so whatever you do, just make sure that your room reflects you!