When I first walked into my halls room, nervous about starting university and keen to meet the other strangers I would be living with, I was met with a room that looked like a strange mix of a school class room and a castoff suite in Butlin’s. The carpet had pot noodle engrained in it from the last occupant and the shower curtain was an off-white that didn’t look deliberate, but through some money saving savvy and creative flare, I’ve made my room one that I’m proud to share on the internet with anyone mildly interested enough to have a look.
1.Have a vision and stick to it
There are some things you have to spend money on, such as new bedding or storage boxes and towels. Before you buy any of these essentials, make a mood board or find some inspo on Instagram and chose a colour pallet or vibe. For my room, I chose to go with relaxed tropical as my theme, sticking to muted shades of green and millennial pink. The bedding was the grounding for this and I worked everything else around the killer bedspread. If you already have stuff and you don’t want to start from scratch, use the things you do need to buy to tie everything together. Find a vibe, keep the vibe.
2.Wallpaper Samples
You can go into any DIY or home shop and find samples of wallpaper that you can take for free. These samples can be used to cover the sad, ugly surfaces that are in so many halls and give some personality to the room. I have covered the back of my shelves, using blue-tack in tiny dots all the way along the edges so I can remove it easily when I leave and still get my deposit back.
3.Original artwork
If you can paint or draw, make something beautiful and hang it on your wall. Art doesn’t need to be by Picasso to deserve a place on your wall, it just needs to look interesting and reflect your personality. If you’re not much of an artist, scour Pinterest for abstract art tutorials or hunt down an arts student and ask them to make you something in exchange for a cheeky glass of wine or a cooked meal.
4.Plants, Plants and more Plants
Keeping plants in your room not only looks lovely, but is good for mood boosting. You can get succulents and greens for relatively cheap from the right places and for plant pots, get creative. I made this succulent house from a fish bowl from a pound shop and some gravel from the garden. You can get some great plant pots from charity shops that you can jazz up with some spray paint for less than £5 or use unusual objects to house your plants, like a wine glass or old candle jar.
5.Open Storage
Instead of spending money on decoration items that can be pricey, display the things you use every day in a fun way. I got these mini tins from a pound shop and spray painted them to make them fit with my room. For £10 and five minutes work, they make my desk look both organised and fresh. Makeup brushes and lipsticks can also look cute displayed on a shelf or desk to add some colour.