How to Decorate Your Uni Room

Getting ready to go to university? How exciting!

First, read our essential guide to what to bring to university.

But once you’ve got all the essentials sorted, it’s time to start thinking about your uni room. This will be your home from home for at least the next semester. So it’s important that your room feels like… well, home!

That’s why we created this short guide to decorating your uni room. We’ll list some things you can do – for cheap – and some things you may not be able to do.

How to Decorate Your Uni Room – What’s Allowed?

First, don’t assume that you’ll be able to paint your uni room.

If you’re staying in a halls of residence, this will be out of the question. But if you’re staying in private student accommodation, your landlord might allow you to paint the room.

So in the majority of cases, you’ll have to make do with whatever colour your uni room is to begin with. And the same goes for the carpet.

Also, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to put anything up on the walls that requires drills, nails, or even drawing pins. Again, a landlord might make allowances – but hammering into the walls of your uni room will almost certainly affect your deposit.

So in short, when deciding how to decorate your uni room, it’s best not to be too ambitious. Make do with what you’ve got, and look for decorations that’ll improve the space without compromising your deposit.

Simple Ways to Make Your Uni Room More Comfortable

Here’s a few tried and tested techniques that can make any uni room feel warm and welcoming:

• Plants – Even a small potted plant can make a room look and feel less sterile and more alive. Caring for your plant is itself an act of self-care, and plants can even help improve the air quality in a room.
• Photos – Photos of your friends and family will make your room feel like your own. They may also help you feel less homesick as you settle in to your uni room.
• Books – You’re a student, so you’ll need books! And lots of them. But books aren’t just for reading. A well-stocked bookshelf energises a room.
• Soft furnishings. Don’t like the carpet in your uni room? Get a rug! Don’t like the curtains? It’s OK, you can change those. Just be sure to keep the originals, so you can put them back up when you leave. Plus, a small number of cushions and throws on your bed will make your room feel more comfortable, and less like a dormitory.
• Overhead lights can be too stark and clinical. A desk lamp, a bedside lamp, or a standing lamp will make things feel much homelier. Plus, fairy lights are for life, not just for Christmas! Drape some around your headboard, or your bookshelves, to add a bit of enchantment to your room.

How To Make Your Uni Room Smell Amazing

When you first arrive, ideally your uni room won’t smell like anything. But it might have that fresh-paint smell, or it might smell of something… less pleasant.

So how can you make it feel fresh, inviting, or invigorating? A few ways:

• Air out your room as often as possible. Open your windows wide when it’s not too cold to do so. Just make sure you shut it before you go out!
• Keep your sheets and any other soft furnishings in your room as clean as possible. Aim to wash them as often as you can. Nothing beats that fresh laundry smell!
• Try to avoid eating in your room, as food smells can linger. And remember that most uni rooms are non-smoking. This is partially to reduce fire hazards. But it’s also because smoking smells are very hard to get rid of. So if you smoke, do so outside.

Some Uni Rooms Are Nicer Than Others

Let’s be honest – some student accommodation is awful. Many graduates will share horror stories about black mould, suspicious stains and unspeakable smells.

And some student accommodation is just boring. Plain white walls with nondescript carpets – it might be clean, but where’s the love?

It doesn’t have to be that way.

One way to ensure your uni room feels like a home from home is to choose a room that looks and feels great to begin with.

We have some of the best student accommodation in Nottingham. We offer safe, stylish, clean and convenient student living spaces to suit everyone. Head here to take a look at our top of the range student accommodation in Nottingham.