How to make your student room feel like home

It is normal to feel home sick, especially if it is the first time you have moved away. We all go through it. I remember my family dropping me off at university and leaving me there for the first time ever; I just stared at the bare walls in my bedroom for 20 minutes. For weeks my room dragged me down because it felt so lonely. How was I supposed to call somewhere 'home' when it didn't feel like it? I watched everybody else settle into their nicely decorated rooms, and that is when I finally said to myself  'it's time to do something'. So I did. I did everything I could to make my room seem like home.

Here are 5 simple steps I took to improve my room significantly:

1 - Personalise your room

This is perhaps the most important step. How can your room feel like yours if it has nothing in it? I would definitely recommend buying posters - it will be an investment in your future. The more comfortable you feel in your room, the more time you will want to spend in there and not at your friend's house. This definitely stopped me from buying as many take outs (after the first few weeks, I preferred to stay tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate) and it also gave me the incentive to do university work in the warm because my surrounding was nicer. To personalise my room, I've started to buy postcards every time I go on holiday. I stick them around my room to remind me of my travels, but to also make my room look prettier and less bare. It really does work. Try it and see the difference yourself!


2 - Scatter your room with memories

Just because you are at university doesn't mean you should forget everything back home. You are naturally going to miss your friends and family... So why not remember the great times you have had by placing photos everywhere? It not only personalises your room, but it makes it look pretty, too. 

You can make a picture collage and stick it on your wall,

 

you can cut out individual photos and peg them to a bit of string above your bed,

or you can just put your photos in cute picture frames.

My boyfriend bought me this picture frame from a charity shop for £2 because it reminded him of me. It makes me smile every time I look at it and it brightens up my room so much!


3 - Surround yourself with motivation

University is going to be hard. There will be times when you want to give it all up and go back home to your family, but you need to have the motivation so you will succeed. Surrounding yourself with positivity will stop you from doubting yourself and will keep you strong. Sticking up quotes on my bedroom wall has really helped me get through some difficult times; it reminds me that if you work hard, you will get results. You just need to keep on looking forward. It is important to motivate yourself in your home because it will make you want to go out of your comfort zone and succeed which is vital when moving away to a new place all on your own.

4 - Make it pretty

Although this has already been covered, it is important to stress this point again: you need to like your room to be able to make it feel like home. Give your room a colour scheme, hang fairy lights over your bed... Do anything to make you want to live there for a year. I have opted for a black and white colour scheme which is why I chose this cute photo and frame from Tesco.

5 - Keep it clean and organised

I never believed my nana when she repeated that 'a clean room is a clean mind' before I left home, but she was right. The best feeling in the world is coming home from a long day at university and walking into a bedroom which is spotlessly clean. I had to learn the hard way that I did not need all of my clothes at university as I struggled to fit them all in my wardrobe, but now I have learnt to organise them appropriately (gym gear on top, shoes on the bottom, clothes which get creased easily hung up - the rest in chest of drawers.) I have also learnt to hang my clothes up straight away after taking them off rather than leaving them on the floor. The cleaner your room is, the better your motivation is to work as there will be nothing distracting you.

Organising your books before you attend university is vital also. I have created a miniature bookshelf of all of the books I need this semester in my bedroom which means that I can clearly see what I have left to do. I also like the look of having a bookshelf in a university room - it personalises your room and they are great conversation starters!

What sort of things have you done to personalise your bedroom? Tell me in the comments below!
Much love,
Bethany x