Uni rooms often come equipped with the bare minimum, leaving you a lot of freedom to decorate it however you like.
But, this freedom can be overwhelming if you don’t know what you need to make the most of your space. Whether you’re moving into uni accommodation for the first time or moving to your final year house, you want your uni room to feel cosy and homely! Here are some uni room essentials to decorate your room and maximise your space.
Must-have decor
Reed diffuser
Many student accommodations, especially accommodation that belongs to the university, prohibit candles for fire safety reasons. Therefore, reed diffusers are the next best thing to make your room smell nice without breaking the rules. Many home shops sell a variety of scented sticks, and they’re easy to maintain while also looking decorative!
Hanging decorations
Hanging decorations are a great way to decorate when you are limited to how much you can put on your walls. You can hang such decorations on door and cupboard handles, for example. It’s a cute way to personalise your space without marking the walls.
Calendar
The beauty of a calendar is that it can come in many different styles and sizes, and you can pick one that piques your interest! You could get a wall calendar, a desk calendar, or even a lightbox to keep track of the date if you struggle to remember the date.
Lighting
You can change the lighting in your uni room in several ways. If you like bright, vibrant colours, strip lights might be something you enjoy. On the other hand, if you prefer warm lighting, fairy lights may be the better option. Fairy lights come in all different colours and designs too, so you could use these to decorate your room and change the overall feel of your room.
A drinks station
Some uni rooms allow you to have kettles in your room. This can be helpful if you start your mornings with coffee, if you love hot chocolate before bed, or if you enjoy making tea for guests. Therefore, setting up a drinks station equipped with the hot drink essentials could make your room look welcoming.
Essential storage and expansion
Clothes hooks
Uni accommodations can be quite minimal and, therefore, often lack storage. A solution to this is to invest in some hooks to hang over doors and in your wardrobe, for example. This will give you a smart storage solution for items that could otherwise take up a lot of space, like coats, bags and towels.
Storage boxes
Another storage solution to neaten things up a bit is to use storage boxes. These can be particularly helpful if you have space under your bed to keep things like bedding and cleaning products stored out of sight.
Shoe rack
I live in a flat with one other person, and we’ve found that putting a shoe rack in the hallway has been a gamechanger for keeping our shoes tidy. Home stores like The Range and Dunelm can find cheap shoe racks.
Key tray
Key trays can be useful if you’re prone to losing your keys. As long as you make sure that you actually put your keys in it, that is.
I also use my key tray for things like glasses, sunglasses, bobbles, mints and lip balm. Basically, it’s more of an ‘essential and important stuff’ tray.
Extension cables
We all know that no uni room ever has enough plug sockets, so extension cables are a uni room essential. Some extension cables also come equipped with USB ports, so you don’t even have to have a plug for some of your devices.
Just ensure you get a power surge-protected extension cable to protect your devices. Also, never plug another extension cable into an extension cable for safety.
The takeaway message
At the end of the day, you can decorate your uni room however you like: that’s the beauty of it. But, if you’re struggling to make things tidy or cosy, hopefully, this list of uni room essentials can help. The trick is to use smart storage to maximise your space and invest in small decorations to make it feel like home.