Uni room decor on a student budget

Louis Hugheson 7 October 2022
Stylish uni room decor

Decorate your uni room in a way that's easy on the eyes and your budget

Second and Third-year students you already know, but for the Freshers in our community, uni accommodation can be a bit…uninspired. But, where some may see four slate-grey walls, we see a blank canvas that you paint your personality onto. 

Here are some things to decorate your uni room with on a student budget. These all still work if you’re living in private accommodation as well, just don’t blame us if they compromise your deposit… 

LEDs

LEDs can be easily stuck onto walls and are great value for money, costing around £5-£15. These lights can completely change the atmosphere of your room with just a simple change in colour and will create scenery to match your mood. Different colours are meant to match different moods, blue is calming and peaceful, green is for feeling fresh and full of energy, and red is passionate and vibrant. All of these colours help to bring life to any room and are also great for parties!

Removable wallpaper 

There are certain strict rules on damaging your accommodation, especially the walls, which has led to the creation of removable wallpaper. This wallpaper can be temporarily stuck onto walls and removed whenever and doesn’t leave any marks or damage beneath it, at very affordable prices, this is the perfect product for students with a flair for design. 

Corkboard

A corkboard can be used to put pictures or posters up on your walls, for pinning to-do lists, or even just to just scribble away at. A nice idea (that we stole from TikTok) for how you could use the corkboard is by making every person who enters your room take a selfie inside of your room, print the photo, and then write their name on the photo. Then hang up every single photo and see how many you can get in a year, and watch them become cherished memories in the future.

Plants

Plants breathe an air of life into your room and invite a feeling of health and happiness as well as adding to the aesthetic. Not only this but they’re also fun to look after and grow, and more than anything, can give you something to do.

We would recommend either succulent plants or cacti as they are both low maintenance and very sturdy, with long lifespans. Ideal for lazy students. Check out our tips for growing indoor plants for a head start. 

Soft furniture

Bring in nice bedding, this includes warm and cosy blankets, homely duvet covers, extra pillows, and rugs with cool patterns. All of these things will make you forget you’re in your slightly undersized accommodation and are back in the comfort of your own bed, back at home. 

Flags

Another way in which you can make your room look like it's yours would be by adding flags that resonate with you. These could be anything from pride flags to band flags to flags of your favourite football teams. Whatever it is, just make sure that it's something important to you as this will help to define your room from others. 

Command hooks

Command hooks are special hooks that can be stuck to walls without damaging them, they are perfect for holding up clothes such as jackets and jumpers or can be used more practically for things like towels and bags, they’re an absolute lifesaver if you’re struggling for space in your room.

Things not to bring:

Candles 

In our experience, the majority of universities have banned candles due to them being a safety concern as they are a fire hazard. So save some space and pack something else!

Hard furniture

Items like sofas will not be useful as it's likely that your room will not have space for larger pieces of furniture and they are also a hassle to deliver to your room from home. If the space is large enough, it's probably best to fill it with something else (like a few beanbags). Most rooms also tend to be fully furnished and unis will likely not permit you to bring something as large as a sofa anyways.

Fragile and expensive items

DO NOT BRING ANYTHING FRAGILE. This is because students tend to be careless and may accidentally knock something over, if it's fragile, it's going to break, so make sure to leave items like this at home. Otherwise, you might be in for an expensive university experience…

Do you think uni’s need to do more to make their accommodation more homely? Join the Student Hut Panel and let us know. You’ll get 1000 points just for signing up. 

Louis Hugheson 7 October 2022