How to Decorate Your Uni Room on a Budget

So you’ve just moved into your first University house, probably in your second year of University (halls was the first experience) and you want this year to be different – a fresh start. Plus you’ve got the ability to actually personalise your room a bit more unlike the halls rooms and you want it to look good. However, students don’t always have a huge budget to play around with. Here’s some tips on how to decorate your room on a budget. 

Lights 

Lighting can make your room look so much different to your housemates. Fairy lights will make the room look bigger, but also bring a cosy feel to the room. They don’t have to be expensive; you can easily find them in Primark or order them online. 

Rechargeable batteries can be purchased in order to save money too. They can also be added to some old jam jars to make some cute looking lights along your windowsill or a bedside table light. Candles are another idea and they also make your room smell nice. 

Walls 

Posters can easily add a personal touch, often companies will visit Universities with special offers or you can easily find good Ebay deals, make sure you shop around! Old magazines could be cut out or posters/leaflets from University will look amazing if you get a good collection and make a mass collage on the wall. 

Stick on wall hooks will allow you to add decorations, without damaging the walls – leaving both you and your landlord happy. Finally, wall-stickers are a new trend, you’ll probably get lots of compliments and they’re quite cheap online. 

DIY 

It’s quite easy to create a work of art yourself, instead of forking out for one, for example ordering some polaroid prints online – square snaps is a site with reasonable prices. These can easily be stuck on the wall with some white tack (so it doesn’t leave marks) and then some mini pegs (look in Wilkinson’s) and these can be hung on some string to look pretty and remind you of all the good memories or buy some roman blinds for the ultimate privacy! 

Some old books that you aren’t reading anymore can be cut up and designed into flowers or initials and placed into a photo frame, making your new room look creative. Or you could cut up some plain paper (your University will probably have lots) and cut out some patterned hanging items, like when you used to make snowflakes when you were little – but obviously only do snowflakes around Christmas time. 

A headboard could easily add something extra, making the bed look different. You could make a simple headboard out of cardboard and some old wallpaper. Finally, if you’re a traveller or want to go travelling in the future, buy a massive world map and stick it to your wall, then outline all the areas of the world you’ve travelled to and put pins in the areas you still need to visit. 

Charity shopping 

Go into the local stores near you and you can easily find some vintage items such as bedside tables or lamps, all for cheap prices and you can feel good, knowing you have contributed to a good cause. 

DIY can be created from charity shop items, such as a throw can be easily sewn together with some old clothes to make a vintage looking decoration that adds some colour or covers up the mess somewhere. 

Good luck with decorating your new room and get creative – it’ll look amazing if you put your mind to it!