How to make your student room feel like home

Leaving your parents’ house, moving to a new country, finding new accommodation - it’s a huge step, just as it sounds.

You might feel excited and at the same time anxious, simply because you don’t know what to expect, or at least, that’s how I felt. Everybody experiences it differently: some of you may already have lived on your own, some may not. Either way, it’s such a unique experience. 

Probably every student’s aim is to create a home away from home - a cosy place where you can unwind after a long day at uni, where you invite your best friend for a drink and watch Love Island or your favourite football team. A place you return to even after visiting “home-home”. Because eventually, your student accommodation becomes your home too. 

But how to make it feel like home is the big question students seem to wonder about. Probably the best way to make your student accommodation feel like home is by furnishing and decorating it. Of course, comfort is different for everyone, so I asked some of my friends from Hanze to share their own perspectives and some tips and tricks. 

Let’s have a sneak peek into their cosy homes. 

Student places

I asked Valeria, a CMGT student; Navod, an Electrical Engineering student; and Sakhi, a Design student, to share their experiences. They have all been living in the Netherlands for the past three years, and they had lots of interesting things to say so let’s see what their home away from home looks like. 

💬 Sakhi: I currently live in a shared apartment with three other students. We each have our own room while the living room, kitchen, shower and bathroom are shared. 

💬 Navod:  After two years of living in this apartment, I can happily say a few things about how I feel at home here. Firstly, lighting is one of the most important factors - I prefer cosy lamps over overhead lights. Also, having things around the house that reflect your hobbies is key: musical instruments, gaming equipment, books, puzzles… your comfort hobbies should be something you can do at home, at your own pace and in your own space. These are essential to creating a cosy and homely environment. 

💬 Sakhi: To make a room feel cosy and homely, it’s mainly about the lighting. Warm lighting from fairy lights, lamps, or even candles is a great idea. Another thing is having nice photos or quotes to decorate your room and make it reflect who you are. 

💬 Sakhi: The thing that makes my room mine is how I have my models and creations decorating the space. It shows who I am now as well as memories of where I came from, especially being an international student from across the world. 

💬 Sakhi:  As I’m very crafty, my first suggestion would be to make your own decorations during the holidays or whenever you have time - it’s super fun and keeps your hands busy. My second suggestion would be to go to marketplaces or thrift shops, as they have very cute decorations and you can pick what feels like you. 

💬 Sakhi: My advice would be to spend quite a bit of time making the room yours, it's where you will be spending most of the time and it should be somewhere you feel happy as well as focused. And another note would be to have a dedicated cleaning time for your room, even if you are busy. Small rooms get messy fast and sometimes that influences how you react or thrive in your home. 

At the end of the day, each of us has our own way of creating a home away from home - whether it’s the comfort of good lighting or your own art filling the room. 

 
From my own experience, it really doesn’t happen overnight. You need time to decorate it and also to adjust to it. Inviting friends over and building the IKEA furniture together makes the process so much more enjoyable. Or you can simply invite them to watch your favourite show, have a games night, or whatever you prefer because creating memories in your student accommodation is another essential factor that transforms it into a home. 

 
I still remember my first place and I miss it so much, not because of the room itself, but because of the people living next door. The dinners and morning coffees shared with them truly made me forget that I’d moved thousands of kilometres from home, and they made me feel like I belonged. So invite your friends when building the IKEA bed or when heading to Mamamini for a coffee table. So invite your friends when building the IKEA bed or when heading to Mamamini for a coffee table. Trust me on this one. How will you make your space feel like home, a?