If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ll have a landlord who invests in good quality furniture and fittings for your student let. Hopefully, they’ll have got their furnishings from a respected student accommodation provider such as PeelMount, who’ll know just what you need from your new home. However, even if you number among these fortunate few, finding your accommodation kitted out with a nice bed, a big desk and a sizeable wardrobe, there is always room to give your new abode a personal touch. You’re moving out for the first time, so you’ll want to furnish and decorate your new home the way you like it. Maybe you want to bring the stylish lamp that you bought on Ebay or your favourite desk chair. Provided you don’t violate any rules of conduct stated in your tenancy agreement you should be free to rearrange your student room’s furnishings and to bring in your own pieces, so here are a few ideas to make your place your own.
Lighting is Key
One of the most important elements in any room is the lighting. The way you illuminate your room will help to create and set a particular mood, so you need to get the lighting right for studying. If it’s too dark, you’ll find yourself starting to grow sleepy. Too light, and your brain will be overstimulated, making it hard for you to focus. A good idea is to buy a desk lamp and a floor lamp to provide just the right illumination.
Get Your Hands on Some Inexpensive Artwork
Hanging posters and framed photos on the walls can personalise your room so that it reflects your tastes and interests, and showcases what’s important in your life. Try using colourful artwork and photography to create a focal point. A nice touch is to enlarge your own photos and print them via an online retailer, whether on canvas or photo paper. A collage of photos of friends, family and pets will also help to keep the homesickness at bay. To avoid making holes in your walls (landlords tend not to appreciate you marking their property), use white tack or picture hanging strips. If you don’t want to risk putting anything on the walls, photographs pegged to string or ribbon can look great.
Turn Your Bed into the Focal Point of Your Room
Your bed should be the focal point of your design scheme, so accenting it with a new throw or bed linen set can instantly enhance your theme. It’s going to have to double as a sofa, so make sure that it really reflects you and your tastes as you’ll be spending a lot of time with your bed linen staring you in the face. For a delicate, feminine room, keep an eye out for lace and pretty floral designs. For something more contemporary, go for bright colours which will really pop against neutral walls and floors. Try to avoid light colours, as even your best efforts to keep a white duvet clean will fail, and food and wine stains are never a good look.
Add Some Greenery
Plants are a great way to inject a little colour into your new home, and they smell great too. If you want a cheap infusion of cheer, potted plants tend to be inexpensive, and houseplants are relatively easy to care for and maintain.
Hang a Corkboard
Corkboards are a great investment. Hang a corkboard on your wall, and use it to keep track of your lectures, assignments and any house rotas. Lots of student lets come with a board, but they can be bought cheaply from Amazon if you don’t already have one. An expanse of cork always looks boring, so cover it with pretty paper or a big piece of fabric. Make sure that the board is big enough to hang everything you need to keep track of. Whiteboards can also be handy – use them for everything from brainstorming essays to games of hangman. 
Fairy Lights
Hang some fairy lights around your art to light it up, or try draping them through the framework and along the headboard of your bed for a pretty effect. Fairy lights will go a long way towards making your room feel warm and welcoming – especially useful for late night chats with your friends and cosy nights in. Just bear in mind that some landlords ban fairy lights for safety reasons. Check the rules before you invest your limited funds.
