How to make your student room feel cosy

Ok so your student room isn't quite the cool and happening Pinterest worthy space you daydreamed about when you were applying to uni.

Chances are there's some curtains with a questionable pattern, a dodgy looking stain on the floor and walls that are covered with generations of students worth of blue tack. And it really doesn't matter if you're in halls or are renting privately. Unless you've got shed loads of cash to spend on rent, which lets face it isn't most of us then your room is likely to be a bit of a craphole. Chances are its probably a tiny craphole as well.

During my four years at uni I lived in a tiny room in halls, a disgusting student house and spent my final two years in a pretty nice terrace with an absolute gem of a private landlord (hence why I stayed).

But it need not be a grim and depressing place. With a bit of ingenuity and some inspiration you can spruce things up and put your stamp on the place in ways that won't lose you your deposit.

1. Throws. Get several in nice fluffy textures. An absolute must is to use one to cover the grotty chair that sits with your desk. Of the three different houses I lived in, one had a sticky brown stain, one had ancient chewing gum glued to it and one had cigarette burns. The same throw covered all of them and made it somewhere nice to sit at the same time. Easy to do and makes a massive impact. Put another one over the bottom of your bed, instantly makes the whole room feel cosier. You'll probably need it to survive the sub zero temperatures of the average student house.

2. Fairy lights. A classic but so useful. Primark does a range of absolute bargain ones that are not only pretty but importantly are battery operated so you can have them in your room without your landlord/student housing nazis losing their shit over them. Wind them round your headboard, drape them over your mirror, display them over your noticeboard or desk... Just be liberal with the fairy lights! Try and get ones that are natural light rather than white light as they give a softer effect.

3. Lighting. Following on from the previous point good lighting can totally transform the feel of a room. Creating soft pools of light changes the whole feel of a space and its easy to do. A bedside lamp (alongside your fairy lights) is a good start - but if you can possibly stretch to it and have the space a floor lamp is a great idea. My parents gave me their old one and I put it on a timer so that it was always on in the evening. Nothing makes a room look uglier than harsh overhead florescent lighting and having soft low level lighting will make your space much more inviting.

4. Rug. Use it to cover the industrial carpet that seems to feature in every student house. As much as you would love to rip it up its not an option but a rug can be a good compromise. Small ones are actually pretty inexpensive (H&M Home have some great ones at the moment) and a nice neutral tone means it can help tie the room together. Its also nice to step out of bed onto a nice soft rug and helps make the space feel yours. The best part is you can roll it up and take it with you everytime you move which you can't do with an actual carpet.

5. Picture frames. Get a few nice ones (Wilkos and IKEA do excellent ones that only cost a few pounds, TK Maxx and Homesense slightly more elaborate ones that are still good value) and frame your favourite pictures. Or some cute slogan postcards from Paperchase. Or your favourite quote that you hand wrote. Put one on your windowsill, on your bedside table, on your desk. It'll help you feel at home and help get rid of the anonymous feel that most student rooms have.

6. Fake flowers. Good quality ones can actually look pretty nice and they need zero care. IKEA and Homesense would be my recommendation. A few fake flowers in a £2 jug from Sainsburys add a nice feminine touch. Of course a small potted plant on your windowsill or heck, even actual real flowers (Waitrose reduce theirs to a few pence after 8pm) are also excellent. But fake flowers will ALWAYS be there to brighten up your room so they're worth getting.

7. Cushions. Ignore anything any man in your life says about cushions being pointless, the more the better. Its easy to create a nice tiered effect on your bed with just a few cushions that makes your room look more boutique hotel and less student squat. Add in a pretty focal cushion and you're good to go. I also liked to have one on my desk chair to make it a bit comfier. And because my cushion obsession is a bit out of control.

8. Good quality bed linen. I'm going to be straight up here and admit that both of my Grandmothers bought me a nice duvet set when I went to uni which I am very grateful for (and I'm still using them now). The price is less important than how it looks in this case. The bed is likely to be the focal point of your room and taking the time to choose nice linen that compliments the other aspects of your decor will dictate whether the room is a mish mash of styles or not. Choosing two that are different yet enhance different parts of the style you're going for is a good idea because then you can change your room up each time you wash your sheets.

9. Add furniture. Once you leave halls chances are you'll be living in a student house where all the furniture you'll get is a bed, a desk and a wardrobe. Most student landlords don't even think about how a normal person can store all their possessions in one room with nowhere to put anything. Adding a bookshelf, some drawers, or a bedside table, (depending on the amount of space available) can make the world of difference to the amount of storage you have. You needn't blow your entire overdraft on this though.

First off see if any friends or family have anything they want to get rid of. My Nan gave me a chest of drawers and a mirror, my Mum took me on a trip to IKEA to get a £20 set of drawers which doubled up as a bedside table.

If that isn't an option there will be loads of people in your city looking to shift stuff they don't need and a lot will deliver it for you if you ask. Gumtree, Freecycle, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook... the options are almost endless.

Not to mention local car boots and other students. Final year students will often sell their furniture or even give it to the new tenants so its worth keeping an ear out. One of my friends bought two sets of drawers for £30 from someone she knew who was graduating and then sold them onto the next person who was renting her room. Win win because she didn't have to find someone else to get rid of them and the person buying them knew they would fit in the room.

Of course you can also use this to furnish the rest of your house, perhaps with a second hand TV or an extra chair. During my time at uni we acquired everything from an electric organ which we kept in our kitchen at halls for as long as we could get away with (which my flat mates carried up 8 flights of stairs) to an enormous trampoline we got off Freecycle which probably saw a lot of dodgy activity at house parties.

So there you have it, 9 quick ways to instantly improve your student room without breaking the bank.

Shop this post:
Lamp - Old from Tesco, similar one here 
Chest of Drawers - IKEA
Clock - Matalan 
Jug - Old from Sainsburys similar one here 
Candle - Amber Noir from Shearer Candles 
Photo frame - Wilkos
Perfume -Flora by Gucci
Slate Heart - Old, I think it was from Home Bargains similar here
Initial Coaster - Aspire Style