My New Uni Home

For the first time in my university life, I’m not living in student halls. This has definitely been a change for the better.

I’ll start by talking about how this came about. Now, I know I’m not the only one who had trouble finding accommodation this year! Of course, this happens to people every year but this was my first experience with it and now I know just how scary it is. My first year I found accommodation through my university and the second year I booked a place in the same building again, but this year for a number of reasons I wanted to be somewhere else. I ran into a lot of problems trying to apply for new places and things weren’t looking good when I unexpectedly received a message on Facebook. One of the girls on my course, who I hadn’t spoken to much before, offered me the spare room in their flat. I agreed immediately – it sounded great, it was significantly cheaper than the last place, and generally it was just a definite place to stay, I couldn’t turn that down.

The price is a major improvement and I got to know my new flatmates a little over the summer so I wasn’t as nervous moving in. I’d like to think in the short time I’ve been here we’ve already become friends, which is brilliant. I’ve had bad flatmate experiences and some really good ones, but I’ve never been able to become close enough with anyone to be friends.

The place I’m in now is still student housing but it’s a lot different from the hall I was in before, it’s more like a real flat. It’s really nice, in an area which, on first impression, I thought looked too nice for students to be able to afford. I expected it to be a bit smaller but it’s a really nice size. The living room has a really big window and there’s an archway that connects it to the kitchen. An archway! The oven is electric. I still prefer gas but I’m not complaining because this one hasn’t given me any problems yet. The fire alarm is a lot more sensitive than I used to but apparently people are setting it off all the time so I haven’t felt too bad the couple of times I’ve done it.

The bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs on basement level. I’ve always wanted a basement room, though I have now discovered the downside as it can get quite cold. I have a double bed, which is just awesome. It’s also very comfortable. The bathroom is shared, which is something I had originally worried about when looking at such accommodation, but that really isn’t a problem for me when I know the people I’m sharing with, plus everything is kept clean.

The flat itself is a bit further from the city centre than I was before but I can still get there and to classes within twenty minutes so I don’t have a problem with that. It’s also a lot quieter than the regular student halls, which means no interrupted sleep at night and no annoyances during the day!

All in all, I really love this new place and look forward to the rest of my year here. Here’s part of my room, just to show you all (I’d do a full flat tour but I’m not sure how my flatmates would feel about it).

So, if you’re in student accommodation too, what are your rooms like? What do you love/hate about them? And do you have any tips for decoration?