Say farewell to the boys’ and girls’ rooms at your parents’ houses. With your study allowance and some creativity you can fix your first pad. Easy as pie. Roll up your sleeves and skip the expensive interior design catalogues. There are both cooler and better ways to do it.
Elsa Billgren, blogger and host for TV4’s Äntligen Hemma (Finally Home) and Antikdeckarna (The Antiques Detectives).
How do I make the most of my 25 square metres?
Furniture on wheels is a great thing, so you can move things around. I had a bar cart that I kept my printer on once. Keep in mind that everything should have a double function. Don’t forget to check out how you can utilize your room in the best way. Does it have a high ceiling? Maybe you should have a loft bed. Don’t put your TV on a table, but get a sturdy old chest and use it for storage as well.
What should I keep in mind as a student?
As a student you have to think small. If you walk into stores there are often large sofas and large tables. But in a student room you have to think small. Maybe a foldable kitchen table. Check thrift stores or maybe some relative’s attic. You don’t have to have the nicest and most expensive things when you’re a student. You can allow yourself to wait, and dream of all the luxurious stuff.
What should I avoid?
Don’t buy a sofa that only fits along one of the walls in your flat. Do NOT neglect getting home insurance. It’s super important to have home insurance in case something happens. If there’s any time when you’re exceptionally clumsy it’s when you’ve just moved away from home. My old TV caught on fire and my entire first flat burned down.
Jon Eliasson, product and interior designer, has worked with Room Service on Channel 5 and Hjälp vi flyttar ihop (Help, we’re moving in together) on SVT.
How do I find my own style in my first home?
There are thousands of magazines that tell you what’s right and what’s wrong, but the most important thing is to trust yourself. You can choose a style that already exists, like retro or western. You can also decorate historically, maybe decorate your room in the spirit of the 70’s. To find a personal style I like to use association questions. What bird would my room be? What super hero would my style be? In doing so you can find loads of colours and materials.
What’s worth spending money on?
You can do a lot with colours and lighting. Imagine a theatre and how much the mood can change through the lighting. You can have ceiling lamps, floor lamps and tealights. You can put fairy lights in jars or hang them around the room in various constellations. Light creates warmth and a sense of care. You can also buy paint and spruce up your things. The best finds are often made in containers.
How much am I really allowed to change in a place I’m renting?
You must ask permission if you want to paint the walls or make any major changes. But as a student you might not be able to afford that anyway. But you can do a lot with textiles. If you can’t paint a wall you can sew or order a textile to hang on the wall. Textiles are usually not so expensive either. Once I actually built a false wall for a flat and painted that, because I wasn’t allowed to put up new wallpaper.
Words: Mette Mjöberg Tegnander
Translation: Matilda Lundborg
