Brightening Up Rented Accommodation

or

the art of making your flat cosy, even if you aren't allowed to put stuff on the walls

This is a post for students and beyond! It bugged me all through my student days, through Halls and houses and, to my great dismay, hasn't gone away with the flat rentals of adulthood. Unless you're very lucky, most flats and houses that you rent short term won't like you hammering nails into their walls or redecorating them.

Sure, in your first couple of years of student-hood you ignore their warnings and blu-tack whatever the hell you want on your room walls, and just take the damage fine like a man. But then you move somewhere a bit nicer, or where you actually like the landlord, or - weirdest of all - you mature a little, and suddenly your idea of making your flat look nice and cosy is less 'wonky posters and snapfish photos' to compliment stacks of beer cans and dominos boxes, and a bit more 'Zara Home'. 

Plain white walls are catnip to loneliness, homesickness, and boredom. That's not how your home should be! So for those of us not even blessed with a picture-rail to break up that abyss of magnolia (picture rails as required by law would be my first act as prime minister, along with free Krispy Kremes and Bonfire Night as a national holiday) here are a couple of tips.

TIP #1: Hang EVERTHING up with Command Clips

 These bitches are great for hanging up stuff (as long as it's nothing too heavy, be sensible people) without damaging the paint. At all. I don't really understand the science, but basically they're adhesive clips (or pegs or whatever there are lots of varieties) which you take off by pulling the little tab thing and don't sue me if I'm wrong but, in my experience, they leave no trace on the paintwork when they're gone. I've hung a lil bit of bunting, and also a string of photos I made.

TIP #2: Lean On Me

The grown up way to do posters is in a frame, and call it an art print. The beautiful Southsea one above was a 21st birthday present off my housemates when I lived down there was from a local gallery. On the same theme I am all about mirrors. They make everything look fancy. But of course you can't hang any of these things up on nails, so find a stable surface (or the floor) and lean it.

Felt pads from the DIY shop are a must for not leaving any tell-tale lines on the paint.

TIP #3: Soft Furnishings To Snuggle Up In

It's all about reducing echo, especially if you've got hard floors. Grab a rug (the fluffier the better), billions of cushions (the tackier the better), a scattering of photo frames and maybe a little greenery if you think you can keep it alive (the herbs below are courtesy of my mother. I think of it as a pre-puppy suitability test).

How do you decorate a flat or house that isn't always gonna be yours? More tips always welcome! xoxo

It's September 2013 and I have to be an adult about this

or

'AAAAARGH.'

 Ahem. Yes, so, you know how one minute it's July and you're all eating Cornettos and sitting in beer gardens and messing about with friends and sleeping til whenever the hell you like, and then suddenly BAM the sun has gone behind a big old cloud and the British drizzle is back and it's September again. That just happened.

 I don't usually mind this transition at all - I prefer knitwear to shorts anyway to be honest, and we all know the power of a pumpkin spice latte. For the past couple I've actively enjoyed it, because it's meant popping back 3 hours south down to Portsmouth to a rickety (yet charming in that student way) house filled with four of my most hilarious and lovely friends. I also liked my degree, that I could spend hours reading books as research and that all my work could be written from under a duvet.

 This is different, though. I am not quite going out into the big wide world just yet, but I'm actually embarking on an MA course. It's not in my home town of Worcester, and neither is it at my adopted University of Portsmouth. I'm doing it to myself yet again and moving to Sheffield Hallam. This time there is no house full of crazy bitches to keep me company, it's just me in a cutie patootie lil flat. I know in the long run I won't regret it - being adventurous enough to (and lucky enough to be able to) move to another city - but it doesn't stop it being bloody terrifying.

 Keep yer fingers crossed for me that I don't balls this one up?

Cheers! xxx

1.

I have been a Creative Writing student for so long (and an avid blog reader for even longer still) that the inevitable has happened and I have begun to blog. Seemed silly not to.  So I suppose I would just like to say hello!

Born and bred in Worcestershire, England (yep, like the sauce), three years ago I moved way way way down to the south coast to attend the University of Portsmouth... from which I will graduate in a months time (NO I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED EITHER). I cannot explain how much I will miss the squawking of the seaside seagulls once I return to the landlocked west midlands, not to mention my insane housemates and friends. 

After cramming this summer with as many adventures as possible/affordable, I will (hopefully!) be packing my suitcases once more and moving up to Sheffield to study for one more year at Hallam. And I shall be documenting all these scary-adult-life things right here pon de blog (I think I shall need it to keep me sane).

So come with me, we will listen to Florence & The Machine and drink the best drinks and  have the trashiest taste in everything else.

Lots of love, Lizzie

xoxo