The Tab’s Guide to Interior Design

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest stresses for freshers moving to uni is how to decorate your room.

You've just spent up to 18 (even more for mature/gap yah students) long years decorating your room in a way you feel is truly representative of you, only to be torn away from it and cast into a sterile sleep-box, devoid of all personality from which you hurriedly need to make pretty so as to avoid feeling like you've checked into Alcatraz. Luckily for you, the Tab has some top tips for how you can make your prison cell (or plain room) into the grooviest place in your college.

1) Leave most of your home posters and other accoutrements at HOME

Tempting as it might be, it's probably not the best idea to take the accumulated artefacts and detritus of your painful adolescence to university. A few cool things you might've picked up over the years like a scratch-off-country-map-of-the-world or photos with friends/family are a good idea. But band posters or shitty little souvenir Eiffel Towers you bought for a euro aren't going to be the most aesthetic adornments for your new crib.

P.S. THIS INCLUDES BOOKS FROM HOME YOU THINK WILL MAKE YOU LOOK INTELLECTUAL-DON'T DO IT

Please don't take this to uni-just send it to hell where it belongs

2) Foil your pin board

Most rooms in Cambridge come ready equipped with a big pin board for you to stick whatever you want on, however, years of graffiti, stabbing and just general abuse can make some of these corky walls look a bit tired. The solution? Cover that bad boy with foil! Not only will this give your crib a cleaner look for you to build on, it'll also give your room a funky space-age feel!

Ignore the cool kids in the picture and appreciate that metallic pin board aesthetic with Bowie accoutrements, very chic

3) Get Cambridge related stuff and Cantabridgify your room!

Ok this might sound horrendous at first, but I'm not talking about having a framed matriculation portrait on your wall, I'm talking about first year souvenirs which will make your room an object of interest for all lucky visitors. A good way of doing this is using your pin board to stick things like events you were involved on it. Things such as show tickets, May Ball posters, sporty things or even props you stole from club nights are quite good starters-as would be the print edition of the Tab!- just to give your room a bit of flavour.

Thank you Avant Gardening, Emma June Event, the Tab and Jamnesty International for jazzing up my room xoxox

4) Sneaky Graffiti

This is a bit of a cheeky one, but one thing you really OUGHT to do is find a way of making your mark on your room. Some of the best ways of doing this is writing elusive messages on your pin board UNDERNEATH the foil so that freshers in years to come will be able to see you once had their room whilst also hiding that shit from the porters. Alternatively you could do this:

5) Make it representative of you

This is probably the most hippy dippy part of this article, but also the most important. Whilst the Tab might have just given some zesty advice on how to decorate a room, your gut is ultimately the best point of reference for personalising your room.

Thought I'd finish with a pic of this peng af glitterball I got for my room from Oxfam – bit more inspo for you all x

So, if you think these suggestions are shit that's absolutely fair. You do you xoxox