How to make your uni room look peng for your online seminars, even when it’s not

Self isolation never looked so good

4 years ago

Niamh McCann, Alice Dew & Charlotte Fint

Coronavirus has forced us back into our disgusting uni rooms, and now online teaching means all your course mates will be able to see your grim ways in the cold, hard light of day. So it’s time to add some fairy lights and make it look cute.

If you need some inspiration to up your Skype game, look no further. This is how to prep your uni room for an online seminar so that everyone involved doesn’t immediately want to mute you and slam their laptop screens shut. They’ll be staring at your little square in the online seminar the whole time, transfixed by your room’s beauty. Even if on the other side of that screen, it’s secretly covered in Deliveroo remnants and Asos packages. But no one needs to know. Let us walk you through it.

Get rid of empty alcohol bottles

We all have an embarrassing collection of empty alcohol bottles sitting in our room reminding us of our night out antics and filling us with a strange sense of pride, but online teaching might be the push we need to put those bottles in the bin. Ditch the bottle collection to save yourself from the look of disappointment from your seminar leader.

Find your best lighting

Good lighting doesn’t just make your room look good, it makes you look good too. If you want your lecture crush to still fancy you even via the medium of online seminars then good lighting is key.

Use a friend to hold a lamp so your room looks vibey and look as fit as possible. Alternatively, use natural lighting if you don’t have a friend that’s dedicated enough. Also put an end to said friendship.

All about those angles

What’s the point in good lighting if you’ve not got the right angle? Make use of those decorative pillows you’ve got lying around so you get those Instagram angles going on. Extra points if you can get a friend to hold your laptop still on your pillow mountain.

Get those all important revision notes up on the wall

You didn’t slave away at all that work for nothing. They may not have helped you learn anything but they are pretty and might even give you extra brownie points with your seminar leader. And if uni doesn’t work out, you could become a study YouTuber instead.

Dress nice from the top up

Time to whip out your ugliest yet most comfortable PJs. If you look presentable from the waist up, no one will ever know you’re wearing Marks and Spencer’s joggers that you got when you were ten. After all, comfort is KEY when attending lectures at home, and with absolutely no judgement from your peers, it would be rude not to.

Empty bin full of snacks

Every lecture it’s smoothie in one hand and granola bar in the other. Usually no one ever sees the stacks of crisp wrappers, takeaway boxes and energy drinks piled up from the semester on your floor. The super tidy students will EVEN put in them in the bin sometimes. However, it’s time to make the trek downstairs and dispose of three months’ worth of rubbish. No one can know how truly messy and disgusting you really are. It’s our secret.

Clear one side of the room

If you are panicking that your uni room is an absolute hovel, fear not, you can still make it look super cute in front of all your seminar pals. Careful camera placement and making sure you have one super cute part of your room means you can actually look like you have your life together, even if you have been sitting in your own filth for the past ten days.

Finally, get basic and show off your fairy lights

I’m sure every single uni girl has at least one set of fairy lights, so it’s time to show yours off. Whether you’ve just got standard lights, or you’re a bit edgy so yours are the shape of a moon, time to hang them over the tapestry you got from that gap yah where you found yourself. Essential background set up.