We switched rooms with our flatmates and here’s everything we found out

Lockdown three has us isolated, and we’ve been cooped up for so long, so we decided to switch things up a bit. We tried to be inventive, but our options were pretty limited. So, we thought it would be a grand idea to swap rooms for 24 hours just to feel something other than loneliness.

A change of scenery is always good for the soul, so we thought that we would stare passively at four different walls for the day. We never thought it would come to this: the highlight of our week being sleeping in someone else’s bed, alone. The experience was rather insightful. Some benefited greatly, going from a shoebox room to a New York penthouse apartment, whereas others pulled the short straw and ended up withering  away within the darkest rooms of the flat.

All in all, it was… an experience, for want of a better word. Here’s how it went.

Three week old apples?

Did somebody say midnight snack? No, no one did because the random apples left among the pile of junk were three weeks out of date, I really hope for his sake that he remembers to throw them away.

Having moved from the back of the flat, where the only thing that can see through my window is the bins, to the front of the flat made me feel like a goldfish. Looking out onto the street and being on the first floor made it feel like every person walking past was watching my every move. For someone who likes to randomly burst into song this was a big inconvenience, I only perform for myself in the mirror. No audience is appreciated.

With it being the middle of winter, the space heater that was left in this room was welcomed with opened arms, I had to resist the temptation to steal it when my 24 hours were up.

Overall, I found this to be a very productive day since the layout of this room meant I was facing away from the bed while working. This meant the temptation to just crawl into it was significantly reduced, allowing for a great study space which I will be missing.

Avengers, who are they?

Goodbye lavender-infused pastel paradise, hello smelly teenage boy room. This room couldn’t be further from my aesthetic. Having never watched a Marvel film, I had no idea who these men were staring down at me while I slept. This room was small and dark, the complete opposite of what I’m used to.

When it came to the evening, I was terrified by the backpack that was hung on the door. It looked like a dementor straight from Azkaban. But that wasn’t the only thing keeping me up that night, as there was a commotion in the outside courtyard as our neighbours were yelling at each other. Combine this with the thumping footsteps coming from the flat above. I genuinely thought they’d fall through the ceiling.

The biggest change was the view of the bins. Not the most inspirational setting for my creative writing. Not going to miss staring aimlessly at a brick wall all day. The next day I was desperate to go back to my room.

Drowning in a sea of pink

Going from the room nobody wanted, to the second largest room in the flat was quite an upgrade. He couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable, drowning in a sea of pink and fluffy cushions. Not sure Ellie the Elephant appreciated the unexpected visitor, but they were in the same boat. He said that “this is the complete opposite of my room. Why’s there so much pink?”

This room came with a complete spa package, with aromatherapy sleepy mists and hand creams. But I don’t think he touched either, each to their own.

James told us that he didn’t appreciated the slow WiFi, being unable to contribute in his seminars, but is that really a bad thing? Seems like a blessing to me. However, despite these inconveniences, the biggest perk of this room, being at the front of the flat, meant that he wasn’t being rudely awoken by the construction at the side of the flat on the daily.

Attacked by pillows

There was conflict at the beginning of the year over who got the biggest room in the flat, having lost this battle by the skin of his teeth, this wounded solider has finally been able to experience this life of luxury. It even has it own corridor and two light switches.

After living in this room for a day, he realised it wasn’t all it cracked up to be. The small window didn’t let in much light, making the room dark and cavernous. An expected nuisance was the ticking clock which he had to move into the hallway, he said “it did my head in.”

Having come from a room with just one pillow it was quite new to be swallowed up by a million cushions, he said that he had been “attacked by pillows.”  The beauty of this room being so large is that it needs its own WiFi box. There was no buffering in his seminars, but let’s be real, he was properly playing FIFA.

Felt like a prison cell

Rebecca fell from grace as she wheeled her suitcase out of the luxury five star suite into a bedroom which felt like “a prison cell”, in comparison. There was no way she had enough floor space to be able to roll out her yoga mat and workout along side Joe Wicks. Apart from the size difference, there wasn’t any remarkable changes to get accustomed to as she moved into another girl’s room for the night.

The only positive she had to recall was that the window, which took up half the wall, let in a lot of light which she wasn’t used to. After a productive day of work, she was happy with her stay. But I don’t think she’ll be returning anytime soon.

All in all, this experience enlightened us about the lives of our flatmates. It made us appreciate the rooms we have. It was interesting, to say the least, but…

Never again.

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