How to decorate your uni house on the cheap

It seems like yesterday you were stuffing everything into your tiny room in Endcliffe. Your course books barely fitted on the shelves and the communal area was hardly big enough for the pots and pans. Skip a few years and you've just moved into a huge Fresh Meat-esque student house with so much space you're actually intimidated at the prospect of decorating.

If you're at a loss for filling those blank walls and leaving a stamp that's somewhere between kooky, cool, and "I've got two pounds in my bank account", look no further. Here's the best ways to decorate your student pad:

Fairy lights

The first port of call for some homely vibes, fairy lights are a classic for cheap house decorations. If you've met any girl at uni, you'll know that honestly, you cannot have too many twinkling lights. Fairy lights are a staple, and if you only use them at Christmas you're seriously missing a trick.

Making 10 PM coursework that bit better

Discounted photo prints

Particularly effective for those prone to homesickness, sticking photos across your bedroom is an easy way to fill space and remind you of those messy festivals over summer. Specific apps for photo printing usually have a hefty discount on your first order, so it's smart to shop around.

Relics from that big night out

Typically a traffic cone, street sign, or miscellaneous ornament. It might require hiding when your landlord comes round, but obviously everyone will know you're a #legend.

Scout out the charity shops

For those who aren't fussy about filling space on the walls, charity shops are abundant in budget decorations. You can easily grab a huge canvas for a fiver that isn't even bad to look at.

Take every free thing you're given

As a student, this is obviously a natural instinct. If by chance you're offered a poster en route lectures, don't turn it down. Freebies = happy students.

You might end up permanently advertising them but hey

Wall hangings

For those walls that are a bit too much of a blank canvas. You can generally buy inexpensive ones online and they instantly make a room more cosy. If you're lucky you might even have a housemate who went on a gap yaaah and has four elephant print ones to hand.

Make a Picasso out of your drunken housemates

Not as strange as it might seem. In short: get very drunk with housemates, whip out the pen and paper, and hang up their most embarrassing and weird drawings. They make great talking points and are absolutely free.

It's time to become an art collector

Make Halloween / Christmas decorations permanent

Who says that your cauldron bunting isn't suitable come Valentine's Day? Why can't you hang Hawaiian lei garlands from your Christmas tree? This one might be more to do with laziness than aesthetics, but if your house ends up as a strange hybrid of all major festivities then you should just call it abstract and own it.