As students begin the workload of a new semester filled with homework and tests, sometimes students need a place where they can escape from the stress of school—a place to call home.
Living with mismatched furniture, sagging mattresses and roommates instead of family members can make it hard to call a college residence “home.” But making an apartment feel like home does not require remodeling the whole place.
Cassie Gleason, a sophomore majoring in construction management, said the most distinguishing feature of a home is a good atmosphere.
“You should feel comfortable there,” she said. “It is a place where you don’t have to worry about being judged.”
Rachel Easter, a freshman majoring in microbiology, said she thinks it is important to establish apartment rules, such as quiet hours, to make a new place feel like home.
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“I think the main rule is to be considerate of others,” Easter said.
Apart from the atmosphere, decorations can make a new place feel like home. To make her apartment more comfortable, Easter decorated her apartment with posters. She has one of a temple, an art history poster and basketball and gymnastics posters.
Students also use curtains, rugs, throw pillows, tablecloths and pictures to make their apartments feel cozy.
Jocelyn Lakenan, a sophomore studying family life, decorated her apartment with lots of pictures. She also added a mirror on one of the walls to make the apartment feel bigger. She said these simple steps made her apartment feel homey.
“I’m no Martha Stewart,” Lakenan said. “We used to have a plant, but it attracted bugs so we got rid of it.”
Xander Hacking, an information systems major from Orem, pointed out that items such as rugs, lamps or mirrors might not bring the feeling of home for men. For Hacking, one of the factors that makes an apartment feel like home is the amount of technology it has.
“For me it’s computers, but for other guys it’s game consoles and a big-screen TV,” Hacking said. “Every guy’s apartment wants a big TV.”
Another common sight in apartments is a quote wall. Depending on the apartment, the quotes can be inspirational, from famous people or funny inside jokes between roommates.
Aubrey Larsen, a sophomore from Billings, Mont., had a quote wall in her old apartment. She got the idea after seeing a quote wall in another apartment. She found it very entertaining, so she decided to have one of her own.
“Our roommates had very interesting things to say,” Larsen said.
