Both daughters are off to their first home away from home as they are second year students and so are in house-shares. These houses were found, identified, signed and deposits paid for last January – the month of the annual student house fight. It requires students to run at break-neck speeds from a house they find acceptable back to the estate agent to sign up for it before anyone else does. They are usually housed in groups of 5 – 8 and since they have only been together since the previous October it means that by the time they move in this October they probably have ‘gone-off’ one or two of their flat mates.
Anyway all that aside, having been paying rent since July 1st (!!!) they are now moving in and their houses need furnishing as they are supplied with the most basic of furniture. Ikeais always good for furniture on a budget, however remember that most things come flat packed and the student house probably does not have a set of screw-drivers etc!Lamps, rugs and mirror tiles (£5 for a full length mirror) are excellent in Ikea as are pans and glasses for the kitchen.
If a bed is supplied the mattress will be fairly grim so I purchased each of them aMattress topperwhich may be a little bit of a luxury but it is cheaper than a new mattress. John Lewis have done an essentials range especially marketed for the student so, for example, there are make-up mirrors for £5, an essential for girls!
I went through my kitchen cupboards and gave them all the extra dishes, glasses, pans etc that one has built up over the years. Bear in mind that you are probably never going to see them again as they will probably get lost or broken. I am not convinced that too much cooking is going to get done but I live in hope so I sent them each theCookery poster from Cressida Bellwhich may encourage them to cook nutritious food based on their budget, at least it will look decorative in their kitchens.
The sitting room which is going to get the most use, even though I would like to think it would be their desk area, can easily be made to look cosy with a few throws and cushions from Ikea; you can get floor lamps there too for as little as £8.99 which make a huge difference when the only light is one ceiling light. I suppose there is one huge advantage of modern day student living……….no telephone as they all have mobiles so no need to work out the split. Of course they all have cable television so they will still get their 73 channels of rubbish which makes me wonder when is the work going to get done?
So all that is left is to say good-bye and hope that I haven’t made it too comfortable so there is no need for them to come home! I think their first electricity/heating bill will probably make student living not quite so appealing, I live in hope!