For many college students, college is the first opportunity they have to experience living on their own. Everyone’s living situation is different, from dorming for the entirety of their time at college to hopping around local apartment complexes with a different lineup of roommates each time. While everyone has their dream living space in mind for their first apartment, reality can be much different when it comes to college student apartments. Not only are you likely going to be encountering different decor tastes between roommates, but you are often dealing with a limited budget and an apartment that is far from a luxurious pad. 

Being a college student doesn’t mean you have to automatically settle for a cluttered, run-down apartment for your living space. Keep reading for tips on how to upgrade your college pad so it doesn’t look like a student apartment. 

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Make it personal

Depending on your living situation, your apartment may have come fully furnished. This isn’t the case for students living off-campus, but for students who opted to rent on-campus apartments, they may not have much of a choice when it comes to the furniture occupying their space. In an ideal situation, the furniture matches the vibes you’re going for, but more often than not, it doesn’t. 

Nothing screams college student apartment more than pre-selected furniture - the furniture can make your apartment feel more like a dorm room than your personal living space. Personalize your space to make it feel more like a home. Sure, you can’t swap out the furniture that’s already in your space, but bringing in decor and smaller furniture items can add your personal touch to the space. Bringing in additional lamps and lighting fixtures can bring warmth to what feels like a sterile space with overhead lights and pre-selected furniture. Adding smaller furniture items, like ottomans, additional seating, and smaller side tables can set your space apart even with pre-selected furniture. 

Invest in storage

Cluttered spaces can be pretty common among the college student population. For many college students, they have to share an apartment with multiple roommates, and more often than not, those spaces were not properly designed to accommodate that many bodies with their own personal belongings. With that being said, you may find yourself with a cluttered space as every roommate struggles to maintain their personal belongings when they don’t have enough storage options. 

To remedy the situation, invest in adding storage space to your student apartment or figuring out what you and your roommates can do to better store your belongings. For example, you and your roommates may have an extra entryway storage closet in your apartment that you all just throw extra things into without an actual organization method. If that’s the case, figure out how you can make the space work better for you. You may end up splitting up the space evenly or having designated belongings stored in there while other belongings are meant to be stored elsewhere.

Consider the cause of your cluttered space - do roommates tend to leave their jackets and shoes lying around as they go in and out of the apartment? Do roommates leave textbooks out on the dining table or blankets on the couches and floors? Consider pitching in to get a smaller wardrobe/clothing rack to place near your apartment’s entryway to store you and your roommates’ go-to shoes, outerwear, and bags so they have somewhere to store them right as they enter and leave the apartment. Placing a bookshelf in the living room can make it easy for roommates to store books and other belongings they often use in the common living area, or adding a storage ottoman or two can help store random belongings that are often used in the living room (blankets, games, extra chargers, and so on). 

Aim for cohesive spaces with decor 

If you are sharing an apartment with several people, you may not be lucky enough to all have the same tastes when it comes to decor. If you and your roommates are all coming in with no furniture, it may be easier to coordinate a style everyone can settle on, but each roommate will typically come in with their own furniture that likely won’t be a perfect match with everyone else’s. 

While you can’t match everyone’s personal furniture up perfectly, you can tie your space together with the extra touches of decor around your apartment. Larger area rugs can help divide up common areas while adding some personality and color to your space. While your living space may look like one large open room, adding a single area rug under your dining table area and another under your couch/coffee table can help divide the space into two functional spaces. 

Add some wall art -- whether it’s the art that came from your roommate-bonding night of painting to posters of your favorite movies or bands. Add some life into your space with some houseplants around the room. 

A decorated space that reflects you and your roommates’ personalities will be a definite upgrade from your original bare apartment. 

Your college student apartment doesn’t have to be underwhelming due to your budget or sharing the space with multiple people. With these tips in mind, you can help yourself elevate your space.