Making Your Space Feel Like Home: My Top Decor Tricks!

Going to university can be a pretty lonely experience. I moved far away from my home in Vancouver to come to university, and it's taken me a long time to feel fully at home. But, I found that really making my space — whether that be my dorm room or my apartment— feel like home was great for feeling more comfortable and really enjoying my time in Toronto. Here are a couple of the most important things I did to make my space feel like home! Personally, I love taking the time to decorate a room! In first year, I didn’t spend much time decorating my dorm room and as a result, I always felt a little out of place. After I moved into an apartment in second year, I spent lots of time decorating my room. Here are some of my room decor essentials! Plants are one of the easiest ways to make your space look beautiful and feel really energizing. Not only do plants look nice, but they are also said to help reduce stress, improve air quality, and lower background noise. You can get plants for affordable prices at local grocery stores or at Canadian Tire, and painting a pot for your plant can be an affordable way to make them even prettier!  I’m a huge candle fan—lighting candles is such a great way to create a nice ambiance in your room and make it smell good. My favourite candles are from Lamb and Kiss, which you can purchase on their website. I love lighting candles when I’m studying to help me focus or as I’m relaxing before bed- though always remember to watch your candles carefully for safety reasons! If you're living in residence however, reminder that you're not allowed to light candles. When I was in residence, I used electronic tea lights or fairy lights to create the same homey effect!

Putting up pictures is also a great way to decorate and make your room feel more homey. In my room, I have pictures of my parents which help remind me of home. I also got a disposable camera from a friend for Christmas and had so much fun taking pictures of my friends and eventually getting them developed. Not only do pictures help decorate my room, but they remind me of all the amazing friends and family I have.   

Here is a great video from one of my favourite youtubers on room decoration if you're looking for more tips: In addition to decorating my room nicely, creating a really homey space for me involves keeping my space clean and orderly. This is totally dependent on each person, but for me, I love keeping my room clean so that no matter how stressed I am about school, I can retreat to a clean, calm space. Because of this, cleaning my room every week is one of the most important things I do to always keep my room feeling like home.  If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them! Let me know in the comments below!