Tips to help students enjoy living in halls of residence

Making a good impression:

Living in halls is the next step in adulthood, you’ll need to buy some things you might not have bought before, like laundry detergent.

Don’t be shy about joining the chat you can hear from the communal rooms. Go and say hello, you might be surprised by who you meet.

Quick Tips

Things that will help make living with others easier (and you easier to live with):

• Label your belongings and there will never be arguments about whose phone charger that really was.

• Make your room cosier, but it’s best not to hammer holes in the walls until you check the decorating policy.

• Washup after cooking, and if you leave pots & pans to soak, remember to come back for them.

• Check the halls policy on guests if friends want to stay.

• Avoid making a lot of noise when residents are sleeping.

Laundry

There will be shared facilities for washing. No one likes finding their wet washing on the floor, especially if it’s those ugly (but really comfy!) pants. Treat all laundry with respect and this should reduce any sources of conflict. 

• Get yourself a washing basket and place it on top, or in front of, the machine containing your laundry so if someone needs to put a load on urgently, they have somewhere to put your clothing.

• If you are removing someone else’s clothes from the machine, put them in the basket provided, or pile them carefully on a clean surface.

• For tips on reducing ironing time, see this.

Cooking

Preparing food is a life skill that will always be handy. Try and leave the kitchen in the – hopefully – clean state you found it. 

In communal kitchens:

• Do your cooking at reasonable times.

• Nothing brings people together the way food does. Organise a weekly meal as a group project and bring comfort food to you.

• There’s no need to panic if you burn a pan, read this.

• Accept that other people will do things their way.