Art for student flats: how to make a tiny room look like a person lives there

Student rooms are a special kind of space. A bed, a desk, a wardrobe that smells of the last person, and one wall that is somehow both too small and far too empty. You've got a tiny budget and a landlord with a deposit in their hand. I get it.

I'm Luis. Students come to my stall in Covent Garden all the time, usually with a friend and a strict budget. Here's how to make a student room feel like yours without spending your loan.

Rule 1: fewer, better, louder

A wall of twenty cheap posters looks chaotic. One or two bold prints look like you have taste. A £20 print by an artist says more about you than a £3 poster of a film you've seen once.

Take a Xanax is for exam season. It Is What It Is is for results day. There Is No Plan is for your career adviser.

Rule 2: protect the deposit

Student lets are strict about walls. Before you stick anything up, read your tenancy or halls rules. Then:

• Washi tape for unframed prints. It's colourful, cheap and peels off cleanly.
• Removable adhesive strips for light frames. Follow the instructions exactly and pull straight down to remove.
• Bulldog clips on a string across the wall, for a rotating display.
• Lean it on your desk, a shelf or the windowsill.
• Avoid sticky putty directly on prints, which can leave oily marks on the paper.

Full guide: how to hang art without damaging walls.

Rule 3: use acrylic, not glass

If you frame anything in a student room, choose a frame with acrylic glazing. It's lighter (good for adhesive strips), it doesn't shatter when you inevitably knock it off the desk, and it survives moving house every September. More in how to frame art prints.

Rule 4: small art counts too

Art doesn't have to go on the wall. A notebook with an artwork on the cover on your desk, a tote you carry to lectures, a print propped on your bookshelf: it all adds up to a room with personality.

Notebooks are £12 and the Random Crap Notebook is basically designed for lecture notes. Totes are £25 and much cheaper than the designer bags they're joking about.

Room-by-room student flat ideas

Your bedroom

One motivational print above the desk for the 2am essay, and one funny one by the door.

The shared kitchen

A house rule. Nothing unites flatmates like a print that says what everyone's thinking. Please Leave by 9pm, This Ain't the Ritz or, if your flat is that kind of flat, Please Don't Do Cocaine in the Bathroom.

The bathroom

If it's shared, the funniest print you can find. Frame it behind acrylic to cope with the steam.

Budget student wall

UK delivery on prints is £1.75, and free if you and your flatmates order together and go over £80. Group order, anyone?

Studying in London?

Come and see the art in person. Covent Garden is an easy trip from most London campuses: Covent Garden station is on the Piccadilly line, and Holborn and Leicester Square are close by. I'm at Jubilee Market Hall every Saturday and Sunday. Bring your student budget and I'll help you spend it wisely. Here are the best art markets in London if you want to make a day of it.

Make it look intentional

A few cheap tricks make a student room look styled rather than thrown together. Pick one accent colour from your favourite print and repeat it once, on a cushion, a mug or a plant pot. Line up the edges of anything you hang. And leave some empty space: a single print with room to breathe looks deliberate.

Moving out

When the year ends, take the art with you. Remove strips slowly, peel tape gently and check the walls. The print comes with you to the next room, and the one after that. That's the joy of buying art you actually like: it moves with you.

Student flat art questions