There are so many more things that you need to take than I can list here but I will put down a few essentials and a few not so essential things.
Decorations for your room are also essential as its going to be your study room, bedroom, living room, and sometimes your dining room. I put lots of pictures into a collage on the wall and then a poster and some fairy lights. Bunting was quite popular for a lot of students and something which I plan to use next year in my new room. On the subject of decorations, I would encourage everyone to invest in some white tack which is very cheap and easy to get hold of. It doesn’t ruin your photos and more importantly it doesn’t ruin the walls.
An essential for me was a drying rack for my washing. All of the laundry rooms at the university have dryers but personally I wanted to save the money. I didn’t get this before I went and carrying a drying rack back from the shops was an interesting experience so get it before you go and bring it in your parent’s car.
Next is to make sure you have basic kitchen equipment which is fairly cheap. This is especially important if you are new to cooking as you are more likely to ruin your things while you learn. If you are used to cooking and like to bake as well then take a few extra things which you want. I did this but I still went with cheap versions of most things. It doesn’t happen as often as sometimes made out but things can go missing or get broken and, chances are, you won’t have the money to replace expensive things. Also take some cookbooks which you feel able to follow.
There will be some things in the communal areas which you will only need one of between you such as toasters and irons etc. The best way to avoid having unnecessary multiples of these is to talk to your flatmates before you arrive. I used Facebook and a website called ‘hello freshers’ to find out and talk to those who I would be sharing a flat. Often you will find one of the flat has either already brought one or has a spare one from a friend or a relative so you don’t need to go out and buy one.
Try not to bring the entire contents of your wardrobe with you as you won’t need it all. Think about what you really need and make sure you consider what weather you will be having too. By the time you move in in September there is usually only a couple of weeks which could be warm and then it is into winter. Honestly by the time I went home for summer I had only had a couple of weeks all together which had called for summer clothing.
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