Cozy crash course: How students make their temporary spaces feel like home

While rented homes can be difficult to decorate because of restrictions on renovations, some University of Mississippi students have crafted spaces that feel like themselves while also staying within their college budget.

Roommates Eleni Zaninovich and Juliana Gomez — plus Ben the cat, the unofficial third roommate — live in a small house right off the Square. The proclaimed “knickknack” house sits filled with dried flowers, built-in bookshelves and other collected treasures.

Zaninovich, a senior multidisciplinary studies major from Bakersfield, Calif., spoke about how decor that inspires a homey feeling does not happen overnight.

“We started off with a couch that didn’t even have legs or anything. We had to put bricks underneath,” Zaninovich said. “It’s really just the people in this town have been like, ‘Hey, do you want this free coffee table or this or that?’”

The pair much prefer this space to other apartments or townhouses they have lived in separately because they have been able to fully decorate together.

“It’s so nice to come here at the end of the day,” Zaninovich said. “It’s like, the first time in college, it has felt like a home and not just like a living space.”

Gomez, a senior psychology major from Jackson, Miss., echoed this sentiment. 

“It just was very obvious that (the old apartment was) just a placeholder,” Gomez said. “This place is just, again, so easy to make your own.”

Adam Crass, junior computer science major from Atlanta, lives in a townhouse complex on the outskirts of Oxford.

Decked out in couches, lamp-lighting and vinyl records, Crass’s space offers a hangout spot that his friends often visit. 

“I have a lot of folks come over just to hang out or study, or sometimes I’ll throw parties,” Crass said. “People want to come here to hang out because it’s chill. I think that has affected me in a good way. It has made things a lot more social. I always like to keep everything really presentable, because it makes me feel good.”

For Crass, building his own space has helped him connect with not only his friends but also the Oxford community.

“Sometimes I’ll post things on Instagram, and I’ll go to these events and stuff,” Crass said. “And some guys would be like, ‘Oh, I saw that chair you got,’ or ‘I saw that record you got,’ and we always strike up a conversation about that. I’m always at End of All Music checking out their CDs and records. I have a ton of records upstairs.” 

Secondhand sources have been useful for Crass as he crafts his living space.

“This couch I got on Facebook marketplace for free,” Crass said. “And I actually found that (chair) in the flea market or antique shop right down the road, the Depot.”

Crass also said that creating a space that made him more comfortable has helped him with his schoolwork.

“It has made me more of a homebody,” Crass said. “So I guess that’s a good thing because that means I can study and get stuff done.”

Bella Bach, a senior exercise science major from Madison, Miss., rents a house on the outskirts of Oxford. For her, affordability was one of the most important factors when it comes to decorating.

“We loved the house, but we knew we wanted to make it really, really cute, (with) plants and a bunch of decorations all over the place,” Bach said. “But we’re also college students, so it needed to be cheap. We got our basics off of Amazon and Target and wherever we could.”

While Bach mentions the basics, the statement pieces in the house are anything but.

“Then we just started going to thrift stores all the time and estate sales and just whatever we could,” Bach said. “We started flipping furniture and decorations to fit our space and then slowly over time accumulating lots and lots of plants.”

Many things in Bach’s space are flipped or have been upcycled.

“My headboard used to be a twin-size headboard, and I just got a jigsaw and cut off the little feet on the bottom, so it would be like a piece of wall art instead,” Bach said. “So it’s usually just cutting something off, really quick. I have a mirror in there. I just painted the frame, and it looks brand new – very simple painting, cutting something off.”

Living with roommates, Bach likes the shared space they have decorated together but also enjoys the specific comfort of her own room.

“I think you’re on campus all day, and then you come home, and then even sometimes, just the difference of me coming from the living room to my room is like a big difference,” Bach said. “I can kind of just tuck away in my corner and forget that I’m in Oxford, and it’s nice and comfortable.”

Bach shared her advice for any college student who might be struggling with trying to decorate their own space.

“I know it’s a lot of hard work to put up shelves and put up art and do stuff for just a year or two years or whatever, but I think it’s worth it,” Bach said. “It makes you happy.”