It is a well-known fact that student rooms are supposed to be messy. You’ve moved away from your parents so you can be as untidy as you want. In theory, this space is yours and yours alone. Nobody can judge you (as long as you hide the mess when you Skype home).
But there’s a thin line between having a ‘cosy, cluttered’ room and a filthy room that makes you feel a bit sick when you think about it.
Every house has that one person whose room should be sterilised. And here are 5 signs that this house-mate is you…
1. People don’t hang out in your room.
It’s not that they don’t love you, it’s just that there’s no space. The floor is covered in at least three layers of clothes, so there’s nowhere to really stand. Plus your bed is always covered in yesterday’s clothes and (gross though it may be) yesterday’s underwear. You can see why your mates keep their distance.
2. Your ONS walked out.
You’re at Timepiece and you’ve pulled a boy in a blue shirt and chinos. The kissing on Top Top is (unsurprisingly) getting pretty…passionate, so you decide to take him back to yours. Even though you know your room is a tip, your Tequila goggles stop you from seeing the full extent of the damage. But this guy walks in, takes one look, and says “Nope, I’m out.”
3. You’re an unintentional clothes thief.
You feel like you have no clothes, because they’re all littered around on your chair/bed/floor. So when you’re getting ready for a night out you constantly ask your housemate if you can borrow something of hers. At first she thought it was cute and it was like sisterly bonding. But now she’s wondering what you’ve done with half of her wardrobe.
4. You have a pet fly.
You don’t know where it came from, but it’s been buzzing around for weeks now. People may think it’s really gross, but you’ve grown attached to him and called him Bob.
5. It smells. Really bad.
The Febreze advert was right when it said you can go ‘Nose Blind’. To you, your room doesn’t smell of anything. But when your friends open your door they are hit with the smell of that towel you haven’t washed in 3 weeks. Plus no amount of Febreze can cover up that gone-off pizza that’s fallen somewhere behind your desk.
If any of this is ringing bells with you, then know that you are not alone. But it’s still (kinda) the start of a new year, so it’s not too late to turn things around. Let’s make 2017 the year people enter our rooms without needing to use hand sanitizer.