Preparing to move back to Manchester

This week, we got our date and time to collect the keys to move into our new house. This means we can finally move back to Manchester and live with all our friends, which is the only thing that’s been getting us through lockdown. The last time we saw each other we didn’t know we wouldn’t get a final night in the flat.

We had to move out separately, according to government guidelines, and couldn’t stay overnight. It was weird seeing the flat so empty and bare, when we’re so used to seeing it messy and filled with our friends.

When I moved out, we arranged to see each other as Courtney lives on my way home. We stopped at a service station and had a half an hour long catch up, after 3 months of not seeing each other. Obviously it was socially distanced and we basically had to shout at one another as we sat right next to the motorway.

We started thinking about how to decorate our new rooms, as in first year our rooms were quite odd colour wise, Courtney got stuck with orange and I got stuck with purple. This time around, the walls are white and has one brick feature wall, which is a bit different.

We both decided we wanted big mirrors, and this is where the adulting started. Who knew mirrors were so expensive? A stereotypical necessity we wanted was fairy lights. To be extra, we wanted them wrapped around our beds and on the wall.

Pinterest has become a big part of our lives, we both have boards with inspiration. Going on Pinterest throughout lockdown out of boredom made us start our own future houses, not just our tiny little rooms, with boards for each room of our house. Regardless of how far in the future it is, you’ve still gotta have ideas, right?

@annadugdale

rip to the biggest mess of a flat 💔 #uni #fyp #foryoupage ♬ Best Friend – Rex Orange County

A TikTok of some of our favourite memories in the flat.

Due to the amount of free time we’ve had, we’ve found plenty of DIY ideas off Pinterest. Courtney put her scrunchies in a jar and got a photo frame with a marble background and put her perfumes in it to make it look cuter. I decided to get expanding foam and put it around the edges of my mirror to make it look more chic and modern, rather than old and wooden. We’ve both got plenty of pictures to stick up around our rooms to make it feel like home.

One of our worries is struggling for storage space, as our halls had loads of shelves and under the bed storage. Our landlord will let us put up shelves but we don’t really want to attempt DIY and end up in hospital. To deal with the lack of space, we’ve both had to clear out our clothes. I found a top from my second year of high school that I hadn’t worn in five years which tells you how much of a hoarder I am, whereas Courtney found an old pair of Superstars from when they were on trend years ago. Our online shopping addiction definitely called for a clothes clear out. As always, when you clear out your clothes, you need to have a fashion show and find clothes you forgot you had and don’t fit you anymore.

“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.” – Ben Hecht

We didn’t expect first year to go as quickly as it did, it feels like just yesterday we were looking for houses that we liked. We did look around some disgusting houses and we actually found our house quite late, but it had just been put on the market luckily for us. We put money down without all of us even seeing it, we just wanted somewhere to live. I still haven’t seen my room and Courtney doesn’t remember what hers looks like, which is helpful.

We’ve both been to a lot of shops trying to find things to put in our new rooms, like Ikea, B&M, Home Bargains and Dunelm. Moving doesn’t have to be expensive, there’s plenty of bargains you can find. Our countdown for moving is now on, and we can’t wait to be back.

#Uni #University #manchester #student