How to Make your Student House Instagrammable

Give your followers more than magnolia walls

Do you ever look at your own Instagram page and wonder if your followers are getting a bit bored? Do they really need to see you and your 5 flatmates stood against the same magnolia wall every Wednesday night?  Is it really worth waiting until peak Instagram time (definitely 8 o’clock if you’re wondering) to share with the world a “plandid” photo your boyfriend reluctantly took of you?

This may sound way too familiar but don’t fear, applying a bit of creativity to your bland student walls will increase your number of likes.

via GIPHY

As is always the case in a rented student house, it’s important that when making your living room into a homemade photobooth you don’t damage any paint work. No one wants precious student money coming off their deposit at the end of the year.

When attaching anything to the walls avoid Blu-Tack. Use washi tape instead.  It’s available in loads of different colours and makes decorating so easy. It also doesn’t leave marks, so you won’t get a deposit charge for using it.

Lights, balloons & streamers

Nothing says ‘look how good I am at home making’ like a couple of strings of fairy lights.  Spread the word about your incredible domesticity by having some fairy lights in the back of your photos. Maybe use zig zag fairy lights across your wall or go all out with curtain lights. They’ll add a sparkly quality to your photos that’s perfect for pics of you in your fancy dress (or tux), before you swish off to your end of year ball.

You might have thought that your days of streamers and balloons were long behind you, but the interest they can add to your photos is all the motivation your need to bring back these children’s party essentials.

Investing in some happy birthday balloons is a great way to make Instagram shots of birthday celebrations look even more special.  These balloons let you inflate and deflate then reflate at home, meaning they can be put up and down as everyone’s birthdays come and go.

If you’re going to treat your followers to some streamers go all out and layer a few sets to make sure they come out well on camera.

If you’re going for a more grown up look, wall hangings are the way to go.  There are so many to choose from, with different patterns sending out various messages to your followers.  An elephant pattern reminds everyone about your gap year in South East Asia. Pretty cacti designs tell everyone you have your life together and psychedelic patterns will distract from you in the photo, perfect for the camera shy or those who got ready in a rush.

Flashing – pros, cons and a possible solution

One of the biggest, most poignant debates of our generation has to be this – to flash, or not to flash.

There’ll always be one friend who just can’t keep their eyes open when the flash goes off. Another, no matter how pretty in real life, will end up looking drab with normal lighting.

Why not base lighting on the occasion? Pre-night-out, try switching your normal light with this moonbulb. Combine the coloured lights with flash and your pics will have that in the club look.  Alternatively, use fairy lights and lamps instead of flash for sophisticated pics on more formal occasions.

Choose the right photographer

Let’s be honest, everyone has a friend who just can’t take photos.

Give them any phone or camera and the photos come out blurred, wonky and ultimately unpostable.

It can sometimes be so incomprehensible how they’ve managed to botch the picture that badly that it’s tempting to accuse them of purposefully sabotaging your quest for insta-fame.

Learn who the real photographers in your group are and make sure they’re behind the camera when it comes to photo o’clock.

With just a few purchases and a roll of washi tape your walls with be ready for their Instagram debut. Now nights out will be even more fun knowing that you got the perfect Instagram post, before you even left the house.