Moving into a student flat ain’t glamorous. The flat looked more squat than home, but we filled it with life. No student can afford Mayfair prices, so we bartered with old dealers. Someone even nabbed a table from outside a pub. Nothing matched the walls, but that’s what made it ours. Vintage sofas feel alive, and students get that instinctively. I’ve crashed into a leather sofa after a night out, luxyry armchairs and the sofa was another character in the story. Markets spill chairs onto the streets, and old fashioned armchair dealers live for it.

My flatmate dragged me into Smithers, and the place was full of funky retro chairs. money was tight, but everyone fights to sit in it. Every student flat tells the same story. it’s where life happens. Furniture with scars feels built for students. Catalogue gloss falls apart fast, but old sofas age into character. every creak is another laugh. After exams and chaos, the broken toaster doesn’t matter, different styles of armchairs but you remember the sofa.

When you start student life, ignore the fake polish. Choose a funky accent chair, and see how it shapes your memories.