If you've moved into a shared property with some housemates, here are some tips to keep in mind when buying furniture for your room.
Get an adjustable bed
Adjustable beds can be very useful in this type of living situation. The reason for this is that when you live in a shared house, you don't just sleep in your bedroom. Instead, you will often use it for other activities too. For example, if you want to be alone for a while, this may be the only place in the house where you can be by yourself. You may also use this space on days when you work from home. Additionally, if you invite a date or a friend to the property when your other housemates are around, you may decide to hang out in your room, if you want some privacy.
On these occasions, an adjustable bed could come in handy. If, for example, you want to watch a film with the friend you've invited over, you can both sit on the bed and lay back against its elevated mattress, and in doing so, use this bed in the same way you would use a sofa. Likewise, if you need to work from home and don't want to sit in an uncomfortable desk chair in your room for the whole day, you can sit on this bed with the base in its most elevated position. You may also find the adjustability of this bed useful when you just want to read, sketch or do another hobby in your bedroom, whilst sitting in a comfortable 'seat'.
Whilst you could buy a sofa for these activities, this is probably not a practical purchase, unless your bedroom is huge and you have enough money to buy both a bed and a sofa.
Ensure that every furniture item you buy has some storage compartments
When shopping, you should only consider getting furniture items that have storage spaces inside them. For example, if you get an adjustable bed, you should ensure that its base has its own storage compartment. Likewise, if you'll be getting a desk, you should get one that has plenty of drawers. The reason for this is that when you share a home with housemates, you will usually each be assigned one or two storage areas in each room. For example, in the kitchen, you might only have one cupboard and one shelf on the fridge in which to put your food. Likewise, you might only be able to use one hook on the coat rack in the hallway.
Because of this, you may need to store more items in your room than you did when you were living in your family home. You may, for example, need to stuff the big coats you're not currently using in your bed base's compartment, rather than hanging them on the communal coat rack, and you might need to keep some of your extra tinned food in your desk drawers.
