What do I need to bring?
At the beginning of any journey, deciding what to bring can be a tough decision. Thankfully, the team at SHA has made this super easy for all of our students. Now, some of our buildings are a little bit different, so there are some items included that will change from room to room, however, the SHA team has your fundamentals covered.
Bedframe & mattress – Check!
Study Desk – Check!
Desk Chair – Check!
Stove, Fridge & Microwave – Check!
Straight away, that means no heavy items need to be carried into your new apartment. Save your back and save your money from what you would have spent at the physio!
Bedding & Towels:
You will need to bring your bedsheets, doona, blankets, pillows & towels. This means if you can’t get to sleep without that special blanket or pillow, feel free to bring it along!
The Good Housekeeping Institute suggests you wash your sheets at least once every two weeks, so I recommend you set a reminder on your smartphone for every two weeks and set a specific day and time so it’s part of your routine. Not many better feelings you can get in the bedroom than jumping into fresh sheets…
Kitchen Equipment:
When it comes to the kitchen, you need to ask yourself ‘do I want to be the next Gordon Ramsey?’ if the answer is yes, you will need to bring a few more bits & pieces for the kitchen (minus the swearing, your neighbours won’t be too impressed!). If you want to go out for breakfast, lunch and dinner all day every day, I don’t blame you. After all, Melbourne IS the food capital of the world, so head out and enjoy all the incredible cuisine this city has to offer.
I would suggest you still bring a few essential kitchen items such as a kettle, toaster, crockery and other basic kitchen items. All these items can be found quite cheap at KMart or similar stores. Plus, when you’ve finished with them, you can sell what you don’t need on Facebook MarketPlace or donate them to a local Op-Shop such as the Salvos.
Easy Recipes:
Once you have your kitchen items set up, you’re all set to survive you’re not going to starve! You will, however, need some classic go-to meals that you can rustle up midweek, along with some good-old-fashioned home-cooked recipes that will fight off your homesickness and transport you to your kitchen table back at home.
So, I suggest before you make your move to Student Housing Australia, you watch the chef of the family quite closely and analyse how they create those amazing home-cooked meals that you can’t seem to replicate no matter how hard you try. Don’t stress about ingredients, all of the buildings that we managed are within walking distance to supermarkets and traditional food markets.
Are you a Melbourne University student, located in one of our city buildings wanting to make a traditional Chinese fried rice? Queen Victoria Market is only a stone’s throw away.
Monash University Student living in one of our Prahran buildings and want to whip up a traditional Chicken tikka masala? The Prahran Market will have all those ingredients you need!
You won’t have to get UberEats delivered at all!
Electronics:
You don’t have to deck your room out like a NASA spacecraft, but we are living in the 21st century, so there is a high chance you have a few gadgets and gizmos that you will need to bring. Will you be doing your assignments on a tablet or laptop? Regardless, you will need to bring the charger and potentially an international adaptor if you are moving in from overseas. I would also recommend an extension cable along with a power board as you can never have too many devices! After all, there are over 22 billion devices connected to the internet of things!
Once you have finished your uni assignment and have closed those 200+ tabs you had open for “research” it’s time to relax. If you are like me, you want to keep your downtime and uni time separate, so you may want to use that uni device exclusively for assignments and another device as your Netflix marathon device. A portion of our rooms will include a TV for you to use during your stay, so grab the popcorn, select your favourite movie and bing away!
Basic Cleaning Products:
We all know having a clean space is beneficial in more ways than one. According to a study by researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute, when an environment is cluttered it reduces your ability to focus when working or studying. That’s why having a clean and tidy space is vital for good grades and good study habits. Therefore, I suggest bringing some essential cleaning products to assist with keeping the place neat and tidy. Some sponges, surface spray, dishwashing liquid and dusting cloth can go a long way!
Clothes:
As someone who has lived in Melbourne all their life, when I hear the saying “If you don’t like Melbourne weather, just wait!” I immediately recoil and cringe. Having said that, you couldn’t pick a more accurate saying to summarise Melbourne. In this amazing city, you can have all the four seasons in one day! So when coming to Melbourne your clothes should reflect that. Some loose clothing, sunscreen, hat & sunnies are ideal for winter and a warm jacket and jeans for winter.
Personal Items:
Now that you have all the fundamentals set-up, it’s time to get personal. The team at SHA like to use the hashtag #YOURSPACE in more ways than one. You’ll find it across our socials and throughout our website and you may ask yourself, why do they use this or what does it mean? When you decide to stay with the SHA team, we really want you to feel at home and feel like you’re in your very own space. So, chuck some posters up of your favourite bands or movies, decorate your room with your knick-knacks and personal belongings that remind you of home, head down to a local nursery such as Botanicah in Prahran for a succulent and really make your new room #YOURSPACE.
Ready to start looking? Check out our locations here!
Harry Calder
Digital Marketing Coordinator
