God, is there anything more annoying than your mate who’s got a posh house and knows it’s better than yours? It’s always like, ‘Oh, why don’t we watch a film at mine, your living room is kind of cramped. And smelly.’ Of course it is, there’s never less than about seven people hanging out in it – whether they live with you or not.
Even though you’re not going to be able to match her palace (exposed brickwork FFS), there are a few things you can to do give yours a sort of remodel that doesn't require any effort. So here’s a few things to buy to help get your living room some way along the road to Grownupsville.
These nifty wire clips
Weren’t we meant to be wireless by now? Wasn’t that a thing everyone was banging on about a few years back? Don’t know about you but what with the Freeview box, the Xbox, the telly and the wi-fi, our living room’s Wire City and and we're having dreams of being strangled to death by the scart lead. Instead of trying to hide the cables under a whole bunch of crap, take control and own your wires with these rather lovely clips to make it look like your telly’s growing branches. I mean, it won't actually look like that, obvs. But it will look better. Slightly.
This DVD holder
Between you and your housemates your DVD collection reaches into the hundreds, and the last time you watched any of them was 2012. The logical thing to do now is burn your DVD collection in the back garden/take the safe option and ferry them to the skip, but for some reason that feels like a waste. As a compromise, bin the DVD covers, they’re probably all covered in crap anyways, and store the discs in these cute binders from Etsy. Space quadrupled.
The grown up wall art that doesn’t even need a frame
Pull down your sad sack poster of Peter Andre you guys have been ‘ironically’ displaying for the past three years and check out some of the cute illustrations Urban Outfitters have in at the moment. Even better, they’re on wooden blocks, so you don’t even need to buy a frame. Result.
The lamp that won’t fall over and break
Triple-function motherfuckers! This table is to the efficient decorator what long toes are to foot fetishists. FIT. Not only is this guy the perfect side table to stick next to your couch, it’s got a little rack to ditch your books, mags and other crap that normally ends up on the floor in. PLUS, it’s got a light you can flick on when it’s film watching time.
The throw to replace an old friend
Everyone’s got Old Fleecy from IKEA – that two quid fleece blanket everyone’s mum packed them off to uni with that comes in lime green and er, lime green. Now it’s a few years later and Old Fleecy’s covered in stains and cigarette burns, it might be time to retire the old guy and purchase a new sofa blanket under which to huddle in the winter months. These guysare only marginally more expensive, but look loads more grown up. RIP Old Fleecy.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.