Life in a Shoreditch Flat: Retro Sofas and Funky Chairs on a Student Budget

Life in a student flat starts rough but gets colourful. The carpet smelled like beer, but we filled it with life. IKEA lasts a term at best, so we hunted retro. I spotted a funky armchair on Brick Lane. Everything mismatched, but that’s what made it ours. Retro armchairs have weight, and we don’t need polish, we need real. I’ve fallen asleep in a battered armchair with a book, and the sofa was another character in the story. Markets spill chairs onto the streets, and Smithers down in Shoreditch knows it.

We wandered past Smithers one Saturday, and the accent chairs were bold and weird. we were broke students, but it’s become the throne of the house. Every student flat tells the same story. it’s what makes memories. Vintage pieces survive it. Mass production doesn’t care, but retro lasts. every creak is another laugh. Looking back after twelve months, the broken toaster doesn’t matter, but you remember the sofa.

So if you’re moving to London, leave the glossy showrooms behind. Choose a funky accent statement chair for living room, and see how it shapes your memories.