Rentals with three bedrooms are great, especially when you’re in college. They’re generally spacious student rentals, they’re likely in neighborhoods surrounded by other larger rentals, and you get your pick of two amazing roommates. There’s plenty of value in living with two other people — there will almost always be someone else around the house to hang out, and you’ve basically got two built-in besties to go out with.
However, therein lies the problem sometimes. If there’s always someone else around your shared three-bedroom college rental, there’s not a ton of alone time available. Sure, you can always slink off to your bedroom, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a private area in the living room when alone time is needed? Welcome to the buffer zone, a must for any college apartment with three bedrooms or more. Here’s how to design an effective one.
Physical Buffer Zones for Three-Bedroom College Rentals
We all need a moment alone sometimes. When you’re living in a three-bedroom apartment with two other roommates, it’s important to be able to get peace and privacy without having to retreat to your bedroom every time. But how do you create buffer zones in college rentals? You get a little crafty with the furniture placement to help break up visual sightlines.
Take the floating sofa hack, for instance. This involves pulling your sofa or sectional roughly 5-6’ away from the wall. While it seems like a waste of space at first, it’s actually kind of genius because it immediately defines two separate areas: In front of the sofa, where something like a TV might live, and behind the sofa, which can double as a dining area or study nook. The back of the sofa essentially transforms into a low-rise wall separating the areas. One person can even pass behind it without visually disrupting the other.
One of our favorite renter-friendly hacks for creating a little extra space in three-bedroom off-campus homes for rent is taking an open-backed bookshelf and placing it perpendicular to the wall in the main living area. You get the immediate benefit of visually separating a small nook from the rest of the room. A bookshelf likely won’t create a ton of space, but it’s great for a studying or reading spot or a mini work station.
Temporary Private Areas are Effective in Three-Bedroom Rentals
You’re not always going to want to pull a couch into the middle of the room in your close-to-campus rental home with three bedrooms — we get it. There are effective ways to create temporary privacy in your student rentals too.
One of our top favorites is making use of tension rods along with some old fabric to create temporary separation. This is easily set up in a larger space, like a living area, where a small part of it can be sectioned off on occasion. This works great in impromptu situations where someone might need to take a moment alone or have their own separate workplace. It creates a feeling of privacy and temporary visual separation without really altering the space too much. Plus, it’s totally renter-friendly too.
Yes, Your Bedroom is Still a Buffer Zone Too
While it’s nice to have private, communal areas in your three-bedroom rental home, there’s no denying that bedrooms are king. Bedrooms are the one truly private space, so why not make improvements to make it a real sanctuary of privacy?
Fixing the gap underneath the bedroom doors in your off-campus student home is one of the easiest things you can do with the largest impact. By closing off the gap, you instantly improve both sound and light leakage in the room, increasing privacy nearly tenfold. All it takes is a weighted door draft stopper, and suddenly you can’t hear a peep from outside your bedroom.
An easy, renter-friendly hack to make your bedroom feel more like a retreat is to create a bed canopy. Pull out Command hooks to drape light curtains or sheer fabric around your bed. It might sound silly, but we promise that it almost instantly creates a cozy and incredibly effective barrier around your bed. It almost makes it feel like a room within a room.
While having two roommates in a three-bedroom rental home down the road from Ohio University is tons of fun, it also helps to have added privacy. Create a buffer zone in your living area, and all of your roommates will benefit from it too.