Life in a student flat starts rough but gets colourful. The flat looked more squat than home, but we filled it with life. IKEA lasts a term at best, so we hunted retro. Someone even nabbed a table from outside a pub. Nothing matched the walls, but that’s what made it real. Old accent chairs carry memory, and it fits our lifestyle. I’ve hosted ten people on one sagging retro sofa, and the furniture was part of the night.

Shoreditch is perfect for this life, and Smithers down in Shoreditch knows it. I stopped by Smithers looking for nothing, and everything felt alive, not plastic. we left with just one piece, but everyone fights to sit in it. Every student flat tells the same story. it’s where life happens. Accent chairs don’t flinch when four people pile on. Mass production doesn’t care, but retro lasts. every stain means another night. By the end of the year, you don’t remember the kettle, wikirefuge.lpo.fr but the vintage pieces carry the whole story.

When you start student life, leave the glossy showrooms behind. Grab a retro sofa, and let it shout Shoreditch every time you sit.