Some may remember Homer Simpson taking courses at university and building a shelf from bricks and planks.
Well, my flat seems at the moment something like that. Actually it has seemed like that for last five or so years but it wouldn't be fair to count it like that because I've moved 6 or 7 times.

Anyways, I moved again just four days ago and here's real life example of student housing. My furniture consist of:

simple bed, provided by student housing agency
simple desk, provided by student housing agency again
30 years old green shelfing inherited from my mom
chair found from street
armchair given by recycling center
dirty, old carpet inherited from my mom
foil paper at window to reflect sunshine and thus prevent overheating
desk lamp with red bulb

The red bulb is my only investment. It cost one pound and 49 pennies but I think it was worth of it. Breaking the policy was hard choice though. A pocket discount was intriguing..
Well, to be honest, the foil paper cost 99p but there may be some other use for it as well, like cooking.

All my posters, I have eleven of them, were free. They are whether nicked, donated or drawn by myself.