{"id":175020,"date":"2025-01-21T15:55:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=175020"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:13:26","slug":"living-rooms-new-outdoor-terrace-tries-to-chase-away-your-winter-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/01\/21\/living-rooms-new-outdoor-terrace-tries-to-chase-away-your-winter-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Room\u2019s new outdoor terrace tries to chase away your winter blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Living Room now offers an outdoor terrace, officially opened on the bluest of Mondays, 20 January. The opening was celebrated with all kinds of activities and snacks.<\/p>\n

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The new outdoor terrace wasn't very crowded yet.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSebastian Rengifo Rodriguez<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Located on the ground floor of the Langeveld building, the Living Room is designed to boost student wellbeing by offering social activities, space to relax, events related to wellbeing, or just a listening ear for those who need it. The newest extension is a terrace between Langeveld and V.<\/p>\n

For its first event, benches with cushions and blankets were available and the hosts offered outdoor games and served hot drinks and snacks. A tent offered shelter from the cold, sad winter weather.\u00a0 Students were crowded around the snacks and hot drinks station, with the hot chocolate quickly being the first thing to run out, presumably due to the cold weather.<\/p>\n

As some students enjoyed the snacks and drinks, a group of students had a go at what appeared to be a ring toss before quickly moving onto a large-scale version of Jenga. They were surprised to realise that each Jenga piece had an introspective question or unique conversation starter written on it. In the corner of the terrace, there was pop music playing on a large speaker. Throughout the afternoon, it seemed students came for the snacks and hot drinks but stayed when they noticed the rest of the activities available.<\/p>\n

Cooped up indoors<\/h2>

\u201cBeing outdoors and breathing in fresh air is very beneficial for your mental health\u201d, said Living Room project lead Amber van den Hout-Bal. Especially at a university, where students may spend a lot of time cooped up indoors.\u201d Van den Hout-Bal added that it is also a very visible space, so it has the potential to reach students passing by.<\/p>\n

Despite the cold, Van den Hout-Bal said it seemed fitting to inaugurate the terrace on Blue Monday. \u201cWe wanted to offer a little bit of sunshine to students on what is known to be a rather gloomy day.\u201d Blue Monday is the name given to the third Monday of January, as a study commissioned by travel agencies showed that this is the most depressing day of the year. \u201cWith this event, we wanted to bring some awareness to the winter blues that some may be experiencing right now, and set up a fun social event to get students feeling a little happier\u201d, explained Peri de Boer, one of the thirteen hosts working at the Living Room.<\/p>\n

Idea box<\/h2>

How the terrace will operate from now on is still undefined. However, the team gives students the opportunity to contribute to future decisions about this. During its first event, the terrace featured an idea box for students to voice what they would like to see from the terrace in the future, from events to opening hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really nice having a place on campus where students can connect, somewhere besides the library and home\u201d, said visitor Oliver Kriebl-Bruno. \u201cI think I will definitely return to the terrace in the future, perhaps during my lunch breaks. It feels like a nice place to catch up with friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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