It's a wrap - flatmates foil student

Hamish Chang arrived home from a week away to find his mates had covered almost everything he owned. Photo / Supplied

Hamish Chang has revenge on his mind, after returning home to his student flat in Dunedin to find his every worldly possession tightly wrapped in tinfoil.

The prank was sprung by Mr Chang's flatmates when he arrived home on Sunday to his George St flat from a week in Christchurch and pushed open the door to his bedroom.

Inside was the gleaming, shiny handiwork that had taken his five flatmates - and another friend - more than a week, 600m of foil and 30 hours of labour to complete.

No matter how big or small, hardly a single item of Mr Chang's property had escaped the tinfoil treatment - from the walls and ceiling to his desk, bed and pillows, and even the individual pins holding up the posters on his walls.

"The attention to detail here has been outstanding," Mr Chang, 20, a third-year accounting student, said yesterday.

One of Mr Chang's flatmates, Vinnie Schumacher, 21, a third-year law student from Wellington, said the flatmates set to work on October 17 and worked for a few hours each day.

They were supposed to be studying for upcoming exams, but Mr Chang decided to make a quick trip back to Christchurch to visit his family, "and left his door unlocked", Mr Schumacher said.

"We were mulling about it and joked about it and then the next thing we know it was in full swing and it was going like crazy. It's been a good procrastination tool."

Flatmate Joshua Richardson, 21, even set up a laptop to take time-lapsed photographs every 30 seconds, as the room was slowly transformed over the following week.

The results were uploaded to the video-sharing website YouTube yesterday morning, and a few emails to both national television networks helped to ensure the prank was complete, Mr Schumacher said.

Mr Chang had "taken it like a champ. He was stoked it got done, but probably not so stoked it was him," Mr Schumacher said.

Mr Chang agreed, saying he was "blown away" by the results.

"I walked in, just opened the door and it was so bright because it's just like the tinfoil and the light. It's been pretty awesome, actually."

But his flatmates should watch their backs - Mr Chang says revenge is coming "without a doubt".

- Otago Daily Times