Sharing an apartment with another person can have it’s perks: lower rent, the comfort of being around another person, etc. But there can also be some bad things about having a roommate — and we want to help you avoid all of those bad things. Here’s a quick how to on sharing spaces with roommates:
Split Your Space
We’re not talking putting down a strip of duct tape that cuts all the rooms in half and your roommate can only stay on one side. We’re talking classy splitting of space — room dividers. You don’t need a lot of these, but it makes it easier to divvy up some of that open space in your apartment. These are seriously useful if you each have friends over at the same time and don’t want to go into your bedrooms or whatever.
Boost Storage Options
Using fun boxes and bins in different cabinets and closets so that you can keep your stuff and your roommate’s stuff separated. This way, you’re both aware of each other’s things and who’s is who’s. You can make it fun with labels and different colors so that you know what’s yours and what’s theirs. This saves space, helps you stay organized and avoids any kind of conflict about who’s is who’s!
Share A Calendar
This is such a handy thing to have — get a big calendar and put it in either your kitchen or an area that you both spend time in. There you can put your work schedule, after hours activities and even chores to be done and bills that are due. It makes life a little easier and you’ll be aware of when your roomie is planning on having friends over!
Be Flexible
Even with all the physical things you can do to help share space with your roomie, it’s important to remember some tips you can practice on a day to day basis. First off, remember to be flexible with your roomie. Not all the rules have to be set in stone and you have to pick your battles.
Communicate
The biggest take away to sharing space with another person is your ability to communicate. Speak up when your roommate oversteps their boundaries or takes your space up. Don’t be a doormat and establish an open line of communication right from the beginning so there aren’t any problems that fester until it explodes.
Have any other tips we can pass on? Let us know! And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!
