Sharing an apartment with a friend can be a high-risk, high-reward situation. You get the comfort of knowing many of your friend’s habits before you move into the apartment together, so unexpected surprises like suddenly discovering your friend has insomnia and a serious addiction to reality TV likely won’t occur. You also know that you and your friend get along, which is likely why you’d decide to share an apartment together.
Living in an apartment with a friend can put stress on your relationship, so it’s important to take steps to ensure that you don’t lose your buddy when you gain a roomie. Here are some tips for doing just that:
Don’t Be Afraid to Talk
So your roommate leaves a mountain of dishes in the sink after dinner every night. Think she’ll get the hint if you wash them? Think again. You’ll start feeling resentful doing double duty and your roommate will likely not even notice. In situations like this, it’s much better to talk about it. Don’t hesitate to establish some rules about things like cleanliness and quiet time. You don’t have to do anything draconian, like write them up and post them everywhere, but talking about what your expectations are with your friend, especially before you two move in together, will make any future disputes much simpler to defuse.
Do Apartment-Oriented Tasks Together
This can really help alleviate the pain of things like chores and decoration, since both you and your friend are invested in getting the task done. Not only does doing work together ensure that you’ll both be splitting the load, it also makes it easier to get done. After all, you’re hanging out with your friend! What’s not to like about that?
Compromise, Compromise, Compromise
Here lies the crux of any successful roommate pairing: You have to make sacrifices. If you’re used to living in an ice box, while your friend’s more accustomed to sauna temperatures, you two will likely have to split the difference and keep the apartment at a middling temperature. If you’re a neat freak and your friend’s a complete mess, you’ll need to become a little more lax with your standards, while your roommate will have to pick up after herself a bit more. Obviously, you’d rather have everything exactly your way, but compromise is just part of being a good roommate, and you wouldn’t want to be anything less than that to your friend.
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