7 tips anyone with housemates can’t live without
Your home should be your sanctuary: somewhere you can relax during difficult times, unwind after a long day, or recuperate after a long night. Regardless of where you live and who you’re living with, everyone deserves a comfortable abode within which they’re respected and valued. The following eight tips will help ensure tranquillity amongst you and your housemates.
- Choose wisely
Let’s face it—some people just aren’t meant to live together. Sharing space with someone you’re incompatible with is a recipe for disaster. It’s probably not a good idea to move in with a neat freak if you’re messy, or cohabit with a party animal if you’re in bed by 10:00 each night. Use common sense, no matter how anxious you may be to find a home. Also, remember that just because you’re friends with someone does not mean you’ll be successful housemates!
- Share the essentials
Always being the person to buy the toilet paper, or milk, or the dish soap can be an irritating situation to find yourself in. To avoid this, we suggest asking each housemate to contribute a certain amount of money at the beginning of each month to cover the cost of the items you share. Work out how much, on average, you spend on these essentials and simply divide this figure by the total number of residents. Whatever you have left over can be used for next month, or set aside for any unforeseen house expenses.
- Split the cleaning duties
Is there anything quite as rage-inducing as a sink-load of your housemate’s dirty dishes? If you happen to be living with someone who isn’t the tidiest, or even if you just prefer to run your house like a well-oiled machine, dividing the cleaning duties is the perfect way to ensure everyone does their part. If you want to be EXTRA organised (which may be beneficial when living with more than one other person) you could make a rota outlining who does what which weeks.
- Set some rules
Rules, when followed, can be the key to a harmonious household. We advise sitting down with your housemate(s) and having an honest discussion about what you want/need in a home. If you have a housemate that needs to get up each morning at 6:30, it’s probably a good idea that music is not blaring after 10:00. Lots of this will be common sense, but airing your wishes will help eradicate potential issues.
- Get out of the house!
If you’re cooped up for too long and don’t get out enough, you’re bound to become stir-crazy. Issues can escalate, pet peeves are accentuated and fights are more likely when you’re spending too much time within the four walls of your home. As lovely as your house and housemate may be, you need to have time elsewhere and apart from each other if you want a balanced, peaceful living situation.
- Do something nice for the home together
Taking pride in the space you occupy will give you each a sense of responsibility as well as accomplishment! Doing things like keeping an herb garden, investing in some furniture/décor, or rearranging the sitting room will not only prove a nice bonding activity for you and your housemates, but will also help make your home more enjoyable! Additionally, increasing the appeal of your home motivate everyone to take good care of it (a win-win!).
- Communicate
All the above suggestions can be helpful, but perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is to communicate. Whether there’s something bothering you, changes you want to implement, reservations you’re having, etc, you’re entitled to voice your feelings. Handling things in a mature, productive manner is simple through communication and respect.
Image via hellogiggles.com
