Not used to sharing your space with a guy? After you get over the cuteness of flipping through the Ikea catalogue together and calling it our place, you may find that you were both pretty set in your old, single-living ways. Try these solutions to common cohabitation problems and you might find you enjoy the coupled life after all.
The issue: Your queen-sized love nest is starting to feel like a queen-sized insomnia cage.
The solution: So it turns out you don’t actually like sharing the bed. You might be out of luck if he routinely spread-eagles the whole thing, but we’ve got the answer if he’s more of a blanket hog (or if you want to be). While separate beds may be too extreme and aren’t an option for most of us anyway, you might find that separate linens will give you the feeling of space you crave. Snuggling up with a duvet for one should get you back to your old comfortable sleeping habits.
The issue: You have different ideas about how much money to spend on household items, from decor to food.
The solution: There’s always someone who thinks that $50 olive oil is a good idea. If you have vastly different spending habits, it might be a good idea to rethink how you share money at this stage (especially if you’re not married). Consider setting up a joint bank account for rent, bills, and basic groceries, and paying for your own respective guilty splurges. As long as he’s not living grossly out of his means (and vice versa), you should both be able to overlook a few pricey purchases here or there.
The issue: The old clean freak/free spirit match-up “ a tale as old as 80s sitcoms.
The solution: The fact is, you and your boyfriend are essentially new roommates. A romantic history and a habit of sleeping together won’t erase the basic annoyances of domestic life. While a chore timetable is probably a bit insulting, it might be easier to divvy out some of the big chores verbally, so you both automatically know what’s expected of you. Maybe you always do the laundry, he takes on vacuuming, and you try to do dishes together when you’re both around. If you’re the clean freak in the pairing, try to be happy with delegating a few major jobs to him, and dealing with your more OCDish priorities on your own (example: magazines remaining perpendicular to the coffee table edge “ not his problem).
