You can make friends with your roommates, but you can’t make roommates out of friends. I mean I guess it is possible, it’s just very unlikely, unless you take some preemptive measures. In most cases, you end up irritating each other so much that it ultimately results in a bad situation for the both of you; sometimes you may even ruin your friendship. Here are a couple guidelines to maintaining a good relationship with your roommates, whether they were previous friends or just acquaintances.
- Establish rules that you would with strangers. For example, make simple rules such as if you use the dishes clean them or put them in the dishwasher after you use them. Make sure it is known that this won’t be tolerated, because they will pile up!
- Set boundaries. Make sure it is clear what is and isn’t okay with you. If your buddy thinks it’s okay to eat your food, address the problem right away before it gets worse. If you don’t say anything right away, the problem will perpetuate.
- Develop a system of recurring chores. A great example would be to make a set schedule at the beginning of the month of who takes out the trash. If a roommate goes home or out of town that weekend, make sure he or she switches shifts with someone. Treat it like a job.
- Be mindful of your roommate’s schedule. If he or she has a test the next day, it wouldn’t be nice of you to have a ton of friends over for mid-week, binge drinking. Hopefully this encourages them to extend you the same courtesy.
Most of all, if you do decide to room with one of your friends, just know that it may be a tough road ahead. If you act like everything is okay, nothing will ever be okay, so-to-speak. Be patient and considerate, but also be objective. Find a good balance between the two. Just because he or she is your friend, doesn’t make it okay to keep you up late all night partying while depleting your pretzel and chip supply in the process.
Picture Courtesy of: JasondeFillippo