How To Survive Living With Your Boyfriend

You and your beau have decided to take the leap and move in together. By now, you’ve probably realised that there’s A LOT more to it than just moving your stuff to a new place – like finding new digs, sorting through your stuff to decide what stays and what goes, talking about money and how much rent you both can afford, and getting mentally prepared to share a space with each other 24/7. Phew, sound’s very tiring, but we’ve been there and luckily for you we’ve put together this handy girl-guide to make your move a little easier and less stressful.

Make it your own

Any good love shack worth its bath of rose petals looks and feels like the people in it. Blend your rents’ furniture donations with stuff you’re both really into. Try and keep an open mind when it comes to clashes in taste – although it’s perfectly okay to suggest his collection of glass-framed insects be displayed in the spare room. Obvs.

Break the rules

Hang out your laundry in the dining room. Make a bed of pillows and blankets on the living room floor. Make love in the kitchen. Sleep in the garden. Riverdance down the hallway. You get the picture. Free yourself from the confined courtesies of share house living and tap into the anarchy of your new private playground paradise. #yay

Be your own person

Relationships in general are a soft-shoe shuffle between exercising your independence and being joined at the hip to another person – a dance which only intensifies when you live together. Our advice? Hang onto a keen sense of who YOU are as an individual… And make sure you’ve got some cool shit going on outside the love nest. Got it?

Have friends over

With all those living room floor nests and fridges full of meat & veg, it’s easy to forget about the outside world. However this is a one-way ticket to co-dependent creepville. Keep it healthy with a steady flow of social activity through your shack’s front door.

Don’t do everything together

You already spend a huge chunk of time together at home and running errands. While it’s deffo important to have a date night here and there, it’s really crucial to not do absolutely everything together, y’hear? It’s a surefire way to get on each other’s nerves and possibly lead to an argument. So take time to hang with your lady pals and even more importantly, take time with yourself.

By Jennifer Conway.

• boyfriend
• Dating
• love
• Relationships