“Your House, Your Rules”: The Internet Backs This Person For Banning Roommate’s GF From The Kitchen

Living with roommates can feel like camp in a way—sharing laughs and meals together, spending quality time getting to know each other or bonding. However, sometimes it can be way less fun, especially when chores come in the way.

That’s what started bothering redditor u/FriesofPumpkin, who was tired of the messy kitchen in the house. But the problem wasn’t the person they were sharing a home with; it was the roommate’s girlfriend leaving the mess. Scroll down to find the full story in the OP’s words below.

Living with roommates can be fun; coming home after a long day to a friendly face and a “how are you?” can be all it takes to lift up one’s spirit. However, coming home to a mess someone else made can bring it down equally fast. That’s why it’s important to choose wisely when it comes to who you share your space with.

According to the National Apartment Association, those who share homes with classmates seem to be the happiest with their choice of roommates, with over 80% of such people considering themselves extremely satisfied. The most common arrangement, though, is friends living together.

Apartment Guide suggested that when looking for a roommate, the majority of people opt for someone of the same gender; nearly 79% of men live with males, while roughly 70% of women share their space with females. Statista unveiled that back in 2021, 4.6% of women in the US aged 25 to 34 lived with a roommate, compared to 8.2% of their male counterparts.

Apartment Guide also revealed that keeping the shared spaces clean was the main reason for tension among roommates; that makes the OP one of the many having to deal with cleanliness-related issues. Other major headaches were related to rent, communication, and violations of personal space respectively.

But cleanliness is far from the only thing affected by sharing a common space, as so are people. A piece at The New York Times pointed out that people you live with can significantly influence your actions or well-being as well. For instance, if you live with someone following a strict diet or exercise plan, you might develop certain related habits as well; or if your housemate is dealing with strong negative emotions, you might start feeling somewhat down yourself.

According to sociologist Nicholas A. Christakis, “Each happy friend a person has increases that person’s probability of being happy by 9 percent and each unhappy friend decreases it by 7 percent,” the New York Times reports. Presumably, roommates can lift up one’s spirits as well, but in order for everyone to be happy, it might be necessary to keep the house clean.