Thinking About Sharing a Home.
Start here if you are wondering whether you could share a home with someone who is not family. Draw on the experience you already have, rethink what the relationship could be, and learn what compatibility really means.
Drawing on Your Experience
2 guides
Whatever you remember, good or bad, is useful information. You are not starting from zero.
Remember When You Had a Roommate?
A college dorm, a first apartment, military housing, a boarding house: you may have more experience sharing a home than you realize. Here is how to put it to use.
Knowing your routines is not a reason you cannot share a home. It is what helps you find someone whose life fits alongside yours.
Are You Too Set in Your Ways to Share a Home?
Decades of living your own way can make sharing a home sound impossible. Here is how to tell the habits that comfort you from the needs that matter, and what research says about adapting later in life.
Rethinking the Relationship
3 guides
A meaningful relationship does not have to be a family relationship. It can be one you define together, from the start.
Could Living With Someone Who Isn't Family Be Easier Than You Think?
Family relationships come with history, roles, and expectations. A home share starts without them. Here is what that can mean, and what it cannot promise.
Clear terms are not a sign of mistrust. They are how you protect a relationship you care about.
Sharing a Home With a Friend or Relative: What to Think Through First
Moving in with a friend, sibling, or cousin can be wonderful, and it can put a treasured relationship at risk. Here are the honest risks, the questions to ask yourself, and how to set it up so it works.
A good home share does not require a best friend. It requires two people who agree on how much of each other's company they want.
You Don't Have to Become Best Friends
Two people sharing a home can be friendly and independent, good company now and then, or close companions. Here is how to think about the kind of relationship you want.
Understanding Compatibility
2 guides
Shared interests make for good conversation. Shared expectations make for a comfortable home.
Compatibility Doesn't Mean Being Alike
Two people do not need the same age, background, or hobbies to share a home well. Here is what research says about similarity, and what tends to matter more.
A questionnaire cannot tell you who to live with. It can help you describe how you live, so the right person can recognize a good fit.
Getting to Know Yourself: Free Tools for Thinking About Compatibility
Free, research-based questionnaires can help you put words to your temperament, daily rhythm, and strengths. Here is how to use them to think about sharing a home, and what they cannot tell you.