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  • Writer's pictureLillian Hull

Moving Up and Moving In - 5 Ways to Make Their Apartment Your Home



Finally, you and your partner are ready to live together. If you are getting a new place together it should be a fairly easy transition as long as you guys can communicate efficiently and effectively. However, moving into one of your current places can be a little harder.


What's the difference? You must be the one that owns the apartment. You already have your space! The biggest difference between moving together and one partner moving in with the other is that the first way you make space together - the other the person moving in is forced to find space.


If you haven't read my post about how to easily get a job, then you didn't hear that I am unfortunately getting laid off for the second time in a year. The flip side of this is that I get to move in with my boyfriend! This is a very exciting thing but even still we have had several conversations to ensure it was the right decision and to properly prepare ourselves for how this is going to work. I did want to move in and have my sudden abundance of items around the apartment to make him feel pushed out, just as I didn't want to feel like I didn't have my own style in the place.


Hopefully you've helped make room in the bedroom and bathroom closets, but what about their stuff? What furniture pieces can they bring or can you buy together? What ways can you incorporate both your styles? So glad you asked!


1. Agree on What Furniture to Throw Out

Both parties should be throwing out some pieces of furniture to make room or to decide on what items to bring to the apartment. One party alone should not be forced to get rid of all their belongs. Whose couch is nicer or a better fit for the area? This matters if one partner likes to entertain but the current couch is too small or even if it's too big and cuts the living room from the rest of the apartment. Does the furniture work for both your styles? Again, neither party should feel like their home doesn't reflect them and this may mean some pieces of furniture or decor have to go!


2. Agree on What Furniture to Keep

Obviously the other side of the coin is to figure out what each party is keeping. In our case, we are keeping majority of his furniture. His couch is bigger and fits perfectly in the space, the rectangular dinning table works better than my oval shaped one. However, my coffee table and desk make a great addition as he didn't have either. Also, I have more shelving to bring so their will be space for storage around the apartment for both of our use.


3. Get Some Items Together New

To unite your styles, new items should be brought in to ensure that both parties are satisfied with the decor and overall style of the home. This could be as simple as new bedding or as crazy as a new couch! Anything to make sure both styles are reflected in the home. This will also make the transition easier for the person moving in because they will feel like they put their touch on it rather than literally moving into an already lived in space.


4. Paint or Wallpaper

Most likely since someone has been living in this space, the apartment will look noticeably lived in. Painting or putting wallpaper up can really breathe new life into a space and make it feel like a fresh start together - rather than walking into a movie theater in the middle of it and wondering how it got to this point.


5. Establish Routine

Looks aren't the only thing that make up a home. If both of you wake up at the same time and one of you listens to heavy metal while you shower and the other meditates first thing in the morning - this won't work. Make sure both of you can make a routine work that doesn't vastly differ from what you normally do. Thankfully my partner and I leave for work and get home from work at different times so we don't have routines that clash. The one thing both of us have gotten into our routine that can not be changed is breakfast on Sundays. Otherwise we have been flexible with each other to make sure the others normalcy is not effected.


The moral of the story is that you need to share the space. Make it both your spaces even if it was originally only one of yours. Make it home to both of you instead of letting your partner live in the corners of your home.

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