Sharing apartments...

[bzborow1]

Hi all,

 

I have a rather weird situation to deal with, well perhaps not as weird as I think. A friend of mine whom i've known my whole life and I decided to get an apartment...The problem, however, is that in addition to photo's of his GF in his bedroom he's started putting photo's of her//them in our living room. Am I being too harsh to find this weird? I mean it's shared space, and if I bring over a date (i'm single), wouldn't they be as weirded out by my roommate having pictures of his GF all over the place?

 

Am I wrong to think that stuff should be kept private in the bedroom? I wouldnt very well put family photos all over the place in a shared apartment, i'd keep them in my room. Just with all the photos and such it creates the impression this is his apt and i'm just rooming which is not the case. Am I being too harsh? What's the best way to handle this?

[arwen]

I think you have every right to ask him to limit the pics of his gf in the livingroom. In fact, I would not have a single pic of a bf in a shared space, that's part of a SHARED house, I think.

 

Ilse.

[Jinx]

My outlook from what I've read, it is overboard on his behalf. When sharing an apartment with an individual, you treat it as such. He has his room, and you've yours for individual possessions and expression. In the case of "decorating" main portions of an apartment, such things should only be allowed when agreed fully by both parties.

 

If he is decking the halls with photos of his gf, and you care to bring other individuals over, it may indeed appear weird. If you bring over someone (gf lets say) it may cause an uncomfortable atmosphere in one form or another.

 

The best policy when sharing with another regardless of dorm, apartment, home etc... is setting limits of what is acceptable and what isn't it is part yours, part his, if you don't speak up and ask him to tone down the behavior or come to some agreement it will get worse. People like that have a tendency to continue pushing and pushing. Without you speaking up and allowing him this absolute freedom, who knows what may pop up next for interior decorating.