Thinking About Getting a Housemate? Here's How to Get Your Home Ready
More of us now than ever rent out our spare rooms, but what are the savvy design tricks for a harmonious modern house share?
One knock-on effect of the recent recession is the rise in live-in landlords – in the past two years, numbers have more than doubled. Perhaps you’re one of them, or are considering taking in a housemate? It’s something I did for years and the experience taught me there’s a knack to planning an interior for adults leading separate lives, but living together.
So just how do you divvy up a modern home in style to make sure everyone has all the space they need, as well as enough privacy? Both are key considerations for domestic comfort, so try these practical but beautiful interiors ideas to help you and your new cohabitee live in stylish synchronicity.
So just how do you divvy up a modern home in style to make sure everyone has all the space they need, as well as enough privacy? Both are key considerations for domestic comfort, so try these practical but beautiful interiors ideas to help you and your new cohabitee live in stylish synchronicity.
Split your space
Room dividers can also help to create zones in larger rooms or open-plan spaces, to allow different members of the household to do their own thing. These are especially brilliant if you each have friends over at the same time.
Room dividers can also help to create zones in larger rooms or open-plan spaces, to allow different members of the household to do their own thing. These are especially brilliant if you each have friends over at the same time.
Boost living room storage
With that spare room full of your stuff gone, you’ll need to create additional storage in the rest of your home. High-level floating shelving that stretches from wall to wall looks great – painted the same colour as the walls it creates an architectural detail – and can stash heaps of books, magazine holders full of domestic filing and good-looking storage boxes without compromising space.
With that spare room full of your stuff gone, you’ll need to create additional storage in the rest of your home. High-level floating shelving that stretches from wall to wall looks great – painted the same colour as the walls it creates an architectural detail – and can stash heaps of books, magazine holders full of domestic filing and good-looking storage boxes without compromising space.
Seek out a shelf nook
Where else could you carve out space for more storage? Look beyond the obvious places to add bookshelves: the littlest room in the house can sometimes pack in a surprising amount of shelf space. This dinky-sized library looks cute, too.
Where else could you carve out space for more storage? Look beyond the obvious places to add bookshelves: the littlest room in the house can sometimes pack in a surprising amount of shelf space. This dinky-sized library looks cute, too.
Make your kitchen multi-functional
Even a small change, such as adding a sofa to the kitchen, can create two distinct living areas, so you and your housemate aren’t on top of each other.
Adding a TV to a little lounging nook is a good idea, too, if you’re not in an open-plan space – it removes the risk of fighting (or nurturing silent resentment) over the remote.
Even a small change, such as adding a sofa to the kitchen, can create two distinct living areas, so you and your housemate aren’t on top of each other.
Adding a TV to a little lounging nook is a good idea, too, if you’re not in an open-plan space – it removes the risk of fighting (or nurturing silent resentment) over the remote.
Create the ultimate bedroom
If communal space is very limited, it could be worth moving out of the best room in the house and turning it instead into a luxurious, multi-use space for your housemate. Make it somewhere he or she will actively want to hang out. Consider how you could incorporate a TV (in the end of the bed, as here?), a desk, a lounging area and even an en-suite or kitchenette.
If communal space is very limited, it could be worth moving out of the best room in the house and turning it instead into a luxurious, multi-use space for your housemate. Make it somewhere he or she will actively want to hang out. Consider how you could incorporate a TV (in the end of the bed, as here?), a desk, a lounging area and even an en-suite or kitchenette.
Include hard-working furniture
Whether or not the all-singing, all-dancing bedroom is an option, there are plenty of ways to unlock more space in even the smallest of rooms. Here, a bedhead works hard, becoming a bedside table, storage unit and shelves in one, with space behind for a hanging rail.
When planning your new room or reconfiguring the rest of your home, do factor in somewhere for your housemate’s bulkier items to live, too – they’re bound to arrive with a suitcase, for example.
Whether or not the all-singing, all-dancing bedroom is an option, there are plenty of ways to unlock more space in even the smallest of rooms. Here, a bedhead works hard, becoming a bedside table, storage unit and shelves in one, with space behind for a hanging rail.
When planning your new room or reconfiguring the rest of your home, do factor in somewhere for your housemate’s bulkier items to live, too – they’re bound to arrive with a suitcase, for example.
Find space for a desk
Whether you or your housemate work from home, or just need space to catch up with emails and admin on a laptop, stand-alone desk space means you don’t all need to be typing on the sofa, kitchen table or in bed.
An old-fashioned bureau that hides desk paraphernalia with a flip of its top can also be handy for work/life separation, especially if the bedroom is the only place for it.
Whether you or your housemate work from home, or just need space to catch up with emails and admin on a laptop, stand-alone desk space means you don’t all need to be typing on the sofa, kitchen table or in bed.
An old-fashioned bureau that hides desk paraphernalia with a flip of its top can also be handy for work/life separation, especially if the bedroom is the only place for it.
Shelve your space
You don’t need a huge home – or, indeed, a stand-alone desk – to make space for a little work perch. Tuck a desk-height shelf into dead space, and breathe life into a previously unloved corner.
You don’t need a huge home – or, indeed, a stand-alone desk – to make space for a little work perch. Tuck a desk-height shelf into dead space, and breathe life into a previously unloved corner.
Streamline your social lives
You’re planning a big dinner party while, unknown to you, your housemate has pencilled in a romantic night in with his or her partner… Such clashes can cause unnecessary discord. A stylish wall planner or blackboard will help everyone to create the space to do their own thing.
TELL US
Do you share your home with a housemate, or even extended family? Please share your tips for stylish communal living in the Comments.
MORE
Still Living With Your Parents? Make Your Bedroom Feel Like Home
How to Matchmake Two Completely Different Decor Styles in One Abode
Living Alone? Here’s How to Love Your Single Life
You’re planning a big dinner party while, unknown to you, your housemate has pencilled in a romantic night in with his or her partner… Such clashes can cause unnecessary discord. A stylish wall planner or blackboard will help everyone to create the space to do their own thing.
TELL US
Do you share your home with a housemate, or even extended family? Please share your tips for stylish communal living in the Comments.
MORE
Still Living With Your Parents? Make Your Bedroom Feel Like Home
How to Matchmake Two Completely Different Decor Styles in One Abode
Living Alone? Here’s How to Love Your Single Life
In an age of open-plan living, it may not be immediately obvious how to accommodate a new person with their own timetable and social life. Clever zoning is key: consider how you could rearrange your communal space so it will comfortably accommodate multiple activities and inhabitants working, resting, eating or cooking in harmony.
Look out for small-scale furniture if space is tight – lots of brands now have a dedicated range of compact or flexible pieces. And shop creatively – a small round metal garden table can easily double as an affordable dining or laptop spot for one. Comfy armchairs are good, too, since you may not always feel like sharing the sofa.