Get It Tidy With These Easy Steps

Unless your sole roommate is your pet kitty, pooch or crocodile, you probably don’t think their messes are ‘cute.’

In fact, your living partner is a disaster. And you HATE it!

Sure, you have your messy days, but you aren’t leaving your clothes strewn about, your dirty dishes in the sink and you like to take a shower in a clean bathroom. Living with another person can definitely be difficult, and a messy roommate makes for annoying company.

Here are some ways you can get your messy roommate to clean up their act:

1. Be Direct
It can be hard at first, especially if you aren’t that well acquainted yet. Your roommate may not realize that you have a problem with their messy ways. Sit them down with some beverages [disclaimer: alcohol makes friends] in a comfortable setting. Then, try to use humor to lighten the situation. Tell them that their stuff is starting to have a life of its own and you saw a pile of garbage walking around last night, for example. Joke that the producers of Hoarders have called, and you’re seriously considering inviting them in for a shoot. A talk might also reveal the root of the problem. Why is your roommate a messy one? Find out the reason for their messiness. Sometimes, people are just messy. Other times, they leave their trash out constantly to "get back at" a roommate for something in the past. Figure out if this is his or her personality, or if it is a way of showing hatred. Talking it out can be invaluable.

2. It Takes Two
Or so the saying goes. Make a game plan. Decide with your roommate to take turns washing the dishes (all of them), vacuuming, picking up garbage and taking out the garbage. Make sure this schedule works for your roommate. Don't just decide things on your own. Making a cleaning schedule on your roommate agreement may not keep your roommate cleaning every week, but it will be a guideline you can both use. Additionally, it is much easier to see another person’s mess. Take a long hard look around your shared space. You might be surprised by how much of the clutter (although you may not consider it as such) is your own.

3. Pile It On
If your roommate still doesn't clean up, take a more drastic measure. The “Mom” approach. Pick up all of your roommate's mess and dump it into a cardboard box. Place the box on her bed with a note saying, "I cleaned up. Didn't know what to do with your stuff. It's in here." Keep this up every time you clean up your common area. Eventually, your roommate will get tired of her best shirt getting dumped in a box with pizza crusts.

4. Pick Your Battles
Remember, your roommate has the right to leave her own personal area as messy as she likes. You don't really have the right to make her change an area that's not yours. Put a curtain down the middle of your dorm room, or close your roommate's bedroom door if you don't like looking at the mess. There is no point in picking a fight when the easier alternative is to turn a blind eye.

5. Set The Example
Clean! If, after a week's worth of reminders, your roommate still doesn't clean their moldy food out of the fridge, you may need to do it yourself. Take away the offending trash (after all, this is for your own safety! You don't want mold in your own food), then leave a note to mention that you found mold/trash/something disgusting, and they should keep an eye on these things. Sometimes, roommates do pick up on this and either realize that it's an expression of anger or else notice how easy it is to keep organized and clean. They just might follow suit.

Photo source.



 

Hilary Lauren Fox
		About the author:
		Sometimes she's a redhead, sometimes she's a blonde. Some days it's H&M, and on other days, it's Chanel. What ever the mood, she is a woman who is passionate about the arts, fashion and social media. Born in Toronto, Hilary Lauren Fox is an only child to artist parents - mom was an illustrator and pattern maker, dad was a painter.  Rather then studying the arts as her parents hoped for, Hilary opted for a degree in psychology with dreams of working in a clinical setting. But after graduating she realized that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and that the arts was in her blood, applying her education within the art and fashion world.
	Read More >>