apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I said "other" because my bf is at my place 4-5 nights a week and does cooking and cleaning and hanging out and stuff, but since he owns a business like two blocks from his parents, and my place is about 30 mins away, he's also over there a few nights a week. So it's sort of half and half. It's nice to have the alone time, but it's also super nice to have him there!

I live alone, but jeez I wish it weren't that way.

Now excuse me while I go weep quietly on my pillow.

I live with my boyfriend, and have for about a year and a half now; we dated for a little over a year before moving in together. We both tend towards pack-ratiness and clutter, so I've been taking advantage of the past relatively low-stress month to really make a concerted effort to get rid of a bunch of stuff. He also prefers everything big -- grew up in Kentucky -- whereas I feel like big furniture makes our apartment seem tiny, so sometimes he'll come home with some gigantic piece of furniture that he salvaged from the trash and I'm like, "Um, nice, that can go in the parlor of THE ESTATE WE DON'T HAVE."

We work those things out as they come up, though, so the only recurring problem that seems to consistently irritate both of us and defy any attempts at resolution is washing the dishes. We both despise it, but I am driven crazy by dishes sitting for more than a few hours whereas he's happy to let them sit until the sink fills up -- which means I usually end up washing them because they bother me first, and then I seethe after a few weeks of it, and so on. I suspect that if we ever upgrade to another home, we'll need one that allows dishwashers.

My boyfriend and I recently bought a house together after 3 years of dating (and one year of sharing an apartment). All our friends are getting married, but we are perfectly happy being bound by mortgage instead.

the couple in the photo could learn a few organizational/storage/design tips from Apartment Therapy. :-P

I'm surprised so many people live alone. How do you guys afford it? Do you live out in the boonies (New Jersey)?

I moved in with my boyfriend after two years - we were both sick of our roommates, so it was somewhat real-estate motivated. We lived together in a 500 s.f. studio for a year and a half and decided if we could survive (and even enjoy!) that, we were meant to be. We just bought a 770 s.f. one-bedroom condo a month ago to take advantage of the slumping real estate market in our area. We didn't want to miss the bargain. I wonder how many other couples were brought together by a mutual desire to get in while the getting's good? I can't imagine that signing a marriage certificate is any scarier than signing your life away on a mortgage! My situation has worked out great - living together and signing leases and mortgages has confirmed and solidified our compatibility. It is interesting how real estate can affect your life like that.

*heather leaf* - I thought the exact same thing about the clutter :)

"I'm surprised so many people live alone. How do you guys afford it? Do you live out in the boonies (New Jersey)?"

No, I live near downtown San Francisco in a rent-controlled apartment.

I first moved in 13 years ago with a roommate - after I had a BF move in after the dot-com bust for 18 months (not a good idea...) and out again, my old roommate finally left after 8 years there.

For a couple years I had a friend who commuted from LA staying in the spare bedroom 2-3 nights a week for a couple years paying 1/3 rent - Since that ended I've been alone and loving it!

I've been considering having a friend move in lately, but when I consider the loss of privacy and closet space I'm begining to think that staying alone isn't worth the reduced rent.

heatherleaf, I feel guilty admiting that I thought the same thing, especially since the girl in the pic is an acquaintance. Worse yet, is that I really thought, "how old are they that they still have those plastic containers as furniture in their livingroom?!"

"I'm surprised so many people live alone. How do you guys afford it? Do you live out in the boonies (New Jersey)?"

I live alone in Austin, Texas. Many of my friends live alone, and due to relatively low rents, this probably won't be a situation that will change for me anytime soon.

Well, unless that date I have on Saturday really pans out.

I clicked other. I'm married, but I'm a Foreign Service Officer and my husband is in the Marine Corps so we haven't yet managed to live together. Right now, I'm in DC and he's in Pensacola, which is much better than the Bosnia/Japan pairing from a couple of years ago. He'll retire in under three years, and we'll finally get to move in together somewhere in the world!

i chose other. I have my own, (rent controlled) apartment in Hollywood but my boyfriend is over about 6.5 night per week. his work is way closer to my place and he has roommates while I don't so it just makes sense.

I live alone in a great neighborhood in NYC thanks to a rent stabilized place I've had for over 14 years, but it's too small to ever live with someone. Which is probably why I am single.

Here in the midwest where there's a lot of space and a lot more housing choices I live in my own home and the guy I'm dating lives in his own place. "Love me, Love my Apartment" really made me think about how owning your own places can influence your relationship choices. I can't imagine leaving my Petit Boite a Bjoux.

I've lived in my apartment since I got out of college. Twelve years alone, then 17 years with my husband, who passed away last year, so now it's gone from "my" to "our" to "my" again.

Someday I'll have to post a pictorial history somewhere of that "my" to "our" to "my" thing.

I thought the same thing about the plastic containers!