If you could make a list of everything that roommates fight about, the first would probably be sharing housework and the second would be paying bills and rent on time. The third, however, would almost definitely be decorating choices in the public spaces of your apartment. While most roommates work with the decorating decisions made by the other roommate if they moved in second, when both parties move in together and have an equal say over decorating decisions, problems can erupt almost right away. Who pays for what and who decides what goes where? Here are a few rules of thumb you can follow.
First, don’t expect to split the cost of decorating 50-50. You live with a roommate, not a spouse, and they probably aren’t going to want to spend the money that you do to decorate the public spaces in your apartment, especially if they see themselves moving in a few months time. For things like a sofa or a television, the smart thing to do is to take turns paying for things. Since you are both going to be using those things, one of you can pay for the living room television and the other person can pay for the television stand and the sofa so that the costs are about even. Besides, if you each pay for half of everything, how do you divide things up once one of you finds other living arrangements?
If the two of you have drastically conflicting style preferences, try to buy furniture and decorations that are as neutral as possible. The last thing you want is for half of the apartment to look one way while the other half looks completely different. Try to find one style you both like and then use that as a template for the rest of the place.
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