Merging Your Belongings and His, Articles, Sex & Love

Moving in with your guy is a big step, but what may be harder than the decision itself is the actual mixing of your individual possessions. Cohabitating with a man—and his stuff—may seem daunting, but just follow our guidelines to ensure there is little mess and disputes so that you may cohabitate in harmony!

Be practical. Do you really need two television sets, two microwaves, or two couches? Go through your respective inventory and see what duplicates you may have. Keep whatever is in better shape or goes best with the décor, and put what’s left up for sale on Craigslist or Kijiji for some extra cash.

Let him keep some of his stuff. You don’t have much room at your new place, and he has that baseball cap collection that you don’t particularly like. It’s easy to dismiss some of his possessions, but if they mean a lot to him, be as accommodating as you can—within reason, of course. You want him to feel welcome and at home, after all!

Learn to let go of some of yours. If your guy has to give up some things, you should be able to do the same. Relationships are all about compromise, so get rid of a piece of furniture in exchange for his, or toss out some clothes that you don’t wear anymore to give him some extra closet space.

Combine your styles for an eclectic look. You may think some of his artwork won’t look great alongside your oak furniture, but think again! Blending your stuff is the perfect way to come up with a décor that’s unique. Be creative: blend styles and colours that you would’ve never thought would look good together, paint and move furniture around; you can even change the wall colour to give your new place a different look and feel.

Purchase something new together. To make the transition new and exciting, buy a little something together to commemorate the moment. You have your own stuff, he’s bringing in his, but it’s nice to have something that belongs to the both of you. One example is maybe buying a bed together, since that is something that you will be sharing.

Know what belongs to whom. It’s probably not ideal to mar the happy occasion with what ifs, but it’s suggested that a couple sit down and compile a list of what belongs to whom and what was purchased together, as well as each item’s cost. Having this evidence will come in handy if a break up ever occurs, and will prevent any fighting over who takes what.