When you’re choosing a flatmate on SpareRoom, you don’t exactly think that you’re going to be forced into lockdown with them.
Flatshares with strangers beyond the age of 21 are undeniably tiresome.
Alas, as a young creative living in London, flat-sharing has just become a fact of life. Living with friends is one thing, but as friends grow up and move on, you may soon find yourself living with random people from the internet.
Two years ago, my boyfriend and I both decided to end our separate house-shares with close friends (a lockdown dream scenario) to move in together. Originally, we had planned to rent a flat of our own. However, we both also decided to take a career risk – leaving our stable incomes behind for life as freelancers.
In fear of not being able to find work, we thought it was best to opt for the cheaper option of a flatshare.
As a result, we now live in a three-bedroom house with a friend-of-a-friend and a girl we found on SpareRoom. Overall, I like my flatmates – but after 10 years of living with other people, my boyfriend and I are just over it and ready for our own space.
When the coronavirus lockdown began to look like a very likely scenario, our SpareRoom flatmate seemed elated: ‘Usually you’re always all out doing things with friends,’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s going to be so nice to have everyone together in the house, finally.’
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I wistfully thought back to every other flatshare I’ve spent living with friends. Of course, this pandemic has played out in the house I’d be least happy to spend time locked-down in. Flat-sharing since the age of 18, I’ve been lucky enough to always live with only close friends until now.
It’s not that my flatmates aren’t nice people, but if I had to choose someone out of everyone I’ve lived with to be stuck alongside in a house 24/7 it would either be my best friend since high-school or members of the uni-squad.
Despite my longing for the past, I soon realised that all I could do was embrace the situation – perhaps it could be fun to get to know the people we live with a little bit more.
In light of the impending lockdown, our friend-of-a-friend housemate went back to his family home. So now here we are, two weeks in, with flatmate number two… and her boyfriend.
It all began when, in preparation for the lockdown, my flatmate decided to spruce up the garden with a makeshift pond. To do this, she found a discarded plastic box (filled with dirty rainwater) on the street, dug a hole in the garden, placed the tub in the hole (leaving the rainwater in it) and then surrounded it with a pebble border.
Voila! Alan Titchmarsh eat your heart out.
Meanwhile, our newly spruced up garden is also serving as her hair salon. Over the last three days, our flatmate has given her boyfriend a haircut in three separate phases. Yet as they spend their isolated days in the garden, it seems that my boyfriend and I remain indoors glued to our laptops in search of work opportunities.
Living with people entirely different to you really highlights the variety of human responses to pressured situations. While my friends, all very similar to me in this way, are stressing about the health of everyone they know, loss of work and the knock on effects this will have in a few months time – my flatmate and her boyfriend have adopted the it is what it is attitude, making the most of their extended time together.
I must admit, I’m somewhat jealous of this ability to stay calm in a crisis, now working on their advice to resist indulging myself in every news update and statistic.
Like many others in the country, my flatmate’s also taken to stockpiling. For some unknown reason, her product of choice is butter. After running out of space in the fridge, the excess butter found a new cosy home in the cupboard above the oven.
Needless to say, my boyfriend and I were surprised to discover a strange substance trickling down the extractor fan as the butter melted with the heat of the food on the hob. Luckily, this was something we shared a laugh over – there’s no point in letting the small things unnecessarily enrage you when you’re stuck in a house together.
Despite the slight eccentricity, living in lockdown together has undoubtedly been a bonding experience
To be fair, lockdown does seems to be going pretty well for my flatmate and her boyfriend… judging by the noises we hear a minimum of three times a day from her bedroom and bathroom.
For months before the pandemic broke out, their unbelievably loud sex has been serving as a 2am alarm clock. Maybe the walls in this place are just like paper – but I now know more about their sex life than I ever wished to know. Even the TV doesn’t drown out the sound. I’m sure my friends thought I was exaggerating, until the noise intruded on our lunchtime Houseparty catch up.
However, it turns out that friends imitating your flatmate’s sex-noises through speaker-phone is an excellent way to get them to keep it down – I haven’t heard them in two days. (Also note: if you’re in a similar situation, that one hour of daily outdoor exercise can be your saviour!)
Luckily we worked out a cleaning schedule beforehand, which has been an absolute saving grace. Being in a flatshare, you soon discover that your way isn’t the only way; apparently some people are fine with the mug handles pointing in all different directions and what does a perfectly uniformed crockery cupboard really bring to your life anyway?
I’ve learned the the only way to make it through moments of frustration is to laugh it off – a bad atmosphere would be much worse to live with than most petty annoyances. Escape to the sanity of your bedroom, take some deep breaths and count to 10. Remember: when it all gets too much, this situation is only temporary.
And I’m more than aware that I don’t come quirk-free either – from performing ballet recitals for my dog, to Dettol-ing down everything that we bring back from the supermarket – I’m pretty sure my flatmate could easily write this article in reverse.
Despite the slight eccentricity, living in lockdown together has undoubtedly been a bonding experience; she’s comforted me in my times of panic and we’ve shared many a laugh along the way. When it comes down to it, I’ve realised I’m quite lucky – I’d much rather be in forced lockdown with a slightly kooky flatmate than out and about infecting people.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk.
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MORE: Photos of horror housemate’s clutter packed room will give you flatshare flashbacks
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/01/survive-quarantine-flat-share-12471798/?ITO=squid
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