There really is science and chemistry behind bringing together a shared house made up of individuals who really gel. The rest, however, is an art. When the art and the creative process come together (and you will simply know this when it happens), that’s when you have experiences and moments that make up your shared memories as a house. Try to remember these, record them, and savour them! In years to come, you’ll look back on these carefree and exciting times — the flatshare rollercoaster. So, here’s a rundown on the 10 moments and signs that you and your flatmates are made for each other.
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Staying in together
Remember that time when you first decided that going out was overrated and that you preferred to stay in with one another? You decided that pubs and clubs were actually boring, and why make the effort to go out and meet other people when the company and the laughs simply couldn’t get any better outside your own four walls? It was drunken, there were a few tears, but you all you knew it was just meant to be!
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The gastronomic revelation!
On a slightly soberer note, remember the first time you realised your housemate was a culinary master chef, even though your other housemates had sworn that the only thing anyone had ever seen him eat was beans on toast? Or that time when you all stayed in together on a Friday night and prepared a fresh vegetarian chili from scratch, accompanied by fine wine, great chat and each other… of course! Food is, after all, a fantastic way of bringing people together.
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Finding love
However, while your love of food is fairly neutral ground, there are other more unchartered, murkier territories that must be discussed if you’re to truly consider yourselves flat bestie. Like, being there for the time your flatmate finally plucked up the courage to talk to a girl he’d fancied for ages. All thanks to your friendly banter and encouragement (along with a heavy dose of Dutch courage too), it went better than expected!
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Staying “just friends”
Similarly, there was that time when the flatmate you had a mild crush on (but with whom, for the good of the flatshare, you decided to “just stay friends”) accidentally lost his towel as you passed each other on the staircase. Every cloud has a silver lining, you told yourself.
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Feeling like a parent
On a less steamy note, there was the first time your foreign housemate started to be funny in a foreign tongue. When he first moved in, you had wondered whether he would ever successfully remember all the steps for brewing a perfect cuppa, but you were as proud as a parent when he was able to turn around and take the mick out of you all for it.
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Celebrating a holiday together
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a true flashback without at least one great Christmas memory thrown in there. For example, the first time you decided to be brave enough to invite over your crazy neighbours for minced pies and mulled wine. There were a few howlers, but they make for good pub stories!
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Sharing life’s sorrows
Life in a flatshare isn’t always plain sailing, but you and your roomies all know that’s the first rule of flatshare club. That’s why it was totally fine when you all cried together through a sad movie… surely everyone wells up watching Dumbo though, right? And then, of course, there’s the unavoidable question of heartache. Your housemate will never forget you being there for her after yet another argument with the other half!
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Being silly
Dressing up, making brownies or just vegging out – everything is just a big old laugh. With your flatmates, you feel like a kid again, like you had never grown up, and that life is a holiday!
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What’s yours is mine
When you no longer remember whose shoes are whose, or who brought that Steps CD from the 90s into the flat! Everything belongs to everyone, and let’s face it, it’s quite nice having such a large wardrobe to choose from.
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In search of sun
And the ultimate proof of flatmate love, taking your group to another country. You are no longer satisfied with spending 24/7 with your flatmates at home; you want to go on holiday with them too. And those memories of eating dodgy squid on the beach, or one too many cocktails in the hotel bar will make you better friends than ever!
