With coliving, you can live in a luxury apartment with top-of-the-range amenities for a reasonable rent. Sharing part of the space with other colivers is a great way to forge new bonds and enrich each other’s lives. But, as with any shared living space, it’s up to everyone to make the experience a positive one. Here are 5 tips for successful coliving.
1. Experience moments that bring people together
Establishing rituals such as a weekly communal dinner, a Sunday evening aperitif or a TV series evening helps to quickly strengthen bonds, get to know each other better and learn to appreciate each other’s qualities and tolerate each other’s shortcomings more easily. To make everyone feel at home, it can also be useful to set aside places in communal areas for personalization, such as a shelf where each person can put books or objects they’d like to share with the others, or a board on which to display photos. Because coliving doesn’t have to be as cold as a hotel.
2. Éet down precise rules and stick to them
Colivers may be a new family, but they’re not brothers and sisters, and they all have different backgrounds and upbringings. That’s why it’s so important for a coliving residence to have precise, written rules to which everyone can refer. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Rules may seem a little military, but they are essential to avoid tensions. How late can you make noise in the living room, how often can you invite outsiders, how should you share the kitchen shelves… So many potential problems eliminated before they happen.
3. Communicate
Like any place where people live together, there will sometimes be problems to resolve, tensions to ease. The best solution is to communicate. As soon as something offends you, don’t hesitate to say so. Tired of seeing so-and-so’s shoes lying around in the hallway? Maybe he used to leave them there at home and isn’t even aware of the problem! A frank and cordial discussion can make a lot of problems disappear before they become really annoying.
4. Respecting each coliver’s privacy
The bedroom is the only place of privacy in a coliving space. It is therefore important not to enter a room uninvited or when the coliver is away, so that everyone feels truly protected.
Coliving brings together people who don’t necessarily share the same tastes, political opinions, religion or sexual orientation. This is a source of mutual enrichment. That’s why it can be positive to discuss each other’s private life choices, but never to criticize or mock them. Respect must be the guiding principle of human relations in coliving.
5. Making concessions
You can’t have the same life together as you can alone in your own home. You have to take into account the people around you. Are you the only one who likes heavy metal? Go ahead and listen, but with headphones. And negotiate your weekly 15 minutes of listening at full volume in the living room in exchange. Maybe you’ll convert some people! Do you like andouillette? Eat it in a restaurant so you don’t bother your neighbours with the smell! These are often common-sense measures, based once again on the principle that others can be different and deserve respect.
Respect, communication, benevolence, curiosity and good humor are the best recipes for a successful coliving experience!