Moving In With Your Partner? Here Are 5 Tips I Wished Someone Gave Me

By Sophie Hong on 19 Jan 2022

Senior Editor

Moving in with your partner is a big deal that can make or break your relationship. Sure you might have stayed over at each other’s places and maybe even went on a holiday together, but that is not the same as living in the same space 24/7.

I moved in with my husband (then-boyfriend) two years ago during the circuit breaker, and it really has been a test of patience for both of us. Looking back, some of our arguments definitely could have been avoided - if only someone had warned us about these things earlier and strongly encouraged us to get a Steigen! So in the spirit of paying it forward, here are 5 tips I have for anyone who is moving in with their significant other, regardless of whether you’re married or not.

Read on for 5 helpful tips to know before moving in with your partner!

#1 Both of you will have different definitions of “clean”

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For instance, I’m fine with drying my laundry indoors. However, my partner is very particular about sunning his laundry because the sunlight helps with eliminating germs and odour. He claims that indoor-drying also leaves our clothes with a musty smell whereas I cannot, for the life of me, detect it at all.

#2 Split the chores according to who is best at it

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OK, so there’s an off-chance that your partner just sucks at all forms of household chores, but hear me out. There’s no point in making sure that you split all of the chores 50/50. For instance, if he’s always missing a spot when mopping the floor, you’ll never be happy whenever it’s his turn to do it.

My partner and I learnt this the hard way after having a few intense fights. After that, we reached a mutual agreement - he’s in charge of laundry and mopping the floor because he wants them done in a particular manner, while I’m the one disinfecting the bathroom and decluttering the house.

#3 Make time for dates

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In between WFH and keeping up with household chores, you end up getting very little time to yourselves. It’s easy for the relationship to take a backseat, which means the both of you might feel like roommates who share a bed as opposed to a couple. So as cliche as it sounds, my next piece of advice is to make time for dates, just to bring a bit of romance back into the relationship.

#4 Remember that it’s not personal, it’s just that the both of you have different priorities

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When it comes to the upkeep of your house, the two of you might have slightly different priorities - he might be OK with a few dirty dishes in the sink, but not with strands of hair in the shower drain. You might be able to live with some dust on the TV console, but not if someone sets a drink on the table without a coaster.

It can be frustrating to see a pile of dishes in the sink, but remember that your partner didn’t do it out of spite. Maybe he had to take a call and it slipped his mind, or maybe he was just planning to get to it later. Looking back, I really wished we had given each other more benefit of the doubt instead of accusing the other person of not caring enough.

#5 A smart investment can help you avoid some fights

Photo from Steigen

Because we were so tired of fighting about household chores, we finally caved and enlisted the help of a part-time cleaner. She comes in every Sunday to vacuum and mop, as well as do a thorough cleaning of the kitchen and bathrooms. All my partner and I have to do now is to make sure that we keep the house neat, and clean up after ourselves.

The next thing that we’re eyeing - OK fine, the next thing I’m trying to convince my partner to get - is an automated laundry drying system so that we’ll no longer bicker about indoor versus outdoor drying. Or worry about accidentally leaving our laundry out in the rain, which really bugs my husband and he’d insist on re-doing the laundry even if it was a light, passing shower. Life is too short to do the same laundry load twice!

Steigen Automated Laundry Drying System

Photo from Steigen

As seen from my experience with my partner, laundry can be a prickly issue. It doesn’t help that my flat doesn’t get direct sunlight and birds tend to congregate around our window ledge, so we’d sometimes get little “surprises” on our fresh laundry.

During times like this, an automated laundry drying system, such as Steigen’s Solar, can be a real relationship saver. This German-made indoor drying rack uses a solar drying technique that simulates natural sunlight to dry your clothes and eliminates germs, bacteria and odour. But unlike direct sunlight, which can be rather harsh on certain materials, it doesn’t cause your clothes to fade or lose shape.

With an option like Steigen’s Solar, couples similar to my partner and I can finally reach a happy compromise regarding laundry. It gives you the best of both worlds - you don’t have to worry about the weather or accidentally slipping and falling out your window, while still enjoying the benefits that come with drying your laundry in the sun.

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