Most of us at some point in our lives have had to deal with dirty living spaces whether it is a sibling, a roommate or even yourself. It doesn’t matter who the messy person is, a mess can ruin a room’s vibe, possibly ruin relationships and even affect schoolwork. One of the biggest transitions when a student comes to college is learning how to live with other people’s lifestyles. For some of us college is the first time you will have a roommate(s) and it is hard to get in the swing of working around another person.

The first thing you should do is have a group meeting to set boundaries and go over everyone’s pet peeves. I know this sounds silly but it will help in the long run. By knowing everyone’s pet peeves you can avoid doing those things and avoid annoying one of your roommates by accident. If someone does happen to break a rule or is doing something that makes everyone uncomfortable don’t be afraid to bring up the problem during a group meeting, don’t play the blame game though, and don’t use names either. Chances are if the problem is addressed during a meeting in front of everyone the person will stop because they don’t want to be embarrassed if caught. I would suggest having meetings weekly or even monthly just to keep everyone updated and on track.

The second thing you should do is establish order because having meetings does not guarantee everyone will follow the set boundaries, some people are hard headed and stuck in their ways. Don’t let their stubbornness bring you down, if you like a clean room you need to let them know. When talking to your roommate(s) don’t come off as nagging no one wants to feel like they are being parented. I mean the whole reason in having the college experience is to get away from your parents and learn to be responsible for yourself. When having that conversation with your roommate be polite and try to compromise. This way your roommate(s) will not feel attacked and feel rather that you are both working together to solve a problem.

The third thing is how to handle a roommate(s) who refuse to change their cleaning habits. Personally I hate messy rooms and have been known to complain about other people’s cleanliness levels but at the same time have forgotten that I too am not always clean. Before you approach your roommate(s) about their cleaning habits you should take some time to look at your own and see if you have any problems yourself. You never want to put yourself in a situation where you are pointing your finger at someone when you are causing the exact same problems.

The fourth and final thing is what to do if the first three steps didn’t work. If you have tried everything possible to fix the problem with your roommate(s) to try and mend the problem and nothing works contact your Resident Assistant. They are there to help you and have been trained to handle situations no matter how crazy the situation might be. But if your roommate(s), RA, and you cannot come to a solution it may be time to request a new roommate(s).

The roommate(s) experience is a very complex thing. When a group of people are placed in a living space, no matter if they are friends; people are bound to have conflicts at some point. Everyone needs to understand they are responsible for themselves and they are sharing a living space so you have to be considerate of other people. The only way to make a roommate(s) experience successful is to have respect for one another. So just by sitting down and having a conversation on boundaries you are taking the first step to having a successful roommate(s) experience.