Co-living 101: Roommate Conflict: Handle it or Escalate?

Q: Your roommate keeps leaving their shoes in the hallway, tripping you up. What's the best way to address this?

Bring it up calmly and suggest a shoe rack for the entryway. Collaborative and constructive. Addressing the issue directly while proposing a solution shows respect and keeps the conversation productive.

Q: Your housemate snaps at you for eating their leftovers, but you thought they were shared. How do you respond?

Apologize and offer to replace the food. Takes responsibility. Apologizing shows accountability, and offering to replace the food de-escalates while opening the door to clarify food-sharing rules.

Q: Your housemate accuses you of not cleaning, but you did your chores. How do you handle it?

Show them your chore log and ask what they're seeing. Calm and evidence-based. Sharing your efforts while asking for their perspective opens a dialogue and clears up misunderstandings without blame.

5 Questions

By: The Platuni Team

03 Jun, 2025

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1. Your roommate keeps leaving their shoes in the hallway, tripping you up. What's the best way to address this?

Move their shoes to their room without saying anything

Leave a sticky note asking them to stop

Bring it up calmly and suggest a shoe rack for the entryway

Ignore it and hope they figure it out

2. Your housemate snaps at you for eating their leftovers, but you thought they were shared. How do you respond?

Co-living 101: Roommate Conflict: Handle it or Escalate?

1. Your roommate keeps leaving their shoes in the hallway, tripping you up. What's the best way to address this?

Move their shoes to their room without saying anything

Leave a sticky note asking them to stop

Bring it up calmly and suggest a shoe rack for the entryway

Ignore it and hope they figure it out

2. Your housemate snaps at you for eating their leftovers, but you thought they were shared. How do you respond?

Apologize and offer to replace the food

Snap back that they should label their food

Say nothing and avoid them for a few days

Eat more of their food to make a point

3. Your roommate plays loud music late at night, keeping you awake. What's the fairest approach?

Ask them to use headphones after 10 PM or suggest quiet hours

Turn up your own music to drown theirs out

Complain to other roommates to get them on your side

Bang on their door and demand they stop

4. Your housemate accuses you of not cleaning, but you did your chores. How do you handle it?

Show them your chore log and ask what they're seeing

Ignore them and keep doing your chores

Accuse them of not doing their own chores

Stop cleaning to prove a point

5. Is it okay to involve the landlord when a roommate repeatedly ignores house rules?

Yes. The landlord can enforce accountability

No. It's better to handle conflicts directly or with mediation

Only if you've warned them multiple times

Only if they're breaking the lease