Working from home can often blur the boundaries between professional and personal.

So when her workaholic roommate becomes determined to make their common spaces her personal office, one person begins to feel trapped in their own home.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for asking my housemate not to use our living space as her office?

Ever since lockdown, my housemate and I have worked from home at least a couple of times a week. Our living room, dining room and kitchen are all open plan.

The problem is the two of them have very different working styles.

I have a desk in my bedroom, she doesn’t have one in hers.

So whenever she works from home, she turns the the dining room table into her office while I’m working from my bedroom.

But wait – there’s more.

There are a few things worth pointing out here.

By her own admission, she’s loud, plays loud music, works through lunch and is a workaholic who will regularly work well into the evening.

She also beats her keyboard into so much submission you can hear it from the other side of the apartment.

The other housemate is starting to feel the effect of her erratic work from home habits.

I’m very conscious that too much working from home isn’t good for my mental health, so I’m really trying to up my office attendance.

All the same, when I am home, I feel like my use of our shared living space isn’t being respected.

When we’re both here during a work day, I feel trapped in my bedroom, unable to take breaks in the living room and relax.

And it’s even starting to affect their non-working hours.

And then in the evening, I can’t relax while she’s using the space, even if she doesn’t play music or take calls. (Just her using a living room as a workplace changes the atmosphere for me.)

So they confront their housemate about this and they try to lay out some clear ground rules.

I’ve called her up on this and said I’d like the living space to be work-free from 5pm on. If she needs to work late, she needs to go to the office.

I’ve also asked for us to avoid WFH at the same time so I can use the living space when I am here. After all, I shouldn’t be disadvantaged for being the one with a desk in my room.

But the housemate doesn’t really get the point.

But she thinks I’m being too demanding and that she has a right to do what she’s doing.

She thinks that so long as she isn’t taking calls or playing music, she can work from the living space as late as she wants. I strongly disagree.

AITA here? Am I being too demanding or is she too entitled?

The two may be sharing a space, but it doesn’t sound like they’re sharing respect.

Redditors weigh in on the matter.

Maybe what this roommate needs is a taste of her own medicine.

Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their own home, so if it means setting tough boundaries, then so be it.

Maybe the annoyed housemate’s approach so far has just been too passive.

It’s not fair for the workaholic roommate to lay claim to their shared spaces like this.

These roommates are lacking compromise and mutual understanding, so it’s no wonder their home has begun to feel like a battleground.

Until they learn to coexist better, the real issue isn’t space – it’s respect.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.