When you decide to share an apartment with a roommate, it’s important to make sure you’re both on the same page about a few bigs things, like how you’re going to split up the space and what is shared space versus space set aside for one specific person.

In this story, two young woman are going to move into an apartment together. It has two bedrooms that are about the same size, but one is a master bedroom with an attached bathroom. They both want the master bedroom.

How should they decide who gets which bedroom?

Keep reading for the whole story.

AITA for wanting the master bedroom when my roommate’s parents were involved in the construction of our new apartment building?

My future roommate (we’re both 21F) is a close friend that I’ve lived a few blocks away from all throughout our childhood. She finished college earlier than me and works as a programmer now, and has been meaning to move out of her parents’ house for privacy plus wanting a separate space to WFH.

Her parents are involved in residential developments and were part of the team that helped to set up a newly built apartment complex in our neighborhood. And while they were still seeking tenants, her parents offered her one of the units in the building.

Then last summer, she asked if I wanted to be roommates when she eventually moves in.

I told her I would be down, but wouldn’t be ready to move in until after I graduate.

They haven’t decided who gets which bedroom yet.

The apartment is still undergoing safety checks but she’s planning to move in as soon as possible. But we still haven’t worked out who’s getting which bedroom yet and the master bedroom is a conflict of interest.

The two rooms are close in size (about 9×13), with the master being slightly wider plus obviously having a private bathroom. However, the smaller bedroom has a closet almost twice the size of the master’s.

My roommate originally said she wanted her desk space separate from her sleeping area somehow, plus a big closet space for hung clothes. Meanwhile I prefer the opposite and also have most of my clothes kept in a dresser.

As far as other belongings, I sort of have bulky sized hobbies (guitars/skateboards/art supplies) but she has one main hobby, origami, and wanted space for that as well.

They both seem to want the master bedroom.

Based on her needs, I suggested that she can use the living room corner as a work/hobby area if she took the smaller bedroom. That bedroom would still fit her bed/other belongings and the work area would be considered as an extension of her personal living space.

But she changed her mind and now wants the master to fit two desks for her origami station, and is still planning to fit an origami display area in the living room too.

So if there’s two origami rooms, where does my stuff go…

She admits that her roommate should get priority when picking the bedroom, but that’s not her main issue.

I don’t feel entitled to the master bedroom, and IMO she does have the upper hand to choose given that her parents were involved in the building’s construction.

But I do feel like she’s asking for a lot because I need space for my stuff in some form too.

AITA for thinking she’s being a little unreasonable?

They need to talk this out before moving in. But if the bedrooms are about the same size, OP should have just as much room as she would if she had the master bedroom. It seems that the big difference is an en suite bathroom or a huge close. She can keep her stuff in the closet.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who got creative with his parking after his neighbors started using his extra spot without asking.

Let’s see what Reddit suggests.

This person thinks the roommate shouldn’t get priority when picking bedrooms.

But this person thinks the roommate should get the master bedroom.

It might come to that.

Another person thinks they’re not going to work out as roommates.

Being friends with someone is different than being roommates with them. If they can’t agree on the bedroom situation, their friendship may not survive when they’re roommates. This is literally the first decision they’ll have to make about their shared space. I can’t imagine what will happen when they disagree about how to arrange the furniture in the living room or where to store things in the kitchen.

But as far as picking who gets the master bedroom, maybe they should make it random. Draw a name from a hat. Flip a coin. They both clearly want the room. If they can’t reach a decision, they can let fate decide.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose friends say he’s privileged for wanting to eat at nicer restaurants.