I rented a larger storage unit because I wanted an office. After seven years of living with my fiancé in a two-bedroom condo, our spare bedroom had become home to his workout gear, hockey equipment, clothes, hats, trophies, and medals. I cleared it out and started planning where my desk would go.
We’ve been together eight years. I work from home three days a week, at a desk in our bedroom. That room also holds our bed, my vanity, a shared dresser, and our nightstands. My fiancé has his own desk in the living room, but he spends plenty of time on the bed reading, studying, or looking at his phone.
That puts us in the same room while I’m working. On calls, I hear him sneeze, cough, or fart, and wonder what everyone else can hear. Our bathroom is attached, so a midday shower becomes part of the workday soundtrack, too.
The interruptions are harder. He wants me to proofread something, listen to a client text, or give an opinion. Sometimes he starts a serious conversation. Almost all our heated discussions happen while I’m working from home. When I say I’m busy, he says it will only take a minute, or points out that I was just looking at my phone.
I wanted somewhere I could work without being available to him the entire day.
Initially, he supported the office plan. He even invited his mother to town to help with his share of the work. But when it was time to move my desk, he said the spare room should hold my vanity instead.
His reason was my early mornings. Twice a week, I get up at 5:30 to go into the office. My alarm rings once, and I turn it off immediately, but he says he can’t get back to sleep. He generally doesn’t need to get up until after eight, works fewer hours as an independent contractor, and often asks me to change my office days so he can sleep in.
The vanity and desk are the same size. Realistically, only one could move. Choosing the vanity meant keeping my workstation beside our bed.
After months of going back and forth, I gave in. While he was working, I moved the vanity and set it up myself.
Now I get up even earlier because getting ready involves going between the two rooms. The spare room still holds some storage, so that’s where I sit at my vanity. My desk remains in our bedroom, with all the same interruptions.
I cleared a room so I could have a separate workspace. Is it really so wrong that I still want one?
