Moving in with your partner is a pretty big step in your relationship. But not everyone wants to get to that point so quickly. There are benefits, surely, of living separately: You have more closet space, you can unwind after a long day alone, and time apart makes sleepovers with your partner all the more special. However, if you start seeing signs your partner wants to move in together, it could be something for you to consider. Plus, cohabiting has its perks! You have someone to help cook and clean, you save money on rent, and of course, you have someone to cuddle every night of the week.
Your partner could be dropping subtle hints they want to move in with you and testing your reaction from their little signs. A conversation about moving in could happen later down the road, but if it's on their mind or yours already, they could be looking at how you respond to the following situations. I spoke to Julia Bekker, matchmaker and dating and relationship coach, as well as women in committed relationships, about the subtle signs your partner could be, hinting they want to move in with you. They revealed the following about these signs.
"It's conscious and deliberate behavior," Bekker says about your partner asking for a drawer in your dresser or a key to your home. "It shows that [they] are comfortable with your relationship and ready to make things more convenient."
Bekker further explains that these two things "[show] that there is no fear of commitment on either end."
The shared drawer or key also is "an indication of trust and a sign that the relationship is certainly getting more serious."
The way your partner refers to your apartment may indicate that they see it as home, too. How they phrase that could show where their mindset is in possibly living with you in the future.
"My boyfriend and I had talked about potentially moving in together at some point in the future, but our plans were mostly pretty vague because I love living alone and wasn't ready to give that up," Emma, 25, tells Elite Daily. "I realized that I might be ready on a day when I kept accidentally saying 'home' to refer to his apartment."
If your partner does this, Bekker says, "the next level is approaching." Of course, your partner would only switch up things around your place with your approval, but if they feel comfortable enough to do this, it's likely they consider your home both of yours already.
For some couples, moving in together is a convenient step after being in a long-distance relationship. That's exactly what happened to Remy, 24, and her fiancé.
"Scott and I moved in together right after graduating college, as we had been long-distance and were moving to the same city," Remy tells Elite Daily. "We knew we were ready because we had been through some bumps and had reached a really strong place where we were fully connected and aligned, agreed on all major issues, and felt ready for the next step."
If your partner helps out by fixing up things around your apartment, like an expired lightbulb or taking out the trash, they may see this as helping out around a place that feels like their own, too. Doing this shows "that the relationship is being taken more seriously," Bekker says.
So if your partner is showing any of the above, consider what it would be like to actually live with them. It may not be as scary and far-off as you might have originally thought.
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