True Story: I’m 36 + I Live With My Sisters

What would it be like to live with your sister? As adults? Better than roommates? Worse? Click through for one woman's story of living with BOTH of her adult sisters for 9+ years

What would it be like to live with your adult sister? Would it be one big sleepover with shared clothes and constant double dates? Or never-ending squabbles and a total lack of boundaries?

Your answer, I imagine, depends on your relationship with your sister. Today, my high school friend Amy tells us about how she’s lived with her sisters for 9 and 15 years, respectively.


Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi! My name is Amy and I am 36 years old. I work as an Administrative Assistant at 3M and love to sing, dance, watch movies, and travel. I grew up in Aitkin, MN (graduated with Sarah!) and I currently live on the east side of St. Paul with both of my sisters.

Tell us a bit about your ‘roommates’!

My roommates are my older sister Shannon and my younger sister Lisa. We started out with a fourth roommate, but she moved out in 2013 and got married in 2014. She now lives with her husband and infant son in southwestern Twin Cities suburb. We also share two rescue dogs, Naley and Mauer.

How did you and your sisters decide to live together?

I started living with Shannon when I was going into my senior year of college at Bethel in 2001. I couldn’t decide who to live with on-campus and when her roommate moved out of the apartment and she offered it to me, I made the easy choice to move in with her.

What’s your living space like? Did you guys choose it knowing you’d be living together for a while?

Shannon and I co-own our current house together. We bought it in 2007, just before the housing market fell apart, but we are still glad we bought it when we did.

When we first bought the house, I figured we’d all live there for five years, max. Now it’s nine years later and none of us seem to be going anywhere! Our house is 1,700 square feet (give or take), it has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living spaces, a kitchen, dining room, walk-out basement, and an attached two-car garage.

The four bedrooms was key, since we all needed our own space to retreat when necessary. Also, two bathrooms is a must when four women are getting ready in the mornings! The two living spaces is also ideal so there is always a place to hang out if needed. When we first moved in, my sisters and our other roommate chose the three bedrooms on the main level.

The fourth bedroom was in the basement (technically the mother-in-law suite, if so desired) and it was a mess! Dark, dingy, weird layout; the other girls saw it and said “No!”. I saw the space, had a vision of what it could be and said “YES!” So, they let me have it and it turned out awesomely, if I do say so myself! 😉 Caveat, my downstairs bedroom becomes the guest bedroom when our parents or relatives come to visit.

How do you guys make decor/landscaping/big purchase decisions?

Since Shannon and I co-own the house and Lisa is technically our renter, Shannon and I make the big ticket decisions together. Usually we tackle the Must Repair/Replace items when they happen and pick the Want To Upgrade items if we have any surplus money after tax returns or Christmas/birthday money.

Sidenote: Our grandma, Harriet, was so instrumental in us getting this house. She covered the $10,000 down payment as a gift to her only grandkids. She saw it as a smart investment and without that gesture we would still be languishing in rentals. Thanks Grandma!

How do you divide chores?

When the four of us all moved in to the house together, we held a “family meeting”. We talked about ground rules, house rules, and boring but necessary stuff like mortgage payments and chores. Shannon chose to cook dinners since she enjoys cooking and is skilled at it. Our other roommate chose dishes because she grew up without a dishwasher and was happy to use our dishwasher and not wash dishes by hand. Lisa chose garbage and recycling since she is a recycling nerd.

I chose laundry because I don’t mind the task and it only comes up once every two weeks. We also take turns making lunches for everyone: on Sunday night, Shannon packs everyone’s lunch for Monday. On Monday night, I do the same for Tuesday. On Tuesday night, Lisa packs for Wednesday, etc. It’s a little unorthodox, but it works for us.

Prior to this, had you ever lived with roommates? (If so, how is this different?)

Yes, I lived with one roommate my freshman year, five roommates my sophomore year, and three roommates my junior year of college. In the college setting, roommates tend to have more freedom to come and go as you please. If someone happens to be around, you hang out with them. Our situation is different.

We made the conscious decision to operate as a family, not like roommates who operate more like islands, making your own dinner, washing your own dishes, all your stuff on your shelf, etc. In our house, all the food in the fridge is for everyone. We eat dinners together, hang out together, we travel together. We operate more as a family unit.

I think for a lot of us, being around family members reminds us of different, younger versions of ourselves. Like, when we’re around a certain family member, all of a sudden we’re 14 and insecure – even if we’re a usually-confident CEO. Have you or your sisters ever dealt with anything like this? Feeling like you’re ‘stuck’ in a certain version of yourself because you’re around people who’ve known you forever?

Now that we’re all in our 30s and have been living with each other for 9-15 years, depending on the sister, we tend to deal less with that now than in the beginning. We do fall into sister roles, though.

Shannon is the oldest and the rule-follower; she tends to fill the homemaker role, making sure the house runs smoothly. Lisa is the youngest and still trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. She advocates for fairness throughout the house, as a youngest despises unfairness, especially when it comes to chores!

I am the middle, so I am the fixer, the peacemaker, the comic relief. When the roles work, they are great! But when someone tries to evolve and change their role, that becomes a difficult task as the ecosystem of the house and sisterhood can be challenged.

What would it be like to live with your sister? As adults? Better than roommates? Worse? Click through for one woman's story of living with BOTH of her adult sisters for 9+ years
What are the benefits of living with your sisters? The drawbacks?

The benefits of living with my sisters is that I am surrounded by family. I don’t have to wonder what my sister is up to these days, I just walk down the hall or ask her at dinner. Also, it can be great living with someone who knows my history. I can tell them an important story without having to delve into my backstory. They know it already because they lived it with me.

Also, we grew up with the same values and traditions, so many of the same things are still important to all of us. I think my parents have it pretty good too, as they only have to travel to one place to see all of their children. We’re a one-stop shop!

My mom laments that her status hasn’t been changed to grandma yet, but I think she has it pretty lucky that her kids aren’t far-flung across the country or has to share us with in-laws during holidays.

There are a few drawbacks to living with people who have known you your whole life. Sometimes, if you try to evolve as a person, the idea of who they know you to be and the box they put you into gets challenged and things can get tense. Also, I can’t get away with anything! They know my strengths and my weaknesses, so there aren’t many opportunities to skate by. I suppose that can also be a good thing!

Are you guys actively dating? 

No. None of us are dating. I tried dating someone six years ago and things got weird. I wanted to spend all my free time with this guy and it was taking away the time I had previously spent with my sisters. I never knew how much info to share with my sisters about my time spent hanging out with him.

There were tears, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings. I like to think we learned a lot about honesty, communication, and flexibility from that time. Hopefully, if I (or they) ever do date again, things will go a lot smoother on the sister front.

Have you guys talked about what will happen if/when one of you moves out?

Since none of us are dating or thinking about moving out, we haven’t had to think about the logistics of this one yet. (We probably should, though!)

Not too long ago, our parents presented us with the offer to help buy someone out if one of us decided to get married or relocate because of a job. Our mom was so worried that being homeowners and living with each other was holding us back from fulfilling our dreams. I’m currently not saying no to anyone on the dating front, but it’s nice to know they are willing to help us out if that time ever came.

What have you learned from this that ANY of us could apply to our daily lives?

Yes, communication IS key to every relationship and if you do have snacks, hide them in your room, not in the kitchen pantry (they are fair game there!). The biggest thing I’ve learned from living with one sister for 15 years and the other sister for nine years is that family is so important.

Not everyone can live with siblings and we hear that a lot. People tell us how lucky we are to get along so well to actually choose to live together and we know that. We do have our issues and our quarrels, but in the end, we have each other’s backs, all the time. Regardless of how long I end up living with my sisters, it will always be a time I hold dear, a time in our story to cherish. We were born sisters, but we chose to be friends.

Thanks so much for sharing, Amy! Do you guys have any questions for her? Do any of you with with an adult sibling?

P.S. Two other family-related interviews: True Story: My parents got divorced when I was 6 and got remarried when I was 24 + True Story: I lost both my parents before I turned 30. 

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16 Comments

  1. Rebekah Jaunty

    What a great True Story! Now I’m envious of these sisters.

  2. Sarah M

    Wow, I am so impressed that you guys operate as a family and everyone has respective chores they stick to–this is the ideal roommate situation!

    • Dipannita

      This is a very inspiring story.. I am unmarried and staying with my dad and a full time maid.. I have a separate flat nearby which is in mine and my mom’s joint names.. she is remarried and lives in another city but comes to visit me every 6 months and we stay in our own flat(previously she would stay in hotels which was expensive so she couldnt stay long)… in future we are planning to invite my aunt and cousin sister to holiday with us as well…

  3. zoe

    My sister and I each happily live alone — and on the other side of the world to each other — but now I’m suddenly daydreaming of sharing a house with her…

  4. Jacqueline Fisch

    This is such a smart idea! My family lived with my dad and sister for a while we figured out where to live and save some cash. It was wonderful! Free babysitting, lots of helping hands to cook and clean, and the most practical reason why I think it’s a great long-term living set up – if one person loses their job or can’t work for some reason – there are others that can fill in the gaps and keep the lights on. If we all embraced communal living just a little more we could have skipped the housing crisis.

    • Sarah Von Bargen

      Yes! And I think it’s good to remember that in many, many other countries and cultures it’s the norm to live with family members until you get married or have kids!

      • Jacqueline Fisch

        Totally! Growing up in Canada, where I saw more diverse cultures, it was totally normal for other cultures to have 2-3 families, aunts, uncles, or grandparents all living under one roof. I’d love to have the opportunity to do this again someday… MAYBE with my sister haha.

  5. Martha Taylor

    I work with Shannon the older sister and loved that as sisters they can live together. They have a really special relationship. I wish me and my sister cam have this type of relationship.

  6. Jenni

    My sister moved to Colorado and she and I lived together for 3.5 years (until I transferred out of state with my job). It was a great experience because we chose to spend that time together. We used to hear about other sisters doing regular things together: going to brunch or doing a 5k. But for most of our adult lives we lived 1000 miles apart. We had the opportunity to support each other during big things, travel together, and just know each other better on a day to basis. Loved this post!

  7. Nurul

    I love this interview! It’s pretty normal for Malaysians (like me) or Asians in general to live with family members before we get married (or after we get married while saving up for our own place), but usually with our parents – not solely with our siblings, so I find Amy’s story really interesting 🙂

  8. Kathryn

    I’ve lived with my sister off and on for a lot of my adult life. If you get along, it makes more sense to live with family than a random stranger. The thing about having the same values is especially true 🙂

  9. Carrie Northburg

    I think you guys are awesome to continue to make this work!! See you girls on Sunday!! Xoxo

  10. J.H. Moncrieff

    This is such a great story. As an only child, I can’t even imagine what that would be like. I suspect I’m too independent, but the idea of that kind of community does appeal to me.

    Her closing line is beautiful.

  11. Agnes

    I am 36 and live with my twin sister. I find it most challenging to date because (1) seems like guys are out off by that and (2) of my sister’s jealously that suddenly my time is spent with a guy. (We’re surprisingly very different from each other.) I agree communication is key since you are living with each other and worry more about each other’s whereabouts. She also grew very dependent on me emotionally and on expenses since I make more money. I wonder if there are other women in the same situation but this interview was comforting to read.

  12. Lydia

    It is so nice to know that I am not alone! I am 32 and my sister (35) co-own a house together. It has worked out great. We split the bills 50/50. She prefers the yard work and I prefer the inside chores. We also have a dog that we share. Most people that that we are crazy and are holding each other back but it has worked out well for us.

  13. Audrey

    Hey I really resonated with this story. My sister and her two kids have lived with me for almost 5 years now! Both my sister and I are in our late 30s and single. We at first thought the living situation would just be temporary, but we all became very close. We function like a family, and I have helped raise my nephews during this time. I do get an occasional comment from a friend that suggests that my living situation is weird. But those friends are definitely wrong. It is great to be so close to family and to do a lot together. My nephews are so important to me, and I’m so happy to spend so much time with them while they are children. we play games all the time and I take them places. I am never lonely, and my sister and I can tell each other anything. We are always there for each other, and I absolutely love having my two nephews around all the time.

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