AITA for working from home while my husband is off for the summer?

 A woman (30F) works from home, but her husband (30M), a teacher, is off for the summer, causing tension since she works from the dining table. He’s frustrated about restrictions on accessing shared spaces during her calls, some of which are unplanned.

Although he has other rooms to use, he feels inconvenienced. She wonders if she’s wrong for not adjusting her work setup or if looking into co-working spaces is necessary. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for working from home while my husband is off for the summer?’

I (30F) usually work from home, and my husband (30M) is a teacher so has school holidays off. Last summer we lived in a different house with a dedicated office, whereas this year I’m working from the dining table in the living room.

Up until now this hasn’t been a problem in the school holidays, as my husband typically only has one or two weeks off and wants to make the most of it outside or out with friends.

If my husband wants to stay in during the day, there are some restrictions on when he can access the living room and therefore kitchen because I take calls that no one can overhear for part of the day. Unfortunately there are no other suitable rooms for me to work in – and to be honest I’m not sure I should be made to leave my usual work environment because of his working patterns…

This morning he’s already had a go at me about two unrelated issues and became really annoyed that he couldn’t come into the living space to empty the vacuum or use the dishwasher.

He wants me to tell him when my calls are every morning so that he knows when he can’t enter, which is absolutely fine but a lot of my calls are unplanned and there’s only so much I can do about that.

I feel like I’m being pushed out of my ‘office’, and while I’m really open to compromise and share my space, there are some restrictions I can’t really alter because of my job.

Probably worth noting that he has two full floors including his music studio to use, plus the entire rest of the world out of the front door, so I feel that using the living space for most of the day is kind of fair. He can of course do what he likes when I’m not on a call and during my lunch break.

What do you think? AITA? Do I need to look into (expensive) co-working spaces to work in over the summer?

Take a look at the comments from fellow users:

Beck2010 −  So. You have a library – but it’s for husband. You have a spare room – but it’s for pets. You have an attic space – but it’s for husband. Sounds as if husband gets what he wants, and shame on you for working in the only available space. Nice. /s NTA. Is your husband going to allow your baby to have a room?

DrTeethPhD −  NTA But at best, you’re kind of naive, and at worst, you’re not that bright, and a bit of a doormat. Why have you let your husband exert this much control over the house? Why was so much emphasis placed on what *he* wanted when determining how rooms would be used?

And when you were moving into this new house, did neither of you stop and say, ‘Wait, how will this work in the summertime when husband is unemployed?’ That would have been a smart thing to do.

Finally, if you do end up having to commute and/or get a co-working space, please make sure that you are *both* paying for it, since it was necessitated by you both failing to plan for this *easily foreseeable* problem. And wait, if you’re pregnant, where is the baby going to live if all your rooms are dedicated to either rodents or your husband’s ego?

[Reddit User] −  INFO Why aren’t any of the other spaces in the house suitable to work in?

hikergirl26 −  Right now I will go with ESH. You both just need to talk and pick a place in the house where you can work. Ask your husband which room he will give up for you to work – like his music studio. If he won’t give up any resonable space for you to work then he is the AH.

CakeEatingRabbit −  I’m sorry but someone complaining about space while having a rekord room, a rabbit room and a privat libary is just not something I can take very serious.. ESH Work is still a nessasity and that you and the child will have less personal space than the rabbits is crazy to me personally.

Your priorities around work, common space and space for the child are wild. Like obviously your husband wants to use the common space… But he is just as much part of the problem as you are.

pupomega −  Nta. Why don’t you have areas dedicated as “yours” as does your husband? And no, communal areas aren’t your areas. Your husband sounds like the AH – like why does he get to own space and you do not? Not right, imo.

Take the “library“ space as your office – or, the studio space, heck, even let him choose if you don’t have a preference as to which one. Stand up for yourself here.

ReadyAimLaunch −  Why can’t you use the recording studio? Seems like it would be the perfect set up for you.

HellaShelle −  ESH. The setup does not work and has to be changed. Since it has to be changed anyway for the coming baby, sounds like that timeline just moved up. And it sounds like the library and Rabbit Room will have to go.

Since your husband has 6 weeks of free time, it sounds like a great time for him to be figuring out a permanent Rabbit Apartment in the backyard or even within the room itself.

You need an office for your job which presumably contributes to the household income as well as your happiness and thus takes priority over what sounds like the “coolness” factor of having a library.

(I mean, I’d like to live my best Belle life too, but my castle is masquerading as a townhouse at the moment so, it’s not an option right now; your husband, sadly, sounds like he’s in the same spot and just needs to come to terms with it.)

Honest-Sector-4558 −  I think NTA because it seems like the spaces you could use for an office are all dedicated to his personal use or hobbies. Frankly I think that’s an AH move on his part for him to need both a library *and* recording studio when you work from home from a communal area.

What exactly is the plan when the baby comes? It really sounds like your house is too small as it is, and a baby is only going to make it even smaller. You having an office with a door is probably going to be really important long term.

CinderellaGoneCrazy −  ESH You guys should’ve figured this out before his summer holiday, you’re both a bit daft if neither of you realised that this would become an issue.

Also where the heck is the baby going to go if your home has no rooms with a door? (Because if your house does have rooms with a door, one of those rooms could currently work as your working area.)

Is it reasonable for her to maintain her workspace, or should she make more adjustments to accommodate her husband’s time off? Share your thoughts below!