How To Live Alone For The First Time

There are countless benefits to living alone: no need to tiptoe out the door for a break-of-dawn spin class, to be late to work after waiting 30 minutes for your roommate to vacate the bathroom, or to compromise on hanging her tacky poster directly above the couch.

But with this freedom comes challenges, especially for first-time solo-dwellers. From feeling lonely on Sunday afternoons despite living in a crowded city to furiously attempting to get those 40 screws in place in your new dresser, it isn’t always easy.

However, it can be an all-around positive experience. To gather up some real-world, tested-and-true wisdom, we partnered with Clinique and checked in with a few women who couldn’t be happier to have laid down roots on their own. Read on to see how they’re thriving — and how you can, too.