The kitchen is truly the heart of the home, and anyone who's lived with roommates has, shall we say, a more nuanced understanding of that old cliche. Kitchens feed resentment and bitterness just as easily as they produce joy and, unless you and your roommates communicate directly, you're in for a very bad time. Here are some guidelines to help you get off on the right foot.

You may have tried chore charts. Perhaps you’ve turned the task of tidying up into a game. Maybe you’ve offered pocket money or attempted strict routines or belted out the “Clean Up Song” 27 times in a row (hey, it miraculously works when your kid’s teacher sings it, right?).

Little kids are much like cats — zealous in their simple pursuits. (And they’ll always play in the toilet if given the opportunity, but that’s a different story.) If you’re a parent, why not have their natural tendencies work for the greater good?

What tears couples apart isn’t always the Big Things. Often, it’s the everyday things, the stuff that you feel like you should be able to brush off, but trying to do so only makes you angrier, and so you brew resentment in silence until one early morning when some unrelated annoyance makes you explode with the words “YOU ALWAYS FORGET TO THROW AWAY THE PACKAGING AND WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT FOR YOU, I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!”

Um, anyone else been there?

When I read the statistic from a University of Maryland study that children between the ages of six and twelve spend only 24 minutes a day doing housework, a 25 per cent decline from 1981, my first thought was, "Where the heck are these kids finding 24 minutes?!"

Your floor is dirty. Your rubbish bin is overflowing. You need to change a light bulb and do the laundry. You're always busy and household errands fall through the cracks. Here's an idea: get drunk.

I know, chores are chores. But take it from Mary Poppins, the O.G. Supernanny: "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun." To save yourself from the drudgery of daily household maintenance, you must find that element.

What do you do with pair of jeans that you could wear a couple more times? How about a tee that you donned for only an hour? A sweatshirt that isn't quite dirty enough to be laundered, but isn't pristine, either? These, as it turns out, are burning questions on Ask Metafilter and people have strong opinions.

People who calmly and happily do chores when they need to be done, you can stop reading now. Everyone else: ugh, I know, right?

At some point, most of us have tried to use a chore chart or wheel, or maybe just a list, to get our partners and housemates and families to do their share of the tasks that keep our homes running. But we also know the sinking feeling of seeing the dishes pile up -- and then rolling up our sleeves to do it ourselves. Well, maybe the reason you're stuck doing all the chores is because you're using one chart. When really, you need two.

Cooking for yourself after a long day at work can be annoying, but it saves you lots of money. On the other hand, going to a restaurant or getting takeout takes away the stress of having to figure out what to make (and then make it). So which will it be? Well, consider this: a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that spending money on time-saving services makes you happier. Takeout it is!

When it comes to household chores, it's nearly impossible to remember what you started, who's supposed to be doing what, and what's still left to do. So you end up with a half-cleared out freezer, a vacuum that coughs out dust clumps ("Wasn't Bob supposed to empty this thing?!"), and a general feeling that everything is always awry.

"Keeping house" is something my grandmother has always excelled at. Not only does every dish, appliance and Snowbaby have a very specific place that it mustn't be moved from, but she has a very strict dusting schedule that keeps those aforementioned Snowbabies looking their best.

Do you always install your air conditioner on a sweltering summer day, or rush to do your taxes days before the deadline? For absolutely necessary tasks like these, a to-do list isn't always enough. You need to block out time on your calendar, and treat these tasks like actual appointments. We've listed all the best to-do items to turn into calendar items.

My wife and I try to divide our household chores equally: She cooks, I do the dishes. She buys groceries, I do the laundry. My easiest chore is setting the table. It takes about one minute and she has to remind me every time.

It's just common sense that in order to keep peace in your household, chores should be split evenly between the people who live there. Whether you share chores with roommates, a partner or both, this two prong approach will get them to do more chores without a fight.

If I'm hungry, I can go into a store and leave with food. That's pretty great, and it's not something I try to take for granted. Like most people, though, I still think of grocery shopping as a chore. And I've found a simple way to make it a much more enjoyable one: Headphones.

When you see a few dishes in the sink, you don't stress over it because it's not critical. You can get it later. When you come back in a couple days, the sink is overflowing. Now it's a drain on your energy to do a basic task. Next time, kill the beast while it's still a babe.

One of the advantages to living with another human is the division of household labour, but there may be a benefit to one person doing the cooking and after-meal cleaning.