A man who nixed his stepsister's plan to paint her room pink—even though she'll only be living there for two months—is being supported for standing firm.
The man, u/sthrowaway2828, shared his side of the story to the popular Reddit forum r/AmITheA**hole, earning 8,600 upvotes and 1,500 comments in 10 hours for his post, "[Am I the A**hole] for not letting my stepsister paint the room I'm letting her stay in?"
The original poster (OP) says he owns his home, which is "pretty big," and has multiple guest rooms. "Kana," his 23-year-old stepsister, is staying in one of these guest rooms for the next two months, rent-free.
She normally lives with her parents, but they're having a renovation done to their house, and no one can stay there while it's being worked on. While her folks are staying about two hours away from the OP, he lives only 10 minutes away from where Kana works, and that proximity means it makes more sense for her to stay with him instead.
While her time at her stepbrother's house has generally been going well, things hit a snag a couple days ago when Kana walked in with paint cans. He asked what she was doing, and she revealed her plans to repaint her room pink. The OP said he wasn't going to let her, because he liked the room how it was, and, besides, she wasn't staying long.
Kana replied that she has the right to decorate the room how she likes, but he said that it's his house, and he'll kick her out if she repaints the room. When she told her parents about the argument, they said the OP should have found a compromise.
Painting a room is a big job—and one has to wonder whether it's even worth it to paint a room for a person staying in it only two months. Not just that, but the EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that a person let a freshly-painted room air out for between two to three days before staying in it. Giving a day to paint and three to let it dry, that's four days total—6 percent of the total time that Kana would be living there.
Newsweek recently published a story about a woman who let her family members paint her rooms—but didn't specify the particular shade she wanted. That said, it could always be worse than living in a room that's not the right color—try living in a place with glass walls.
Reddit immediately took the OP's side, wondering why Kana would think she would be able to paint a room she was only staying in for two months.
"[Not the A**hole]. It's YOUR house. She staying RENT FREE. Tell your dad and stepmom to take her a** in and she can paint THEIR room pink," u/SnazzySusieQ wrote in the top-rated comment with 14,100 upvotes.
"Or take their advice and compromise. sure, she can paint the room pink, but she needs to pay two months rent and paint the room its original colour before she leaves," u/bumjiggy added.
"[Not the A**hole]. Let her go to a hotel and take her paint with her there. Curious to see how they would react," u/Schouwer suggested.
"Shes entitled as hell, [Not the A**hole]. She's not even paying rent and most PAID landlords won't let you repaint. She's only there for 2 months. She can return those paint cans or find a new place that will let her stay for free and paint the room," u/bird_watch01 wrote.
Newsweek reached out to u/sthrowaway2828 for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Matt Keeley is a Newsweek editor based in Seattle. His focus is reporting on trends and internet culture. He has ... Read more
