When you think about it, the only real difference between your relationship with your boyfriend and those with the rest of your friends are that you have sex with your boyfriend and likely not the rest of your friends.
Because of that, being intimate with your partner is crucial. It’s the action behind your romantic feelings for one another. Without sex, your partner is more like a roommate.
When you first start a relationship with someone, maintaining that intimacy is easy. You can’t get enough of each other and look forward to having sex whenever (and wherever) you can.
Unfortunately, often as new relationships turn into something long-term, sex lives start fizzling. Being intimate becomes just another part of the routine if you’re lucky — or you may find that you don’t really have sex at all.
Here’s a hint: it doesn’t have to be that way.
The strongest couples are the ones who keep their sex lives intact. And not just by having sex the same way every single time: in bed before you both fall asleep. According to a new survey by House Method, some of the best places to have sex are outside of the bedroom — and those who get it on elsewhere are in the happiest relationships.
House Method surveyed 1,048 people between the ages of 18 and 80 (47 percent of which were men and 53 percent women) who are in relationships and living with their partner.
They found that of those people surveyed, people who take their sex life outside of the bedroom reported 10.5 percent more relationship satisfaction than those who stayed in the bedroom.
Likewise, people having sex outside the bedroom were 33 percent more likely to be satisfied with their sex life.
It totally makes sense as to how a fun, spontaneous sex life strengthens a relationship. As psychotherapist and life coach Hilda Burke told Huffington Post in 2015, being spontaneous in your relationship helps keep the spark you felt at the beginning of your relationship alive.
On the contrary, subjecting your sex life to a routine could make your relationship go stale.
So, if the happiest couples aren’t having sex in the bedroom, where are they having it?
Well, some of the answers are obvious. For example, coming in at number one is the living room, with 96.6 percent of survey respondents saying they have sex there.
In second place is the bathroom, where 82.8 percent of respondents admitted to getting it on… shower sex anyone?
Then comes the guest bedroom at 64.9 percent. Sure, it’s still a bedroom — but at least the scenery is a little different than your own. Following the living room and guest bedroom were the kitchen and den at 57.5 and 56.6 percent, respectively.
And while all of those rooms seem like natural aphrodisiacs of sorts, some of the survey answers are a little surprising.
Apparently, 8 percent of survey respondents have had sex in their front yards. If that sounds exciting to you, just make sure you have some cover — sex in public is a crime, you know.
The attic was another choice at 10.9 percent, and the children’s bedroom at 12.1 percent.
The point is, there are far more places to have sex than your own bedroom. And plenty of sex positions to make it a little different each time.
If you want a stronger relationship, it may be worth making it a goal for yourself and your partner to change it up every so often. I mean, who doesn’t like a challenge?
By: Micki Spollen, YourTango Editor
This Article was originally Published by HouseMethod.com