Ross
Ross is the most independent one in the group, choosing to live on his own for most the series. But that doesn’t stop him from inviting people over for poker night. He has some trust issues and doesn’t give anyone keys to his apartment, even his new girlfriend, Mona.
Always with itchy feet, he moves three times in the series, the most of any character. There are highs like proposing to Emily, and there’s low’s like cheating on Rachel with the copy girl from Xero when they were ‘on a break’.
Perhaps the reason he lives alone is that people discover his annoying habits. For example, Joey & Chandler kick him out of their place, and Rachel moves out with her baby in hand. Independence comes with strength however, as he manages to bribe his landlord with mini muffins to get the apartment he wants.
Phoebe
Phoebe is the lucky one as she inherits her apartment (and a taxi) in central New York from her Grandmother. Equally unlucky, her apartment burns down when her roommate Rachel leaves her straightener on. She goes on to live with her grandmother, while the place is re-built.
Her feature of the home is creepy artwork ‘Gladys’, a paper mâché woman sticking out of the wall like a ghost. While visitors joke about the piece of art, her boyfriend Mike demands it’s taken down as a prerequisite for moving in.
She adopts a rat which keeps scurrying into the apartment and names it Bob, which eventually gives birth to a family of mice. Phoebe can be jealous sometimes, like when she sees Rachel having more fun living with Joey.
Monica
Like Phoebe, Monica inherits her apartment from her mother, and she uses it to its full potential by giving a key to every friend. As a result, her apartment is the most popular hangout place for the gang. She entertains everyone with dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas and every character lives here at one point or another.
She enjoys a more exquisite decorative style and is OCD about where everything goes, except her closet of disorganised junk! People often find her to be too much of a control freak, so fussy and particular she couldn’t even sleep knowing a shoe was left out of place in the living room. Happy with her apartment, she stays here the entire series.
In an effort to prove women can play poker too, she gets too competitive and ends up betting her apartment and losing… Most of the season is spent living in Joey and Chandler’s apartment which is much worse, having to kiss Rachel at the end of the season to get it back.
Chandler
Chandler only made an entrance into the group because his roommate (Kip) dated Monica. When Monica broke up with him, Kip was phased out of the group and left his apartment. Chandler almost didn’t bring Joey into the group as a replacement flatmate as they initially didn’t click, he initially chose to live with a sleazy photographer.
Chandler and Joey are the longest-running flatmates, with a serious amount of bromance enjoyed through their games together. Chandler is generous, buying them a new entertainment unit, big screen tv, stereo and two brand new armchair ‘barcaloungers’ after they get robbed.
That sadly ends when Chandler moves in with Monica and lives happily ever after.
Joey
Abandoned by his best friend, Joey gets angry with Chandler initially. But when Phoebe’s apartment burns down, Rachel ends up moving in and then he develops feelings her, but they end up being incompatible.
Playful at heart, Joey loves playing games including the Nintendo, ‘hammer darts’, ‘ultimate fireball’ and table football, often making for a vibrant and fun place to hang out. He’s also spontaneous and unpredictable, like when he adopted a duck and little chicks.
His apartment is modest and realistic for a struggling actor in New York, when things break or get stolen, they are often not replaced — even choosing to eat over the sink when the dining table breaks. His most prized possession is a large plastic dog inherited when working on the set of Days of our Lives.
Rachel
Nomadic Rachel never has somewhere to call her own, always moving from place-to-place based on circumstance. The upside to this is she has a stable relationship with everyone, living with each character at one point in the show.
She’s messy and forgetful, responsible for burning down Pheobe’s apartment and locking herself out of the house with her baby stuck inside. She’s not averse to telling white lies, like convincing Phoebe that a coffee table was an antique until she finds an exact replica in Ross’s home from Pottery Barn.
She is career-centric, moving out to work in Paris briefly before shortly returning home again. Messy and carefree, she’s wild and free; walking around her apartment naked when everyone is in Vegas, giving Ross the wrong idea.
