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Monday, March 6th, 2017
The Hooker Furniture Living Room Melange Bondurant Cocktail Trunk serves as an empty nester’s fashionable storage unit.
Are you at a point in your life when all your kids have grown and have turned into independent adults? Then you are now officially an empty nester. What this often means is that you are left with a big, empty home. Retirement is also looming around the corner so this is the best time to consider downsizing – and this is for you and your spouse’s own good.
Downsizing an Empty Nest Means Right Sizing
This is your big step towards your journey to a more suitable home. A single or a couple should look forward to finding the right remodeling project or even another home that will provide their needs beyond retirement.
This means you have to find a smaller and more manageable home where you won’t have to sacrifice your lifestyle. This must be a home with features that meet your design requirements as well as other amenities that will help you as you age gracefully.
You might have a smaller home soon but it also means less time cleaning it up. Look at it as a chance to finally have ample time to check into more meaningful activities.
A downsized home must still have ample storage. This is a desirable element that you must first consider. Abundance of storage means you won’t have to worry about where to store the linens, the bedding, towels, shoes, etc.
You can have a walk-in closet built especially for your clothes, shoes and other accessories. You can also invest in a double vanity and expansive counters for the bathrooms. Just adjust the size since you won’t be sharing it with the children anymore or that you won’t be needing a lot of surface space.
Of course, clutter must never be an option in your new empty nester’s home.
Another feature that you also need to consider is the kitchen where you will be cooking your gourmet dishes. Still another is the entertaining area where you will receive family and friends (especially your toddler grandchildren).
Since you are transitioning into retirement, you must also seriously consider the safety features of your remodeled or new home. Your habitat must offer ample space but at the same time, it must have quiet spots where you can spend time reading or simply meditating.
Another feature that you need to consider is how safe your home will be. There are several factors that you need to look into such as properly installed smoke and heat detectors, burglar alarms, deadbolt locks, some fire extinguishers, updated electrical wiring systems, heating or cooling systems, lightning rods, and firewalls.
The stairs (if your new house has any) need to have safety handrails.
If you chose to move instead of remodel your home, it is also wise to check the neighborhood where you’re moving into. People tend to discover some rather nasty things about their neighbors only when they have already moved in so you might want to make a difference there.
How loud your neighbors might be often depends on factors such as a shared wall or the thinness of the material used for the window treatments. No matter, it pays to increase your privacy and to use screening plants so that your backyard would feel like a getaway and not a place where other people could pry.
Your retirement is also a great time to start a new hobby. You can begin collecting the things that you never had time to collect back in the day. Make room on your walls for artworks – perhaps even your own.
It is also beneficial for you and your partner to plan activities together while also attending to separate hobbies.
Tags: empty nester, empty nester's home, empty nesters, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, retiree's home, retirement home
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Themes, Tiny Homes | Comments Off on Designing the Empty Nesters’ Home: Why It’s Beneficial to Downsize
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