Remodeling in Retirement (retiree, friends, years, adult)
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The gentleman from our supplier came today and made measurements and took a ton of pictures. They have a program that takes all the info and converts it into AutoCAD and they use it to cut the slabs to fit exactly. He told us there is a slight bow in our 1/2 bath wall and I'm betting it's from me adding mud over the area where the tile came out. I can sand that flat.
Another step done.
Congrats! Isn't it amazing how precise those shower measurements are? We got one of those all glass enclosures, and the measurement process was interesting to watch.
And the last of the wallpaper is gone!! Man that's a messy job.
A bite to eat and it's time to clean all the goop and left over paste. It should be ready to paint tomorrow.
That's neat idea for closets. I've been trying to find some pictures I took of one of the bedroom closets that I added shelving to when I had my business. If I ever find them I'll post.
Here's a quick shot of the closet artwork. Nothing fancy, as you can see--probably took an hour or so to paint all five of them. All I did was gather real leaves from the garden and trace them. I used "opalescent" craft paint so it would reflect the light. So, a simple thing to do and it adds a little bit of pizazz because you just don't expect to see something like that in a closet.
To get the full effect, imagine the other three walls with the floor to ceiling cabinets, shelves, and the other such cabinetry that people put in closets these days.
We thought about adding all that cabinetry to this particular wall, as well. But, decided against it because we didn't really need that much storage. Plus, we would have had to deal with an angled wall, and we felt it might be good to have some open space, in case we ever we needed to store something really tall on a shelf.
One other funny thing to point out in this photo: check out the paint on the walls. It's two-toned!
That was actually a happy accident. We were using "oops paint", but even though my husband picked up a can of light beige it turned out to be a little too dark for a closet. If you use beige, it has to be a really, really light beige. So we went back, and Home Depot Only had only one can of white. It was late, we were tired, and we decided to paint the top third of the walls, and then go to another paint store the next day to get more white paint.
To our surprise, as we proceeded, painting just the top third white brightened the whole room more than you'd think and the two tone look started to look rather snappy. So we taped it off, used up the white paint that we had, and are now very happy with our unique two tone closet. But don't tell the buyers who look at our house that it was an accident. Apparently putting an artistic detail like that in a closet impresses people, makes them think you went the extra mile for the project. The realtor makes a point of pointing it out, at any rate.
I'm uncertain what the relationship between 'retirement' and 'remodeling' is(?) -- Except, perhaps, that we did some very serious renovations a few years before retiring ... and would not take on a project that significant again --- whether I was retired or not.
Since retiring, we've done a couple of significant remodeling upgrades (floors, window coverings, closed organizers, lighting, plumbing fixtures, pull-out drawers, etc.) .... But, nothing in the 'tear-it-down and rebuild' category.
I'm uncertain what the relationship between 'retirement' and 'remodeling' is(?)
Off the top of my head, I can think of three reasons retirement & remodeling go hand in hand:
1. Many people need big projects to start off their retirement, since they suddenly have a lot of time on their hands and haven't quite yet transitioned into retirement mode. As a result, taking on some sort of remodel project is pretty typical. Especially in those first months after stopping work, and even more especially if they retired in the winter and need something to do while staying inside. In addition, when you retire, you finally have the time to do remodeling projects. There have been lots of posts from people who are going through their last few years at a job, talking about what they plan to do when they finally retire. Refinishing a bathroom, redeisgning a closet, or maybe building something fun like a home theater are often mentioned.
2. Many retirees move to a new place. Maybe they move to a less expensive city, maybe they want to downsize. Whatever the reason, when you move you frequently need to take on a remodeling project to get the home ready for resale. If selling your home is your first retirement project, then getting the home ready for sale is part of that project too.
3. And still other retirees need to remodel their home to suit the needs of aging bodies. In fact, I'm surprised more people aren't sharing their stories of building ramps, redesigning bathrooms, removing walls from narrow hallways to accommodate wheelchairs, etc.
The idea came from another thread where I mentioned doing it and it was suggested that remodeling could/should a subject worth pursuing in the retirement forum.
Perhaps I can inspire someone to have at it. You never know.
The idea came from another thread where I mentioned doing it and it was suggested that remodeling could/should a subject worth pursuing in the retirement forum.
Perhaps I can inspire someone to have at it. You never know.
No one we know has ever done the remodeling on their own house, they hired out when younger, and they do now at our age. My sister and her husband could not even lay 12 tiles in front of their front door, they paid $1000 to have it done.
DP and I are the only ones we know who take on renovations and remodeling. I don't do any of the physical work, just help with the plan and help pay for materials. Maybe because we're artists we can walk into a dog of a house that has good bones, good foundation, dry basement, and good location and see the possibilities, or not. High ceilings or cathedral ceilings make a small house, which we eventually want, seem large. We can see where ceilings can be raised, where walls can come down, where ww rugs can be ripped up and replaced by wood, and what subtle color can do. However, we may be near the end of our days doing all that. Other than cosmetic stuff like painting, I doubt we'd do this again as we can see age 70 coming. But I never say never.
I do wonder sometimes if our generation will mark the end of the idea that people do the handy work around their own homes. I wonder if we're even handing down the skills anymore? Back in the 60s and 70s, it was "cool" to learn skills if you were part of the "back to the earth" movement, not to mention the "urban pioneer" movement and the "let's build our own commune and rebel from our parents" movement.
I picked up my skills as part of the Women's Lib era. My girl friends and I made a point of "liberating" ourselves by learning how to do basic plumbing, wood work, electrical, etc. My daughter doesn't feel a need to be liberated and couldn't care less. Other people learned basic skills because causes like Habitat for Humanity were popular. "Do it yourself" was big and people wanted to try projects after reading about them in "Popular Mechanics."
So there were lots of reasons people in our generation picked up a few skills--and even so we're less "handy" than our parent's generation was. Makes me wonder what lies ahead?
My kids' generation seems more likely to hire someone to do work. Then they complain about how hard it is to find someone who does a good job, and how they wish they had the skills so they could do it themselves. My husband and I offer to show them the skills, but they're not really interested.
Someday, and maybe not too far off in the future, will we see the end of the "do it yourself" era?
I, and my siblings, learned because there was no money to pay someone else. We either learned how to do it or it didn't get done. Mrs. Tek and I are now in a position to pay for things if we need to, but I would rather do things myself when I can. I have better places to spend money, like vacations.
Like NEG, I feel the end of doing some of the things I tackle now is drawing close. Easy tasks aren't so much any more.
I'm uncertain what the relationship between 'retirement' and 'remodeling' is(?) -- Except, perhaps, that we did some very serious renovations a few years before retiring ... and would not take on a project that significant again --- whether I was retired or not.
Since retiring, we've done a couple of significant remodeling upgrades (floors, window coverings, closed organizers, lighting, plumbing fixtures, pull-out drawers, etc.) .... But, nothing in the 'tear-it-down and rebuild' category.
Something I always expect to see in a thread is some wandering off-topic. I know a lot of OPs don't like it, but I welcome it as long as it's not flaming. It keeps things interesting.
So starting a thread about remodeling in retirement doesn't necessarily mean that it will end it's time with posts on that subject. It's a way to get a conversation started.
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