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Is a beautiful view to the outside important--because you may be home more? Is it the roll in shower, or walk in tub? Large kitchen--office shop studio?
I would love to hear positive ideas for making a retirement home comfortable and convenient. We all know that some people hate stairs, and even won't consider chair lifts, do not want to get into that argument please!
A a great view and chair-height toilets ... (not necessarily at the same time). We also like condo living; simply lock the door and leave, without worrying about anything (we've never been 'yard people.') Instead of a yard, we've got a marina/harbor and a boat club as our back yard. Also, since the grandkids are here all the time, we appreciate quiet, separated bedrooms, a large pool and other amenities for them (and us) to enjoy anytime. A separate office and sewing room that don't interfere with bedrooms; plenty of easily accessible storage (pull-out drawers, built-in closets, adjacent storage units); Double, indoor parking spaces ... and a lot of other things that we didn't really have time to think much about or enjoy as much when we were still working.
I'm have got a good while before retirement and not even sure I will stay where I am when we do…however we altered our parents house and it made me think when I was building my house for future use. My parents retired in their early 60's they bought a house with a view and it had balconies almost around the entire house to take in the views and get lots of fresh air. All the living and bedrooms are on one level. We had to renovate to make things worked better for them as they aged…reno the kitchen with all pull out's in cabinets for the pantry we made sure the upper levels had pull outs that dropped down (no step ladders) Also used a lot of deep drawers that they could stack dishes in so they didnt have o reach up into high cabinets . We had an oven that was hinged on the right so they wouldn't have to lean over the door to get things out the oven and changed the cooked top to infa red type thing (no flames). Lever type faucets in kitchens and bath (mom had arthritis ) and door handles.Pull draw dishwasher as a regular one was too big most of the time for them.
Flooring we kept the same throughout the house …hardwoods -easy to clean and no trip hazard. Got rid of heavy furniture and trip hazards like rugs and made sure all the walking areas were clutter free and as wide as possible. Bathroom we gutted put in a roll in shower and easy access to toilets (eventually we added a bar in the toilet area and shower) Made sink area accessible if later on someone needed a wheel chair etc. Laundry was washer/dryer on pedestals so they didn't have to bend to far. Outside we made sure the stairs had sturdy railings and that pathways were not damaged (trip hazards ) Also that all door thresholds were as level as possible so no trip hazards .
As it worked out my mom ended up in a wheel chair and was able to live many more years at home because of the things we had done 20 plus years before…. So when we built our house we have wide hallways big bathrooms with easy access-everything has levers..the master bedroom is on the same level as the living areas…no outside steps and my kitchen is all drawers and a huge walk in pantry with easy access to everything and hardwoods floors throughout…And yes we built our house with lots of light and built to take advantage of the view.
Having a bathroom on whatever floor I am on, having a roll in shower on the first floor,all bathrooms with elevated height toilets, bedroom on the first floor, stair lift on stairs, more grab bars in strategic places, small yard to take take of. Stove with from controls that can be reached by wheelchair, or at least that you don't have to reach over hot burners and pans to access. Home alarm system.
1. NO high ceilings! When I'm "eighty and shaky" (LOL) I don't want to have to either haul out a big ladder or have to pay someone to come over in order to change a lightbulb/clean a ceiling fan/fix a nail-pop etc etc simply because it's too high for me to reach via a two-step mini ladder.
2. Hallways wide enough to maneuver a wheelchair in, should the need ever arise.
3. Large (minimum 3x5) shower, with solid surface walls -- no grout to maintain!
4. Side by side washer/dryer instead of stacked.
5. Wide doorways
6. Extra wide gutters that don't need to be cleaned out as often.
On the subject of high ceilings, what the heck is with all of these 55+ builders who are designing houses with two-story ceiling high rooms, lofts, and "volume ceilings"??!! That's about as inaccessible as an interior house part can get, and for an older person it just does not make sense.
Basically anything that will become a problem as one grows older like stairs; narrow doorways. Bathroom facilities that are crowded with poor shower/bath entry; then outside maintenance and entry from outside .Lots of sites with recommendation for older age living on internet and even available to tour in housing that specializes in those sales. One never knows the future and best to be prepared as always; if possible. A example is our last home. We remodel in late 90's with consideration of retiring and getting older in place. We sold and later the buyer became handicapped and says he thanks us for what we did everyday he is there now.
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That's my list.
