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I’m 63, but still work and spend time with my 9-year old grandson, so I carry a lot of stuff (my purse, sanitizing wipes, masks during COVID for the boy and I, makeup, etc, etc, etc.). My back and knees are no longer in good condition, and to carry a purse and a tote bag full of all the other stuff was getting to be exhausting. I bought a backpack on wheels with an extending handle that I keep everything in. I can even keep my work lunch or kid snacks in it.
Another lady at work has a pull cart that is like a plastic box on wheels. I decided against one like that because I would have to walk around my car to lift it up to put it in a designated spot in my car.
The one I chose is fabric with zippers. I can pull it up to the drivers door, sit in the car, reach out and pull it up and over into the front passenger seat. I’m very happy with it.
I paid less than $40 for it (at Home Depot, no less).
When I remodeled the bathroom, I went with a 3’ X 5’ shower. One of the two shower controls is switched between a shower head and a hand wand. The bathroom floor is heated. I have a wall hung toilet that was installed an inch higher than “comfort height”. There is blocking behind the tile for grab rails and photos of the framing. The sink is also wall hung so it’s trivial to wash the floor.
I widened all the interior and exterior doors as I remodeled.
When I remodeled, I tried to do everything with a 30 year lifespan in mind. Lifetime architectural shingles. Azek on the exterior trim so it won’t rot.
We bought a single floor house for our retirement house/summer house.
It’s mainly a single floor but we do have a loft and a two story guest house.
We have automatic electric blinds on our tall windows that we like a lot.
They keep the afternoon sun out to help keep the house cool in the summer and open to enjoy the sunsets.
The controller has several different memory settings for the seasons so it also helps keep the house warmer in the winter.
One of the best things we did to the place was modify the our path down to our beach area with stairs (yes stairs) and some deck work to make it safer.
It is not quite 100% done yet.
It’s close but still needs some more work
This has made our access so much easier and we now plan on leaving our kayaks down there year round instead of humping them up the hill.
My elderly mother used to “billy goat” down to the water on our old decrepit access system.
This is much safer for all of us because we don’t bounce as well as we used to
Another thing I like that we did was eliminate things we hardly used.
Being a minimalist is a new thing for me and I am digging that.
The toilets are called "comfort height" and are just a chair height toilet. Look at Kohler Memoirs. To the untrained eye it just looks like a regular toilet (which is what you want imho).
I have a grab bar in my two full bathrooms in the shower and the bathtub / shower combo. However, I have gorgeous grab bars I selected and had installed horizontally (like a towel rack). They look like a very fancy towel rack. I had the contractor build up the wall to support those.
I have a bench and hand shower in my shower (which has meant showers for me when I fell and broke my arm and wrist and had to have surgery and again when I broke my kneecap (on top of the original injury). The original injury (crushed knee) I could not get upstairs. I lived downstairs for two months before attempting to low crawl backwards upstairs. I bathed in the kitchen sink and or a bucket. I was heavily drugged; so, there was that. I was also non-weightbearing and had one of those continuous motion machines. Thankfully I had one of those overstuffed couches that was the size of a twin bed (because when I bought it I had a one bedroom apartment and I needed a place for friends to crash if it came to that).
I have travertine stone (which has the feel of concrete). If you keep it dry it is not slippery. I have hardwood floors and if you keep them dry and keep things off of them (including rugs) you have less probability of slipping and falling. Rugs are a trip hazard and bare hardwood floors are beautiful anyways. I have legs on most of my furniture (which makes it look a little busy) which allows you to vacuum underneath and around furniture easier. I also have Those pads on each leg of each piece of furniture that makes it easy to move the furniture around without scratching the hardwood floors.
I had to have an extra step installed in my garage (a big enough platform to fit a walker) so that it was not such a big step.
You do not want any seating that puts your knees at less than a 45 degree angle (while seated). This makes it easier if you have knee issues. Not just easier, but, less painful.
I got everything as traditional, classic and timeless as possible. This is good for resale value.
Last edited by Wile E. Coyote; 08-31-2023 at 08:26 PM..
................but.....don't the cats set them off moving around? How do you get any sleep like that?Rather the same here that with the loss of an energetic life (living on afterburners), everything takes a lot longer.....and recognizing one's limitations, hence all my threads of how to do this or that, hiring professionals instead, things like that.
I don't do electric saws for being alone out on the ranch, I can just picture a Tin Woodman scenario without such a happy ending. This, however, gets into a philosophy about how to see things which may be different from most others who are older as well. That is, to still have the tools even if you aren't using them for you may find someone along the way who is young and capable of doing so......if only they had the tools. This lesson comes from, so I am not the only one who thinks like this, long distance bikers and carrying a tire repair kit. Even if you can't repair a tire, you may come across someone who can.
I do not work on my own car; but, I have a set of mechanics tools for the reason you state. In the event of some zombie apocalypse I might need it. I have regular tools like wrenches, screw drivers, saws, hammers and a whole host of other tools a homeowner Do It Yourselfer would have. I have used a lot of it, but, not all by any stretch. I also have it so that if I have a happy helper here and there we have what we need to do the job right there and then. I have garden tools and I have paint accessories and tools.
I do have the Gladiator roll aways, cabinets and benches and so it is all organized and in great or even newer condition. I do park my car in the garage (on the insistence of my mechanic).
I bought a Miele vacuum, high-end, the first year of the pandemic. I love it. I never let my spouse touch it.
This may be the only thing I have in common with the Fluffmeister... I bought 2 Miele vacuums around Christmas in 2017. I bought the hard floor version (special edition C2). I have 100% hard floors throughout (either travertine or hard wood) and these are the perfect vacuums. Since my knee was crushed I keep a vacuum on each level of my house instead of carting them up and down the stairs (a recipe for disaster with my knee - and the knee thing happened almost 20 years ago so add age and decrepitude onto that from having the limitations now for that 20 years).
The Hepa filters in the vacuum are great if you have asthma or cats (or both). I have one cat who is a professional shedder.
Fluff may have purchased the high end. I got mine for $350 each (on sale) and the newer version of that is now $525.
Hi, we are moving in to a newly built home. Our new single story house is in a 55 plus community and is about 1800 ft.². We sold and donated all of our furniture in our previous house rather than pay to ship it 2000 miles and so are starting out fresh. We are currently considering furniture, blinds, drapes and that sort of thing for home. We are seeking items that will make our lives easier while growing older. Beyond having a couple grab bars in the bathroom installed we have not purchases anything else age related. I am 62 and my husband is 70. Both in good health. I am wondering what piece of furniture or appliance or what have you that people have bought that have made their life a lot easier or happier.
Since it's a new build, I hope you spec'd wider doorways and low/no shower threshold. Think "wheelchair."
I have 3 stroke patients tomorrow, that will get released from the "acute rehab" unit, to their domiciles. This is always a real eye-opener, as far as being able to accomplish basic needs unattended....
Since it's a new build, I hope you spec'd wider doorways and low/no shower threshold. Think "wheelchair."
....
That's my place, designed along those lines......just in case. My shower is a total walk in, grotto style (miniature) but no threshold, just a slight incline on that floor.
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I have garden tools and I have paint accessories and tools. 
