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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.
Last edited by Tealcup; 08-30-2023 at 08:19 AM..
Reason: Typos
2 of those floor lamps that have a light around the outer edge and a magnifier in the middle. Don't use the magnifier very often but I can't stitch without that light.
Can't think of anything else I've bought but I have gotten rid of my area rugs except one inside the door. No mud room (lesson learned: never buy a house without a mud room) so that area rug sort of substitutes for one.
Oh-sort of a bought/got rid of-bought smaller pots and pans that also are lighter. Just me so I don't need the big ones and the cast iron frying pans got too heavy to handle.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We just moved my Mom out of her apartment into assisted living (age 93). Among the items that we gave away to others there was an electric-lift recliner chair. She also had a shower seat, several of those long grabbing tools, and a 3' long shoe horn. The K-Cup coffee machine made it easy for her to brew a cup. Other than that it was the usual stuff.
Trading a house for a condo, lifechanging in the amount of time I have now as opposed to the constant maintenance of a large physical structure, mostly unused, and large outside grounds to maintain. Not just time saved but money too, I don't see constant housework as a good use of time or money in my senior years.
If you can swing plantation or cafe shutters (think just lower shutter portion) over blinds, I would definitely go that route. Blinds are labor intensive and can't compare to the ease of cleaning of the plantation shutters or their charm and elegance IMO. They take the place of drapes/curtains so that helps with the $$. I moved into a house with plantation shutters and just love them.
Also, a lightweight vacuum. Seem to pick up as much as the big boys.
I don't need anything of that kind yet. If I ever have a paralytic stroke, I hope the exoskeleton technology will progress enough by that time to provide paralyzed stroke victims good mobility, at the price of an average car. Also, by the time I can't travel any more, I hope VR technology will be able to offer a meaningful experience of "traveling" virtually to places that I like. Those are two things I would purchase specifically for the old age. I hope I never need the first one, and hope the second one is much improved (offering many hours of virtual walking through cities and landscapes) in the next decade or two. Can't think of anything alse I'd want for the old age. A ski pole maybe for the super advanced age when walking on two legs gets too tiring, yet one doesn't quite need an exoskeleton?
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