What Every Retiree Needs in a Home
You’ve finally hit that golden age of life, and it’s time to enjoy it. While often people think of their travels and adventures when planning out their retirement, the most time you spend as a retiree is in the comfort of your own home. Making that home as safe, comfortable, and enjoyable as possible, however, may require a few modifications. Here are eight features every home will benefit from!
Accessible Bathrooms
When modifying your home, the very first place to consider is your bathroom. There is so much maneuvering required for any person in this space—add some water and slippery soap, and it’s an outright hazard. What to add to your own bathroom specifically, however, may take a bit of thought. Try walking around that space, sitting on the toilet, walking into the shower or tub, and ask yourself where you might find the most problems. Many shower and bathtub modifiers can help ease of access like handrails, grip pads, shower doors, and even shower stools.
Toilet seat lifters can also be helpful if you have trouble rising from such a low seat. What exactly you add to your bathroom should depend on your specific needs.
Heating and Cooling
Another way to ensure comfort in your home is by installing reliable heating and cooling systems into it. Whether your plans as a retiree involve pursuing hobbies or enjoying relaxation, the temperature of your home will directly influence how you feel and therefore how well you accomplish whatever it is you’re doing. If you live in an area known for extreme cold or hot temperatures (or both!) this can be especially important. Ask other retirees you know what systems they recommend and look at different air conditioning options to determine what works best for your climate.
Everything on One Floor
One of the most important features in a retiree’s home is that it does not have more than one floor. Being able to access everything you might ever need from the distance of a short walk, rather than a climb up or down stairs, is a major commodity every retiree needs. In many ways, keeping everything on one floor acts as a simple mode of safety insurance. It also erases the worry and anxiety that comes every time you need to use stairs, allowing you to better enjoy your retirement and feel comfortable in your home. This is an important example of What Every Retiree Needs in a Home
Patio Space
Even after making your home a comfortable and enjoyable space, however, you won’t want to be inside it constantly. Especially during days with good weather, breathing in fresh air and taking in nature are just as important as they always have been. With this in mind, a great addition to your home is a patio space where you can eat, read, socialize, or just enjoy the weather. You can design one with a canopy or covering of some sort, or just have it built in the open space. Keep seating in mind with this, however, as you should avoid keeping wood furniture in the sun to prevent damage.
Cushioned seats, while more comfortable, also can be damaged by precipitation. Above all, make your patio a true extension of your home that you can feel as comfortable in as you do indoors.
Low Shelving
Author to Decide Back inside your home, another accessibility measure to consider is the level of your shelving. Whether that is in your kitchen, bedroom, or even your garage, putting things in high places can be dangerous and problematic over time. Though stepping stools can mitigate this problem somewhat, they can also be a problem in and of themselves if they are unsteady or too steep to step on safely. Look at easy access kitchens designed for retirees and what they do, and in general search for longer shelves to install rather than more of them so that anything you store can quickly and safely be retrieved.
Storage Organizers
With how you’re enjoying a long and full life, it is likely you have a variety of things such as books, pictures, tools, and supplies that are not always out for everyday use. Accessing these things when you need them, however, can be an absolute pain and very frustrating if you don’t know where they have been put. To make your home a happy and well-organized space, it is important to find the right storage organizers that will guarantee you never need to spend hours sifting through your things to find what you need.
Security System
Another great example of What Every Retiree Needs in a Home is with all of these modifications, your home will be a safe and accessible place to live for the many years to come—but safety from the outside is just as essential. Adding a security system to your home will not only prevent intruders and other dangers, but ease your mind at any given point of the day. There are multiple different levels of security, so make sure to assess your neighborhood and which level of security features is right for your home. In general, however, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Hobby Room
You’re set for the perfect home to enjoy retirement in! Except, what are you going to do when not traveling, going out, or relaxing? It’s likely that you’ve accumulated not only things, but many talents that you now have time to enjoy. One last modification to consider is making a hobby room in your home. This room specifically would be a place for you to go and do whatever you do best. There are many places that specifically help people design rooms for their hobbies, and finding the right equipment and setup for your own hobby will make your home somewhere you always want to be.
In the end, it’s so important to make these golden years of your life perfectly safe, comfortable, relaxing, and enjoyable. The features of your home play significantly into this, however, which is why looking at features to add or update will benefit you now and long-term. Examine for yourself what you need to do to improve your home and make more memories. We hope our tips are useful on What Every Retiree Needs in a Home.
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