empty room refrigerator light

Retirement. Florida. Golf. Boredom. What do these terms have in common? Not much, according to a mountain of recent studies of the lifestyles and demographics of aging baby-boomers. Today’s “empty-nesters” are a more diverse group then ever before, taking vantage of their newly found free time and discretionary income. They’re altering the way we think when it comes to the second half of life, living out their dreams and fulfilling life goals.

The notion that life after the children leave inevitably means loneliness and boredom has been swept away. That myth, it seems, grew from 1960s exploration on women being treated for depression, according to My Turn, a 1997 book by author Patricia Gottlieb Shapiro. Shapiro researched the lives of 45 women whose children had “left the nest” and came upon that most felt a sense of relief and freedom. Other scientific studies have found similar results.

Nearly one-third of America’s population (75 million people) are considered “maturing baby-boomers”, a very huge and comparatively affluent group that is looking for much more from the “after-family” years than rocking chairs and meals-on-wheels.

Sales Of Bermuda Shorts Plummet

You’ve got to look harder to find empty nesters these days because they’re not living where you’d suppose them. BUILDER Magazine commissioned exploration in early 2000 to study the housing goals, preferences, and priorities of people aged 45 and older and came up with galore eye-opening results.

“Mature Buyers” (the home-building industry’s term) it seems, aren’t planning to flock to the Sunbelt in droves. While climate is still an indispensable considerateness in choosing an after-family home, it ranks beneath proximity to family and friends. Only one-third of respondents planning to move in the next five years will head for another region of the country; of the remaining local movers, one-half won’t go further than 25 miles from their current homes.

What, No Shuffleboard?

Mom and Dad aren’t much mesmerized in living with folks their own age, either. Only 18% of the future movers in the BUILDER survey say they plan to move into “age-qualified” communities, where a minimum age is required for admission. Instead, they’d rather be around humans of all ages, in particular children, and away from “old folks”. That’s understandable – we’re talking when it comes to a younger, healthier, wealthier, more mobile group. They’re determined to stay independent for as long as possible. And medical exploration validates their modus vivendi selections – action has a direct affect on long-term health.

For the more and more littler (though still very large) group choosing golf-course communities in the Southwest and Southeast, outdoor actions are easy to come by year-round. The group staying closer to home, however, works a little harder to find the kind of mentally and physically stimulating avocations they demand. They’re finding that tonic in community activities, volunteer work, and startup businesses.

The growth of the “aging-in-place” group demands that the design professions closely scrutinize the effects of an aging population on the design of after-family homes. There are two popular categories of home environs to consider – the newly built home for the group intending to move and the existent home to be remodeled for altering uses.

Wanted: Smaller (and better) Nest

OK, you’re living in a 4-bedroom 2-story colonial home in the Midwestern United States, and the kids have (finally!) graduated college. You’ve in all likelihood figured out by now that you’ve got regarding two bedrooms too many. There are ten years left on the mortgage, and the cost of heating the big family home has gone way up. Your life has of a sudden changed, shouldn’t your home?

For numerous in this situation, this is a chance to upgrade to a higher quality (but smaller) low-maintenance house. And a heap of after-family couples have the cash to do it. A survey by Kemper Funds reveals that almost 6 in 10 affluent empty nesters (incomes over $50,000 per year) have at least $5000 a year in further and added spending cash once they’ve written their last tuition check. A littler group finds themselves with $10,000 or more.

While a great deal of folks are in truth using the post-tuition windfall to build or buy new, a growing number are staying put – they like where they live and intend to stay there as long as they’re able.

Second Life For The Family Home

The transition from family home to after-family home is having little impact in a great deal of existent houses than in others. At my residential architectural practice, we oftentimes design new homes that are to varying degrees prepared for changes in the occupant’s lifestyle. A recent project for a young family includes closet space that may be converted for a future elevator, ought to the need arise. But even in homes where the lifestyles of future empty nesters haven’t been considered there are a great deal of changes that may make it posing no difficulty to proceed living comfortably for a lot of years.

While a great deal of of the more dramatic changes fall into the rebuilding category and implicate big areas of the house, numerous modifications are little and isolated to specific rooms.

Moving Downstairs

But let’s get the huge changes out of the way first. Can the house be adapted to one-level living? This is ofttimes the initial contemplation of after-family couples. Trudging up and down 15 or 16 steps various times a day doesn’t sound much like leisure living. Often a study or living room may be effortlessly converted to a initial floor bedroom, or perchance the after-tuition windfall is sufficient to concede the addition of a finish first-floor master suite.

Since privacy from the children is now a moot point, removing a few doors may make circulation through the house posing no difficulty and make better use of the entire level for each and everyday living.

Simple Steps to Ease Everyday Life

The homeowners, with little more than simple hand tools, may oftentimes make littler changes themselves. Doorknobs, for example, may be substituted with simpler-to-operate lever handles. Luminous light switches may be installed in bedrooms, baths, and hallways. Matte finish paint, flooring, and countertops reduce glare. And a programmable thermostat need only be set once – even those of us with good vision have disturb with those tiny levers and numbers!

Bathrooms are ordinarily comparatively tight spaces for adults of all ages but a number of little changes may make huge improvements. A seat in the shower helps decrease bending over to wash; grab bars on the shower walls make using the shower safer; and an anti-scald shower valve has evident benefits.

Higher countertops, lever faucets, and a phone jack may also aid keep the bath functional and safe later in life.

Now We’re Cooking

Everyone has experienced the transformation of the kitchen from utility to social space as our home lives have become less formal. We eat, cook, relax, and entertain here – it’s the center of the house. Nowhere in the house is it more crucial to adjust space to altering needs and again, little modifications may make all the difference.

Most kitchen improvements are designed to reduce the need to bend at the waist and eliminate reaching over obstacles. A side-by-side refrigerator, for example, is much requiring little effort to use than a model that requires reaching deep into a bottom freezer. Pull-out shelves in the lower cabinets and adaptable shelves in the upper cabinets have a similar positive effect.

The kitchen is an obstacle course, actually – full of tools and gimmicks that from time to time seem poorly designed for adults of any age. Decorative cabinet knobs and pulls, while pretty, may be difficult to grasp. They’re speedily replaced, however, with hardware designed for ease of use. And here’s something that works for everyone once the kids have grown – a cooktop with front-mounted controls.

Just Like Home

As more and more empty nesters choose to stay in their existent homes, they’re finding a fulfilling life in intimate surroundings. It’s a positive trend that ought to be reinforced by designing new homes with the flexibleness to accommodate altering families. And a great deal of existent homes are without apparent effort remodeled to keep the new empty nesters close to the diversity of life experience and the exposure to humans of all ages that galore of them prefer.

But hey, that doesn’t mean you can’t visit the Sunshine State once in a while. Don’t forget your golf clubs.

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Picture

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Pic

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Photo

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Photo

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Pic

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Image

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Picture

Empty Room Refrigerator Light Image