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Archive for Rightsizing for Retirement

Thinking Ahead – Should I Stay or Should I Move?

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 July 3, 2023

Building With Hope and Faith

Thinking Ahead – Should I Stay or Should I Move?

Our specialty is helping homeowners fall in love with their home. People at or nearing retirement age are often faced with the quandary of staying in their family home or downsizing to a small home or condominium. In the past few years, it’s been a popular trend to “downsize” – but a trend is not a rule, so the option of where you live is always completely up to you!

Deciding whether to move to a new home or to renovate your current house is a significant decision. One huge factor is your own financial situation, so you’ll want to consult with your financial advisor to help you understand your options.

Other than the financial, here are some things to consider.

Lifestyle and Recreation

If you’re planning on retiring soon and have made it a priority to be in a living situation where you’re close to the golf course, pool or tennis court, then you should look at a place to live where these recreational choices are convenient.

You’ll want to be careful of the freedom you’re giving up, however. Condo and townhome living means adhering to the rules of the Home Owners Association, so you’ll want to be crystal clear about those rules before you make the leap.

Mobility and Safety

Some retirees move to single-level living because stairs may become hard to manage, or having your laundry in the basement is becoming tricky. We want you to stay safe but that doesn’t mean leaving a home and neighborhood you love. We have created designs to move your laundry room to where you want it, and to accommodate elevators and other mobility installations. Renovation of a house you love may be a wiser choice than moving to a new area just because of stairs.

Zimmerman Architects can assist you in designing a beautiful and safe shower

Left:  a shower designed with beauty and safety in mind.

Right: an elevator right in your home.

Neighborhood and Relationships

One important contributor to a long and healthy life is cultivating personal bonds and relationships. If you have strong community connections or proximity to family and friends, moving will cause an emotional disruption. Some retirees and seniors moved because they thought they should have a smaller or easier place to live, yet regretted the friendships they left behind after their move. 

Modern Appearance and Convenience

Simmerman Architects can design a kitchen with a modern appearance and convenience

Your old home has an outdated kitchen, tiny bathrooms and never enough electrical outlets and lighting. We get it! This is why we love planning new rooms and modern convenience features with our homeowners. We can arrange the floor plans so they actually work for you, and you can have the modern and spacious rooms you’ve always admired – right in your own home.

BETTER Should Be Defined by YOU

A deck for relaxing can add to your retirement way of life

Everyone has an opinion, and people often say that moving to a smaller place will be easier – better. But is it? For some, sure, but not for everyone. If moving to a smaller place means giving up your sewing room, your den with a piano, your sunroom where you like to sip your coffee, your deck for having a glass of wine with friends, then how is that better? You deserve the space you want, the rooms you want, to live life how you want.

Ultimately, the decision to move or renovate depends on your unique circumstances and preferences. It may be that moving is the right thing to do, but do your homework first. We welcome a phone call so that you can tell us about your situation and your preferences.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!

Do you have transformational dreams for your house and
simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.
Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Residential Design, Rightsizing for Retirement, Working with Zimmerman Architects

Plan Your Best New House – Right Inside Your Own Home

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 June 16, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Plan Your Best New House – Right Inside Your Own Home

Renovate your current home into your forever homeOften you hear about empty-nesters and retirees downsizing and moving away to start the next chapter of their lives. They declutter and donate rooms full of belongings, and say goodbye to neighbors as they venture into another town, county, or state. This is their choice, their dream, and you wish them the best.

But –you love your neighborhood, your community, your town. Do you need to downsize to retire? Why on earth would you move?

Zimmerman Architects can make your current home work better for you

Not sure about staying in your current house forever? After all, there are aspects of your house that just aren’t working.

  • Maybe you’ve always hated the layout of the kitchen because you can’t see the people in the dining room and living room when you’re trapped behind the kitchen wall.
  • Perhaps the location of your bedroom has always driven you crazy because it faces the street and the school bus roaring through in the early morning wakes you up.
  • It could be that you’ve been hoping to invite family members to move in with you but there’s definitely not sufficient room in this house.

Yes, you can move and find a new house or townhouse that has the right layout and all the space you’ve been dreaming of – but you can’t take your neighborhood with you!

Stay in the Comfort of Your Current Community

maintain your current lifestyle and neighborhood

Leaving the familiarity and friendships and warmth of your neighbors and community is not something you’d even want to consider. You love your favorite shops and restaurants. The neighbors watch out for each other. You revel in the small-town atmosphere of your street while your downtown is a stone’s throw from your home.

Or perhaps the privacy and safety of your property and the beauty of the landscaping around you would be heart-breaking to leave behind. There’s so much peaceful nature around you – moving to a new townhome development, no matter how elegant, could never feel the same.

Deciding on Your Next Move Can Be Easier Than You Thought

Retirement does not require moving! And neither does changing your home!

Why lose out on all the friendships you’ve made over the years in your neighborhood? If you love your community and want to have more space so you can get even more involved, consider making the appropriate changes to your home that you’ve been dreaming about.

Taking a closer look at your big picture and detailed goals, you’ll get a clear list of what you want and how to get it.

  • A roomy and private den to invite all the members of your book club to meet, relax and chat with refreshments.
  • A large kitchen for you and your fellow volunteers to make food for your local food pantry or charity.
  • A spacious home gym with enough floor space to invite your friends for yoga.

These are wonderful goals and we can make them happen by designing your “new house” right where your current one is now.

Additions and renovations, indoors and outdoors, we’ve helped many homeowners transform and fall in love with their house, knowing that they can love their house for many years to come.

Retirement does not require you to clean out, pick up and move! If you have dreams of loving your living space, yet don’t want to leave your community, give us a call and we can discuss all the possibilities.

Zimmerman Architects get to know you and individual needs.

It all starts with a phone call – even if you are years away from starting, it’s never too soon to have a conversation.


If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

 

Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Rightsizing for Retirement
Tags : downsizing, forever home, right-sizing

Rightsizing for the Next Chapter of Your Life

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 February 14, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Rightsizing for the Next Chapter of Your Life

As you approach your mid-fifties and early sixties, you suddenly notice retirement-related junk mail appearing in your mailbox. Among the invitations to a steakhouse lunch to hear about investments; selecting Medicare options; adding walk-in bathtubs and choosing hearing aids, there are invitations to tour the 55+ townhomes and condos near us. It seems as though society has planned out how the next chapter in our lives will go, without even asking us what we want!

Realtors look forward to selling your family home and helping you “downsize” into a little condo. But this doesn’t mean it has to be your path. Is it true that your family home is now “too big” for you in your 50’s and beyond?

welcoming open concept kitchen for family gatherings

Welcome the Family Over For the Holidays

This might be the time of our lives when we can host holiday dinners for our adult children and our grandchildren in our home. Without the stress of a job, you now have more time to enjoy planning recipes, baking and cooking; but is your dining room large enough to accommodate 2, 3 or 4 families? If the family holiday dining experience includes a plastic portable table set up at the end of the real dining table, complete with folding chairs spilling into the living room, it’s time to think about designing an entertainment space with the proper dimensions to fit everyone comfortably.

And when out of town relatives and friends come over for the holidays, will they have to drive to the local hotel, or can you show them to their guest bedroom(s)?

How Do You Prefer To Keep Fit?

As you age you want to be as fit as possible, keeping your muscles and bones strong. But driving to the gym every day is a hassle. No one wants to go out in the rain or freezing temps. Yes, those adult living communities have a “fitness room”. It is most often a small room with 2 cardio machines and a weight rack. Unless your unit is close to the clubhouse, you will often have to drive there, so how does this save you time?

Do you have a large enough space in your home for a comfortable and lovely gym? A new dedicated fitness room in your home can accommodate larger equipment such as an elliptical and a treadmill or exercise bike, along with free weights and a TV, plus a floor space to stretch and do yoga.

Imagine a room with mirrors on the walls to check your form, well lit to see all the settings on your machines, and windows bringing in every ounce of sunlight. A home gym can look far more pleasing and welcoming than the public gym down the road, or the tiny workout room in the condo clubhouse, with the added benefits of convenience, privacy and cleanliness.

room for work and playNeeding More Room to Work and Play

Whenever you decide to retire, you’ll be spending less time going to the office, but having a home office for your computer will always be essential. Is there enough room in your house for a home office and a room for your new crafts and hobbies? Do you have a space for gift wrapping and to store the holiday presents? Whether you’re learning new musical instruments, quilting, or working on multiple puzzles, you’ll want enough room to spread out your tools and materials and papers, and perhaps add a TV and music device.

We Are Here to Help With Your Transformation

None of these living spaces require you to build a mansion, but all are meant to give you a happy, lovely, and comfortable home to enjoy the next chapter of your life. If you can’t see how to make it happen, schedule a design consultation with us. We have helped many clients in their fifties and beyond turn the family home into their dream forever home.


If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

 

Categories : Interior Renovations, Residential Design, Rightsizing for Retirement, Working with Zimmerman Architects

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