home and garden to either medium house on small section, or small house on small section! Do you have any regrets about your choice!
Our kids are long gone and it's time to plan to be mortgage free in a low maintenance house by the time we retire, but after living my whole life in large houses with big gardens, I feel claustrophobic in the homes I looked at.Where do I put all the roses I love to gather and give to friends!
I've come to the conclusion that I don't need all my special bits of furniture, but I can't live without flowers.
astroflight1,
Feb 16, 9:44am
You have already answered your own question. Down size the home, enough bedrooms for a visit from child and spouse and 2 grandchildren, so that would probably be 3 bedrooms. Keep the big section.Garden, garden, and garden some more. Don't forget the victory garden.
maclad,
Feb 16, 10:26am
I downsized a year ago to a small 2 bedroom home with the added bonus of a garage and sleepout and good deck areas. I have managed to retain plenty of gardens and planters and have alot of hardscape with just enough lawn to make it asthetic. The home is made from low maintenance materials and gardens are low maintenance too. I tossed out anything that i had not used in the last few years and things surplus to my needs, (donated to my family) and bought more appropriatly sized furniture, including a set of bunks, so I have plenty of room when the family arrive. I do not regret it for a moment, love having a smaller place which is so quick and easy to care for.
oh_hunnihunni,
Feb 16, 10:31am
My garden has gone from over an acre to lots of pots and a pocket hankerchief as my physical abilities decreased. Doesn't stop me being almost self sufficient in vegies and herbs, and surround by flower - including hydrangeas and roses. I can 'bonsai' just about anything, lol, and have discovered baskets plus tlc is a winning combination. Go for it - small but perfectly formed, and access to a few good parks and I'm happy.
kateley,
Feb 16, 11:27am
look for a smaller place that is close to a public garden - best of both worlds.
hilt_dwane,
Feb 16, 11:39am
As you age, you are more likely to face ill health. Perhaps downsizing the land as well as the house might be sensible if you dont want to face another move in the event of deteriorating health. I think what poster #4 said makes a lot of sense.
tillsbury,
Feb 16, 1:31pm
We downsized from huge house on good garden to much smaller house on huge garden (in the country).No regrets at all, except for the storage of so much stuff!Put some in the loft, build a large garage to put some of the rest, bin the leftover!
oh_hunnihunni,
Feb 16, 2:14pm
Poster 4 is days away from moving to the tiniest (sensible) bedsit unit. It's saving grace is the back fence (with gate) that leads into a small grassed park, filled with glorious mature exotic trees. That view, and the fact that I'm getting very good with pots and baskets make the massive downsizing not quite such a daunting prospect for this inveterate squirreling collector.
Age comes to us all. Being able to adjust makes the process easier - but thank god for trees.
russ18,
Feb 16, 6:03pm
We've gone the other way - in our 4th home and it's by far the largest, been here less than a year and it's a full reno / redecorate job that we are probably nearly half way through, was mostly untouched 60s ugly. but absolutely love the place.
buddytom,
Feb 17, 7:38am
We did this 2 yrs ago and no regets at all, before it took memost of the day to mow now its less than 1 hour. house is all perminant materials . We still have our veggie garden and flowers and shrubs but easier to control. smaller house less house work as well.
donnabeth,
Feb 17, 9:09am
Well, yesterday was spent looking around for what we think we might like. Man found an open home that he could live with-small dated house, small section, huge garage/workshop and near a big reserve for walks. I found a house in the country, new house, smaller than ours but big enough on a half acre(trebling the current garden which I can't keep up with on my own), Now to sit down and work out a middle ground. It's the aging thing that gets us. we watched both sets of parents change from fit strong healthy active 70 somethings, to becoming frailer and less mobile in their 80's and nearing 90. we want somthing we can look after and enjoy without relying on our kids to come clean and weed.
hilt_dwane,
Feb 17, 10:59am
Donnabeth, what you have seen happen to both sets of parents is exactly what I was trying to get you to plan for with your own choices. I am now 64, my husband 82 and neither of us is as fit as a few years back. I have just spent the last few years looking after my 97 year old mother in our home - she was never going to get old and basically went down fighting and kicking. I witnessed her lose the use of her limbs in a very short space of time, in fact she didnt want us to dispose of her gardening tools as she "might" use them despite the fact that she couldnt even use her walker to get outside. Old age and debilitating health creeps up whether we are aware or not
scout_6001,
Feb 17, 11:18am
We down scaled five years ago and have never regretted it.I would suggest, if you can, to get a home with a view.That way you have the nice outlook without the work that goes with it.We have farmland and the hills behind us, and never get sick of the scenery.We down sized to atwo bedroom, permanent material home.The garden is easy, with built up vege garden and easy care shrubs and lawn.Our section is quite large, but with careful planning is low maintenace.It is lovely to have a nice tidy home and section, but without too much work.Wemoved from a city to a rural area, got more for our money and love the slower lifestyle, doing that we also had to consider where the medical facilities were, shopping etc. as in our old age we may not be as mobile.
lythande1,
Feb 17, 1:43pm
Yes. Smaller house, smaller section. After the initial shock, it's actually great. Took a while to rip out the weed infested mess, but have now got 8 different gardens, some small, some a bit bigger, some raised, some not, just used the landscape as it was.and it's so pleasant to go out, do a wee bit of gardening then sit back and be able to enjoy it. The last place, I was endlessly out there weeding and stuff, not fun.
As for the house size, I got rid of a whole lot of furniture, most of which was bought for the other place cause it was so big. I got rid of all the crap that accumulates and you never use and it's much, much better.
oh_hunnihunni,
Feb 17, 2:01pm
I love the 'might' lol. I've just finished emptying a dozen large pots (the moving men are going to hate me!) and mentally I'm already planning their refilling. A friend put the curtains up for me and analyzed the cupboards for total reorganisation - so I reckon in about a year the new tiny space will be perfect. That'll give me time to get rid of another few tonnes of collected 'stuff' - I've promised myself it's a continuing programme, like life! But, given even a really small garden space, we can find joy in it.
donnabeth,
Feb 18, 1:02pm
Talking about this to a friend, she told me about her in-laws situation. It was similar to mine, but they now have a lovely modern house with an easy care section. Whlie they both loved their huge old family home on 10 acres, they think they hung onto it for too long(she couldn't imagine there was a home as nice as she had) and wish they'd moved five years earlier.
This house has seen only two families, and I can still see the last owner fighting back tears as I showed our little kids around their new home. It's hard to believe that 22 years could fly by and now I'm in the same position as her.
lambrat,
Feb 18, 2:19pm
gosh, good luck donnabeth, i wish i had your options, you lucky thing :) a quarter acre and big house here, only 10mins drive to the inner city, last child almost out the door . i always intended to be heading toward a nana flat much nearer the inner city by now, nudging toward my mid-50s. but i'm in chch and there's no inner city any more, lol. i guess in a way i'm lucky last child hung around this long and i hadn't already found something in there. best wishes for your search!
stevee6,
Feb 18, 3:11pm
Hunni - found this site for you - hope it's inspirational.
We downsized a few years ago, planning towards retirement and have not regretted it at all.Smaller low maintenance house which is super easy to keep clean.We have a deck all around for our love of outdoor living.Since retiring, we redesigned the garden, installed raised beds so we have veges enough for our needs, weedmatted all the borders and topped with stone nuggets to eliminate weeds and the garden is now low maintenance with a managable area of lawn.We can now relax and enjoy it all as we have been doing this Summer.
piquant,
Feb 18, 4:32pm
I'm facing the same as you, donnabeth. But I have to say I'm not all that excited about it. I adore my property and I'm very loathe to leave it despite the fact it keeps me more than busy. If I could subdivide it - that would be great but the powers that be.and all that jazz. I, too, could not even contemplate town - all those houses cheek by jowl and all the associated noise. No, for me it will be further out into the countryside somewhere (or a move to a country town that does not have such rigid planning rules.) Not too far from facilities, I hope, but at least I can still indulge my love of country and have my animals. But - it must have a view, lots of light but with big trees and I have to feel happy in a place. I think I might be looking for a while!
robyn276,
Feb 18, 7:32pm
piquant.I have everything that you want. Just love our property. Bought it 13 years ago and have transformed it to how I can very easily manage it for the near future without the worry of downsizing again. When I dug up and made new gardens I made concrete edging around them all. When I planted a shrub in the lawn I put rings around them. My garden is divided up into rooms or blocks. I have stoned about half of them but I still like getting dirt under my fingernails (never warn gloves when gardening). The other half could very easily be made maintenance free when needed. Everything is set up with self irrigation. I even have one block that has fruit trees and original trees for shady seating in the summer. My section backs onto farmland and bush with native birds everywhere on the outskirts of a city, seven min. drive to the city. We have a sheltered and quiet area with fabulous neighbours. I am happy to see my days out here.
guest,
May 23, 3:42am
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