When You're Staying Put, Consider Customizing Your Space by Christine Brun on Creators.com

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When You're Staying Put, Consider Customizing Your Space

Baby boomers aren't going anywhere. In fact, most boomers say they don't have any plans to move after they retire, and that's mostly due to a drop in the value of their homes.

A recent poll, conducted by Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com, surveyed more than 1,000 adults born between 1946 and 1964 and discovered that this group is looking for smaller, more affordable homes that are easily accessible to medical care and near family. Not surprisingly, the ones most likely to buy a new place for retirement make more than $100,000 a year. Some findings:

— 40 percent want a smaller place

— 39 percent want to be near medical offices or good hospitals

— 30 percent want a different climate — perhaps a warmer one

— 25 percent want a more affordable home

— 15 percent want to be closer to family

— 10 percent will search for a new city that offers more services

Only 8 percent of the interviewees are looking for a larger home for retirement! Many will be staying put until they recoup — 53 percent polled say they plan to delay retirement until they get back some of their investment losses.

It looks like the American dream of owning a home and then buying or building a bigger and better one is no longer viable for many. Millions of homeowners stymied by the housing market and economy have embraced remodeling instead. In fact, the Hanely Wood Housing 360 Survey confirms that some 60 percent of homeowners plan to stay in their current homes for the duration of their retirement. Further, in 2008 there were 2 million new homes under construction. Today there are only 300,000.

Simply put, remodeling is the new king of the industry.

In light of all this, a new book by Connecticut architect Duo Dickinson makes perfect sense at the moment. "Staying Put: Remodel Your House to Get the Home You Want" has been praised by Sarah Susanka, writer of the "Not So Big House" series, thusly: "How many books do you know that can give you multiple and frequent full-throttle belly laughs while delivering basic and simple advice about how to make friends with, and even come to love, the house that until recently you've imagined you'd be moving up from sometime in the not-too-distant future?"

"Staying Put" is packed with some very practical advice and may make the perfect holiday gift for some folks headed toward retirement age.

Advice on projects ranging from $3,000 to $300,000 is grounded in the reality of what it takes to transform an existing home without necessarily expanding it.

I love the idea of expanding or improving available space without adding to the footprint of a home. As a practicing architect, Dickinson offers plain-spoken and honest advice. He guides a novice with humor and an easily understood roadmap. Many "before and after" snapshots illustrate perfectly how to improve features without breaking the bank.

For example, the pictured window at the end of the passageway is a more pleasing option than a blank wall. A window is a relatively inexpensive addition that vastly improves the appeal and impression of a narrow space such as this.

In another instance, a center stairway in a small suburban house of many levels felt like "a cattle shoot with its side walls sealed up and its narrow handrail difficult to grip." Because the stairs had closed stringers, it was possible to replace the existing side walls and rail with an open handrail and balusters. By opening up the stairwell, natural light could flow down from an existing skylight, thus transforming the formerly closed-off area.

By looking at your current home and trying to seek out ways to make the existing space more functional and aesthetically appealing within a rational budget, you open up a completely different reality for your space that you may not have ever considered.

Christine Brun, ASID, is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Small Space Living." Send questions and comments to her by email at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net. To find out more about Christine Brun and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.