Downsizing Into a New Home in Yuma

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By:Jeffrey Nelson

Your golden years are here and you’ve decided to buy a home in Yuma, one of the most beautiful parts of the country, especially for retirees. Chances are you are ready to make the move to your ideal house for your retirment, but you just need to settle a few details.

Many people are concerned about moving from their larger, family home to the smaller retirement property. You’ve spent your life in larger homes and aren’t sure how to adjust to downsizing. You don’t want to hassle with upkeep, but you don’t want to give up all your favorite things. What you need to do is learn how to make the most efficient use of the space you have.

If you haven’t found your perfect home in Yuma for your retirement, this is the perfect time to start looking. You can begin by taking an inventory of all of your furnishings, tools, books, clothing…in short, everything you own. Then look at your list with new eyes. Forget your former years of raising children, working, entertaining business associates and friends. Now think about your new life, free from all of those duties. From now on you will be living smaller.

Since you’re in Yuma, where the weather is lovely all year around, you’ll probably spend a lot of time on the golf course, by the pool, sipping lemonade on the patio, or just relaxing in an air-conditioned room. The last thing you’ll want is to be cleaning a large house and taking care of a yard. Of course since you’re living in paradise, you’ll most likely have visits from out-of-town family and friends, so you’ll need extra space when you need it.

One thing you’ll definitely want is as many built-ins as possible. Floor to ceiling shelves, drawers, cabinets, and even a pull-down bed for guests will keep clutter neat, tidy, and out of sight and free up floor space at the same time. Bay windows will create little nooks where you can place a table and chairs for eating, enjoying coffee, and relaxing with a book. Your tall bookshelves can hold books and display your favorite decorative pieces as well.

To create the feeling of more space, look for a house with a somewhat open floor plan. Your rooms can be separate, but making the doorways wide will make them blend into one another in a way that tricks the eye into seeing a larger space. Using lighter colors on walls and floors also gives the allusion of wide open spaces. Use similar tones so that they blend subtlety one into another. Another way to trick the eye is to place mirrors in strategic places to reflect windows and bright areas. Touches such as crown molding, striped wallpaper, and various textures on walls, give the allusion of height by “telling” us to look up.

Consider furniture that can act as both room divider and storage. For example you might use a large unit with shelves between kitchen and the dining area. It will serve as a place for dishes, silver, serving pieces, with drawers below for table linens. It will give the impression of two separate rooms, while allowing people in both areas to mingle and mix, thanks to the clever furnishing.

Once again Yuma offers climate advantage because you can extend your indoor living space into the outdoors. Since you don’t want much yard space, extend your house out by enclosing your porch or part of the patio with screens, sliding windows, or shutters. When visitors come for a week-end or a month, these spaces will really come in handy.

These are a few ideas to mull over as you plan your Yuma retirement living arrangements.

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Article keywords: Yuma retirement home, buying a home in Yuma, Yuma Arizona real estate, retiring in yuma arizona

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Click here to get a free copy of Jeff Nelson's, "7 Common Home Buying Mistakes," a 10-page report that describes the mistakes to avoid when purchasing your new home in Yuma, Arizona.