How to Renovate Your Home in Your Golden Years

Retirement brings with it a wealth of exciting new opportunities. With your newfound freedom from the nine-to-five grind, you’ll likely start planning for new hobbies, travels, and personal projects. One thing that many folks look forward to in retirement is renovating their homes. This can be for a number of reasons: it might just be time for a change of pace to match the new stage of life you’ve entered, or maybe it’s for practical reasons accommodating medical conditions, or it could just be for fun! Check out our guide to golden year home renovation.

Why?

First, think about why you are renovating your home. Are you trying to create a comfortable space for you and your partner to relax in as you sit back and enjoy your work-free days? You’ll probably want to invest in some comfortable new furniture and maybe a sleek new home entertainment system, like a wide-screen TV or surround-sound speakers. Are you crafting an inviting entertainment space to host family and friends for fun dinners and game nights? Maybe a kitchen renovation with an island and bar are the perfect way to revamp your home for retirement. Do you have grandkids that you’re trying to create a fun playful space for?

Consider focusing on the backyard, sprucing up your outdoor patio and maybe even putting in a kids’ play structure! Maybe you are considering installing ramps to make sure your home is accessible as possible – and you remain as mobile as possible – as you get older. These priorities are all things to consider when you’re remodeling or renovating, so make sure you have a solid idea of the purpose for your renovation before committing to any contractor or plan.

How?

The next thing you should consider is how you plan on paying for your renovation. As you probably know, home renovation can get pretty expensive. You should definitely know your budget and sources of funding before you get carried away with extravagant renovation plans. Many people consider retirement to be a time where you are stuck on a fixed income, but that’s not necessarily true.

There are ways that retirees can productively supplement their incomes. Consider, for instance, working part time as a freelancer in the field that you used to work in. Writers, designers, marketers, and legal professionals all have ample opportunity to supplement their retirement income through part time work and consulting. You might also try working in the gig economy, driving for a company like Lyft of Uber.

If you need even more cash, you could consider investing or borrowing. If you have a good amount of equity, you could consider a reverse mortgage – this way, your equity is paid out to you in installments that you can put toward your living expenses. Just be sure to have a reverse mortgage explained to you by a trusted financial advisor before moving forward with one. If you’ve got a separate room or granny flat, consider renting it out through a company like Airbnb. The rent checks could go a long way to help pay for your renovation!

What style?

Okay, once you’ve got a good vision and have a solid plan to pay for it, you can get to the fun bit – planning on the style of your renovation! You want your home to be as comfortable, fun, entertaining, and inviting as possible. Consider a warm and welcoming farmhouse style for kitchens and family areas. Maybe you want to convert one of the old kids’ bedrooms into a cool man-cave style game room, with a pool table and a wet bar for fun evenings entertaining. Consider fun decorative elements to really get people in the spirit. If you love spending time outdoors, converting your backyard area into a relaxing getaway cabana will surely attract friends and family over for fun evenings lounging and sipping outdoors.

Now that you’re retired, you will have plenty of time to think about all the fun and creative ways that you can renovate your house. Have fun planning!