More than 90% of Americans want to spend their senior years living in their own homes. But as we all know, that doesn’t always happen. One of the primary reasons that seniors are unable to stay in their homes is that they can’t use their home safely anymore.
For example, going up and down the stairs is a big issue for a lot of people. Lower back pain, hip pain, knee and joint pain, balance issues, and other medical concerns can make using the stairs a painful or unsafe choice.
This is a problem if your bedroom is upstairs. When it hurts to go upstairs, you may find yourself trying to work around the situation by falling asleep in your chair or on the couch – but we all know this isn’t really comfortable, and if you have back issues, look out!
The practical answer to this challenge is to move your bedroom to the ground floor. This way, you’re able to enjoy a truly comfortable sleeping experience – in your own bed – without having to climb the stairs. It’s the safest, least painful option. But how are you going to make this work in your home?
As Wellesley home builders, we’ve seen homeowners address this issue in a number of ways, including:
Converting an Existing Downstairs Room into a Bedroom
This is the fastest, most affordable route to achieving a ground floor bedroom. Almost any type of room can be converted into a bedroom, including dining rooms, home offices, large pantries or storage rooms, parlors or sitting rooms, and more.
Partitioning an Existing Downstairs Room into a Bedroom
If you have a home with an open floorplan, or a home with larger rooms, a downstairs bedroom can be created by having your local home builders build the necessary walls to divide the space. This is one situation where working with a design build contractor can save you a lot of stress and aggravation: you only have to deal with one company to get your new space designed and built.
The Ground Floor Addition – For Bedrooms, Storage, Workout Room & More
The third option – and this is the one that adds the most to the long-term value of your home – is to have a ground floor addition put on. We build a lot of home additions in the Wellesley area, and we can tell you that the need for ground floor bedrooms is the reason why. The other reasons homeowners are having home additions put on include adding storage space to the home – very popular alternative to having your garage overflowing with stuff! – as well as workout rooms, home offices, and studio space.