On the Road to Retirement!

On the Road to Retirement!

The last few months have been crazy to say the least. It all started at the end of June. We purchased another house. One week after that we were on a 5 week vacation. Once we got back, it was time to do some work on the house we bought.

Six years ago, we purchased a home north of Orlando as our retirement house. Unfortunately for my husband, I was not sure that was the house I wanted to retire in. So we began to look for other homes and we found one about 9 miles from the current one (my daughter lives there.)

It does get confusing. She is thinking of buying it so right now we have three homes. We have made lots of updates to that house and our Davie house. I have finally gotten the Davie house just the way I want it, which is a little sad.

My poor husband was so excited with this new house, since in his words, "it is move in ready" and he had nothing to do.  Unfortunately, we have a difference of opinion in what "move in ready" means.

The house overall is completely updated, but there are lots of other problems for me - one being paint color.  The color on the walls is a beigy color with a hint of rust. I am not sure what color it really is, but it is dark and not my color. 

I know most of you take lots of before and after pictures but I just wanted to get it done so I just started to paint. The house is 4 hours from our Davie house, so when we go there, we work.  We are not staying there yet.

This picture doesn't truly show the wall color and the new color is a light silver/grey. 

My husband agreed to help me paint, and as soon as a room was painted, he would say, "what a difference, - so much brighter". 

Not sure what they were thinking on the lanai but the same paint that is on the outside of the house, was on the walls, floor and the external doors. Even the door hinges were painted that color. (That's the color inside the house.)

This pictures was taken with their furniture on the lanai. We painted the walls a white with a undertone of blue/grey. The floor we painted a medium grey and I painted all of the doors white.  We are going to put in a pool off this lanai next year, if all goes well. So it might change again.  Since I am not there as I am writing this, no photos of the updated lanai. 

Everyone says that when you retire you need to downsize. I totally agree but when you go from a 3800 sq ft home to a 1900 sq ft home, I am trying to figure out how that is going to work. My great room in Davie is the size of my new kitchen, living room, dining room and kitchen table area all put together. As I look around my Davie home, I am not sure where things will go. Lots will be sold. I am not attached to all of it, but I do have many vintage pieces that have been in my family. 

Sad for my husband, but I have many changes coming to the new house before we retire next year. The next time I am there, I will get some lanai photos, although with no furniture, they will not look great. I need to change the fireplace. The brown is not working for me.

I have been researching about painting the brick and if that doesn't work, we might resurface it. New mantel is needed as well. They did a great job of these house pictures because the wall paint looks light but it is not. 

I guess we all need to make it our own. There is a part of me that is excited and another part that is sad. Change is never easy and this is going to be a big change. Not just a new home but a complete change in environment. I have every store you can imagine here in Davie, within minutes, but very little there unless I go around 45 minutes from the house.

Well, I will try to take more pictures and keep you informed about this new chapter in our lives.

Are you thinking of retiring? Have you retired? Any suggestions on downsizing?

The post  On the Road to Retirement! first appeared on Eclectic Red Barn.

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