Choosing a home to fit your needs.

Whether you have been living in your home for years or are doing up a project or even building your own home you will have a finish product in mind. We naturally tailor our homes to fit our current needs and having lived with room mates, on my own, in a relationship and as a mother to two young boys the types of homes I've lived in have certainly changed over the years and here are a few

Twenties

Whether your studying at University or have your first proper job an apartment is usually the best bet especially when your busy working and socialising. While a house may seem like a good idea it can often be more work than you bargain for so an apartment means less stress and more time to do the things you enjoy, plus they also make great investments should you decided to buy instead of rent. The great thing about apartments is that they can also adapt with your needs, while you may share as a student, later on you may decided to live on your own or its might be your first home you shared with your future partner. Your tastes may also develop over this time and apartments are a great base to explore your interior style. 

Thirties

Around your thirties is usually the time you are starting to settle down whether that be in a relationship or just progressing with work, you may be thinking about purchasing your own home or perhaps you are a digital millennial working from home and now require more space for an office. Your needs by this point may have changed from your twenties, perhaps you have children (or are planning to too) and want a garden as well as more bedroom space a nursery or guests staying over. Of course this isn't always the case but you may be looking for a more grown up space and even if your staying in the same home you may find yourself redesigning your space and move away from your student days in style. 

Forties

By this point if you have expanded your family you may be looking to either move to a larger home or extended your own. There are many ways to make your current properly feel more spacious and creating more floor space by extending the kitchen with a stylish conservatory or you could go up into your loft space and create another bedroom in the eaves, both of these options are also very good investments and usually aways increase the value of your home.

Fifties & Sixties

Your children may be getting ready to leave the nest to start their own adventure which means you could be looking at having a lot more space all of a sudden. You may want to take up a hobby or develop a small business from home or just free up more rooms for visiting friends and family and even perhaps grandchildren. Now is the time to really enjoy your home, relax, or perhaps do some renovations others may feel it might be time to downsizes. 

Seventies plus

As we are living longer than ever and with most of us trying to stay healthy and live in our own homes as we get older a few changes may need to be made to make sure this is possible. You may decide to downsize to something more manageable or adapt your current home to make it "age proof" that allows you to stay active and able while stay safe. This can be done by putting down slip-resistant floors in places like the bathroom and kitchen and if you feel like your mobility is becoming a bit of an issue grab bars could be the next step as well as choosing to choosing to install residential home elevators in two-story homes is a great way to safely use the upper floor. 

As with everything in our life as we age our needs change and style develops as will the homes we live in. It's not to say you cannot find that forever home early one, with so many options and being able to extend most homes in one way may mean you can adapt yours along the way.