Living space
 

I am trying to decide where to live in the next couple of years when I retire. Stay in town or move to the country? How small living space can I "survive" in. I have been looking at the Tiny Houses but being a quilter..i guess I could put a quilt shed next to it. Trying to lower my living expenses to the bare minimum since all I have is social security. Right now I own a home in Phoenix but won't be able to keep it up, I have a manufactured home outside Maricopa but fear in the future I won't be able to get to the store for groceries. Thinking about a single wide, maybe and I would like to get out of the heat. If you are retired, what type of housing do you have and what is the square footage?

in MN, i had a 1700sf townhome. when moving to NY, i had to settle on 1000sf, using the dining room as my sewing room. then i could not keep up the maintenance on that home and moved to a 600sf apartment. with very creative storage, i still have room for all of my quilting/sewing items. downsizing was very difficult, but i'm getting used to it. no maintenance means i have more sewing/quilting time :)
good luck.

A couple of years ago, my quilting friends and I were out and about. We love to go to out of the way places to eat. Beside the restaurant were a couple of tiny cabins that were for sale. This was in a big hunting area and hunters would buy these cabins for their hunting retreats. I fell in love with them! We went in the side door...to your right was the bedroom and bathroom. To the left was a stairway leading to a loft. Also the small hall leading to the small kitchen and living room. It was just right for a single person. When you go in the front way there was a small screened porch. So danged adorable!! The loft could be your sewing area. I've tried to find the exact same floor plan online with no success.

When I retired, I moved from Flagstaff to Tucson because of how expensive and hard it was to stay warm during the winter. I find it much less expensive to live in a warmer climate. Also there are many senior mobile home parks, townhomes, and apartments that are less expensive then non-senior communities. I also find it very wonderful to live near everything so if my car breaks down I am not stranded.

You might take a long look at an IKEA catalog or visit one of their stores. They seem to be all about living in smaller spaces.

We already live in a small house. We plan to live here the rest of our lives. One never knows what life may throw at us.

IKEA is amazing! They have some incredible ideas for living in extremely small spaces. Of course you will wind up spending a lot of money for their furniture to accomplish that but it could very well be worth it. You would need to find a community center or library where you could lay out a quilt for basting, etc. I just looked and you are fortunate to have an IKEA close to you. Even if you don't opt for their solutions they certainly have good ideas.

Go online and take a look at On Top of the World in Ocala, FL. Then look at real estate for OTOW in the Ocala Star Banner paper. The only homes on the OTOW site will, of course, be new ones that start at around $150,000. But, OTOW was started in the 1980s with villa homes, two to 4 joined homes. These older homes are much lower in price. One of the smaller ones, about 1,000 sq ft, was listed last week at $49,000. All homes in OTOW are concrete block construction so are sturdy and quiet. Most of the older ones have had lots of improvements (sun rooms, tile floors, etc.). You would buy this on a 99-yr lease so you don't buy the land. Taxes are low here and no state income tax. You will pay a monthly maintenance fee of $350-$400. This will cover insurance on the outside, painting the outside, yard work, gate security, basic cable, water in the villas, maintenance of the properties, etc. There are 3 pools, 3 golf courses, pickleball and tennis courts, restaurants on site, a huge senior educational program, two small shopping centers with two supermarkets -- all accessible by golf cart if you don't drive much. Many clubs (including a quilting club and two crafts clubs). One hospital, two ERs, many medical offices within 10-15 minutes from your house, two more hospitals in town (about 20-minute drive). We have been here 11 years and really like it here.

I moved from San Diego to a small town in NE that has amazing senior services. The senior center has a wonderful lunch every day for $4.00, meals on wheels, if one is unable to get out, a senior bus to take you to lunch, shopping or other appointments, a great grocery store and very friendly people.

I live in the home I bought in 1976 when transferred to Oregon from Ca. it has 1500 sq.ft. plant to live here as long as the good Lord lets me live. Got it paid for before retiring. Have to hire some one to help with the yards most of the time now. but that's ok, my teen grandson can use the money, also hire him to vacuum for me.
love my quilting and embroidery works, who need very much furniture ??