Making A Plan for Senior Living Provides Peace of Mind

 

When you’re thinking about making the move to senior living, here’s the best advice I can offer: It’s never too early to start working on a plan, and that’s true whether you hope to move in one year or three. 

Many prospective residents have lived in their current house for decades. As a result, the thought of downsizing and preparing for a move—on their own—is overwhelming, and only looking at the “big picture” can feed that feeling. But if you break the process down into manageable steps, the idea of moving becomes less daunting. That’s where I come in. 

As a planning and moving consultant at Devonshire, the Erickson Senior Living community at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., I schedule home visits with prospective residents—shortly after they’ve joined the Priority List—to answer questions and provide support. This doesn’t have to be a time to make decisions; only to start the planning process. 

It’s amazing to see how much peace of mind making a plan provides, even if it’s for years in the future!

Envision your new space

The initial home visit is the perfect time to consider floor plan options and begin creating the layout for your new living space. 

If you’ve already chosen a floor plan, I bring that with me on the visit. However, as is often the case in these early visits, I bring several floor plans based on your wants and needs to help narrow down the options. 

Together, we consider the furniture you wish to bring to your new home and I take measurements. This allows us to see how everything will fit together in your apartment home. Creating these plans, while we have the furniture in front of us, helps inform the decision-making process. 

For instance, if you have a large sectional you want to bring with you, I might recommend a more traditional, square floor plan instead of a layout with lots of angles that won’t easily accommodate the sofa.

See what works best

Placing your items on the floor plan can also help you decide what you won’t be bringing with you. Sometimes, the decisions are as easy as getting rid of oversized furniture that won’t fit in your apartment home. 

Many prospective residents choose to give up their formal living room set when moving, while others choose to part with the large dining room suite they no longer use. 

Narrowing down which pieces of furniture will accompany you to your new home also allows us to map out the most efficient use of your space. Or, if you wish to kick off your new lifestyle with new furniture, I make suggestions on what might work best and provide furniture measurements that will help you shop with confidence. 

Plan with flexibility

The most important thing to remember is that the plans we make can always be revised, and that’s fine! Coming up with a plan—and updating it when necessary—ensures that your wants and needs for the future will be met. 

Just because we begin making a plan today does not mean that you’re moving in tomorrow. But it does mean that you’ll be ready when the time comes, which will make your move as stress-free as possible.

Find an Erickson Senior Living community near you to learn more about the realty and moving services that can help you plan for a future move.