What fun to see this thread pop up again. Kristine, your Julia in the photo above looks wonderful. My own root Julia, which was one year old (a bit above in the photos) is a lot bigger, but nowhere near as large as the two grafted Julias in front (I've grown them since 2006 or so--the year they were first sold). What I've noticed with the own root is that it does not bloom nearly as much as the grafted roses, and the blooms are somewhat smaller. The growth habit is beautiful and own root Julia requires little pruning. But my gardening friend, and superb grower of roses, will probably take own root Julia for her garden. I need the space for my only plant of Rouge Royale, currently growing out in the middle of nowhere, and I want to see RR in a flower bed. It's always in bloom. So, it may be byebye to own root Julia. As for the two old grafted Julias, they are bigger than even and totally healthy. They are at least 7 feet tall and very wide--in spite of lots of pruning in spring, which takes forever because of the number of canes. These Julias have more canes than any other rose in my garden. Here are some pics from 2021. Diane

Just built a 10x12 last summer, so this will be the first spring with it. Because I have only just begun, I have no idea what I will think of the size. I don't think I would have wanted it to be smaller ... I can already say that the NEXT greenhouse I have will be a permanent heated structure (I hope!). This is merely an aluminum/polycarbonate Harbor Freight Nightmare (to assemble, arrrrrrggghhhh). I love it so far, though, and we've almost reached the end of the first Wisconsin winter safely 🤞🤞🤞.

It may not be as big as others here, but I'm proud of my Banksia integrifolia, as it's had a chequered life and survived brilliantly. Common name is Coastal Banksia, as it's a popular and ubiquitous tree on beachfronts, growing in almost pure sand and being constantly whipped by salt spray. However, I live inland on granite country, 3 hours drive from the nearest coast. And my winters are quite cold and frosty, something foreign to this species. I've not seen another within 100 kms of my place. But I've always admired them, and thought I'd try. I planted it as a spindly, 12" whip, with a solitary small branch about half way up. About a week later, I walked outside to check it, and unfortunately startled a grazing kangaroo who promptly jumped on top of the tree in its haste to escape. The top snapped off just above the branch, and I figured it wasn't meant to be. So I ignored it and averted my eyes whenever I passed by. But months later, I noticed that the branch had new growth and had decided to start growing upwards, and it eventually became the trunk. That was 15 years ago, and now it provides nectar and nesting places for a multitude of honey-eaters and smaller birds. It gives me great joy!

Husband and I are retired together, no kids, 1 dog, and currently live in a 3 bed/2 bath , 1,200 sf house. It's done us well, but the rooms and bathrooms are just too tiny. I'd rather have 2 bedrooms but much larger rooms. More storage, more open, bigger kitchen, etc. I'm looking at 2 bed /2 bath houses right now in the 1500-1800 square foot range. But I have 2 concernst We started our married life in a 1400 square foot house, and it was comfortable while it was "just us two". Add children, and we were bursting at the seams. Looking back, if I'd had the know-how and the money to make some changes, we could've made it much more comfortable; for example, we couldn't have made a mudroom appear, but I could've done a built-in by the door that could've worked well. But the house wasn't wasn't built "efficiently"; for example, we had a 36" wide x 48" deep pantry. Quite a few things could've been tweaked to make the house better /more efficient. We moved to our current house, which is 2400 square feet. It was great when the kids were all at home, but now ... we're swimming in unnecessary space. I know some retirees say they want to keep "the big house", but I hate it. At the height of summer /winter, our power bill tops $400; we're comfortable financially, but I despise paying to heat spaces we aren't using ... and our house isn't set up to close off those un-used areas. Similarly, our property taxes have skyrocketed lately ... in 3-4 years they've gone from $900 to $3700. Yes, people in my area are up in arms! I can think of things I'd rather do with my retirement dollars. Thoughts based upon my experiences: - I think around 1500-1600 is "right sized" for two people. - Be careful about reaching for larger rooms. My 2400 square foot house has larger rooms, and everything's expensive to fix ... new carpet, new countertops, because of the quantity needed, it's all more expensive than I think it should be. - It seems to me that the smaller house was harder to keep clean, BUT -- looking back -- I had more clutter then, and I wasn't as efficient as I am now. The hard part was moving the kids' toys before I could vacuum, moving the vacuum so I could reach the ceiling fan brush, etc. - This is a rarely-discussed topic, but in both of my houses, I've had too many finishes! I have to store a vacuum for my carpeted areas + a dust broom for the hardwood + a mop for the linoleum and tile. I have to store 4-5 types of light bulbs. Ideally you'd minimize the finishes and streamline your cleaning -- you'd start cleaning hardwood and just move on through the rooms rather than stopping to change instruments. - Having good, planned storage matters. When I lived in the small house, I had one closet that had to house coats + linens. Do not skimp on storage space! - The choices you make in building can make the house FEEL larger: natural light especially can make a big difference. And let's not start on how jealous I am of my mother's new tilt-in windows -- so easy to clean! - Layout makes a difference. As my grandmother neared 100 years old, she could do her own laundry, but she could not get a basket of dirty clothes from her bedroom at one end of the house to the laundry at the other end of the house. - I don't like bathrooms that're minimal. No, I'm not advocating super-sized bathrooms in which you could play baseball, but go a step above the codes. - Think about how many bathrooms you need. With two of you and occasional guests, do you need two full baths? Or one full and one powder room? Bathrooms are real work to keep clean. - I mentioned inflation above ... hopefully your retirement years will be long, but while you're building, it'd be smart to keep two things in mind: 1) This inflation we've experienced since Covid has been genuinely life-changing for a lot of people; it's smart not to build at the top of your budget. Who knows what kind of inflation'll hit us in the future. 2) It's smart to build your retirement budget around ONE spouse's Social Security ... because at some point only one of you will be left, and you want the longer-living spouse to be able to afford to stay in this house. My vote would be for a smaller house and to downsize any possessions as much as possible and not fill it up. Very good point. The older I get, the less stuff I want to buy. The fewer clothes I want in my closet. I used to have a lot of stuff for the kids. Because I had only girls and nieces, I always had boxes of clothes I was saving "to be grown into" or "to pass on to the cousins". You did say that you are retired, so not getting any younger. True, but that doesn't mean the OP is old. I retired at 55, and I just turned 58. Adding 50% more space will certainly take longer to clean, everything else being the same. It will be harder to clean if you add 50% more stuff. That's well said. See Don Aslett's highly useful (and funny) book "Make Your House Do Your Housework" https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-House-Do-Housework/dp/1558703845 Love that book! It seriously changed the way I look at my house. Go to open houses and walk around spaces to get a feel for whether the layout is practical and affords the kind of room size you want. Excellent idea! We love our efficient galley kitchen Yes, kitchens can be too large -- even if cooking is your favorite hobby, large isn't necessarily better. Efficient is what's best! Most people want bigger bathrooms. We don't care. It seems that a lot of people want this-or-that for status reasons more than actual function. The main thing is that so many homes of all sizes are not designed well. Can we put a gold star beside this comment? But, the kitchen has a lot of cabinets, a small reach-in pantry I'd rather have a small-but-efficient kitchen and a large walk-in pantry. Pantries let you see everything at once, and pine shelves are significantly cheaper than storing things in cabinets /under countertops. Also, a robot vacuum is a huge improvement over regular corded vacuums, too. I luuuuv my Roomba. I'd recommend "building in" a spot in your broom closet with a dedicated outlet. Many people on these forums have a main home and a vacation home, so they shouldn't be telling people with one home to live with less space! ;-) This is a rather affluent board. Do what works for your family and don't worry about what someone else would do or wouldn't do. I don't hear the OP trying to "keep up with the Jones" at all; rather, I hear a person who's trying to find the path to "right sized". That's not an easy question. Moving is a big pain Ugh, never a truer thing was said. Also, reconsider the furniture that you've purchased over the years. There was a trend for a while where you could barely find anything that wasn't oversized or dark. Your furniture might be contributing to the cramped feel of your current space. Two thoughts on this very good point: 1) Note that you can buy "apartment sized" furniture ... it's the right choice for smaller houses. 2) As the world's changed, our furniture needs have changed. When I was a child, my mother had a very large desk in the corner of the dining room, and it was heavily used. Our wide hallway had floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and they were packed tight. Today so much is digital ... those things aren't nearly so important as they were. On the other hand, our only TV was a B&W 13" on a metal stand ... we devote much more space to our TV today. If I lived with a partner in this house I'd finish my basement so we could "escape" full-time togetherness from time to time. Be realistic about that. Whereas, even after 2 1/2 years of both being retired, my husband and I are almost always in the same room. If you decide to go bigger, accept the fact that paid household help may be an additional budget expense Even if you don't "go bigger", you may need help as you grow older. My grandmother could manage simple cooking and washing dishes -- even cleaning the sink and toilet -- but my mother and I used to take turns going over to do her vacuuming, shower cleaning, and bed-sheet changing. Difficult with a walker but completely un-navigable in a wheelchair. Let's talk walkers /wheelchairs: Most people don't go from being completely mobile to using a walker full-time. It's smart to build a spot in your mudroom where you can store a walker ... or even a wheelchair. This means you could take it in /out of the house as needed ... and have a good spot near the door to leave it. My grandmother had an indoor walker + an outdoor walker, and she had grab bars to help her make that transfer. Do keep in mind that few people who aren't in wheelchairs as young people + don't have an debilitating disease probably won't move on to a wheelchair permanently ... so put your money /energy into what's most likely. A bed can always be moved into the great room if needed, but not a toilet -- I'm screwed if something ever happens. Yeah, when my daughter was in nursing school and worked "home heath", she worked with one morbidly obese woman who could no longer get into her bathroom. My daughter had to spread a shower curtain on her bedroom floor and give the woman a sponge bath. And the poor woman had to, um ... "go" in one of those portable commode chairs. Talk about a loss of dignity. My own house ... built in 1970 ... has a 24" door into the master bathroom. Bad plan. Just saying - Breaking up the house cleaning will make it easier. I have a schedule kinda like that ... plus monthly chores that fit the seasons.