Hi cheery one, I'm pleased that you're happy with the "pro"s of your retirement. And somewhat sad that you're feeling that you're not keeping up to the mark of what you'd hoped/planned to do. If you feel the need to beat yourself over the back about that - make sure it's with a wet noodle ... and only five strokes, O.K? As for the "average" retiree, I don't feel that I have too much of a handle on that ... and wonder what level of expertise you may claim in that department? I think that it's important to do things that we can be pleased with ourselves for having done, at the end of the day ... week ... month ... year. Something that I note to have been scarcely mentioned in this thread so far is the need that all of us retirees have to concern ourselves about (as well as people in the workforce) is the erosion of the value of our income (and, for us retirees, our assets) due to inflation, every year for about the last 80. There hasn't been much increase in incomes in recent years, except for the wealthy few ... but the prices keep going up ... and for most of us, those prices of much of the goods and services that we buy have been and are going up faster than the official rate of inflation. When we put money in the bank, or buy bonds, etc. which pay us the same number of dollars after several years that we gave them in the first place, apart from the "rent" on the money, it isn't only taxes and living expenses that much come out of the earnings ("rent on the money"), but an allowance for inflation, as well, in order to keep the purchasing power of those assets equal in ten years to what it is now. Good wishes to you for dealing well with the days ahead: may they be as many as please you, with good health, friends, enough bucks to meet your needs, things to do and a few challenges, here and there. ole joyfuelled

Being retired, I don't want a lot of floor space and rooms to clean. I agree. I HAVE 40' OF 3' deep closets just for 'stuff'. Kitchen. Towels. Sheets. Cleaning. Vacuums. Sewing. Whatever. !! I LOVE LOVE their M. bedroom closet. Hmmm, this makes me want to measure my proposed closet space. I'm not sold on the idea of 3' deep closets though ... too shallow to be walk-in closets, yet they take up square footage and must be heated/cooled. As I am a homebody, and just fully retired I do not need all the 'good' clothes I have. I'm remembering cleaning out my grandmother's house when she moved out /went to live with my uncle at age 99. She was holding on to SO MANY "good clothes". She loved her job and enjoyed dressing professionally; plus she and my grandfather "went out" often and took fancy vacations, so she had piles of evening gowns ... all so tasteful and so "her". At age 99, those days were past, yet her clothing filled the closets of all three bedrooms in her house ... filled them to the point that it was difficult for her to store the comfortable elastic-waist pants and embroidered sweatshirts that became her standard everyday fare in her elderly years. She was NOT open to getting rid of ANY of those clothes, even though she had lost weight from a size 12-14 to a size 6. She had good memories attached to those clothes, but she was never going to wear them again, and no one else wanted her business suits, though they were very stylish (and expensive) in the 1980s. To make her happy, I purchased plastic bins and carefully put all those things away (wrapped in white tissue paper, boxes labeled diligently according to her requests). We all know that this makes NO SENSE. Sometimes having LOTS of closet space just allows you to build up /save clothing that, in all honesty, you know isn't going to be used again.

Why are people afraid of 'cold' shower area?? Well, for me, I can't shave with goosebumps, lol. :-D A super hot shower (like, I can barely stand the heat) is also just really important for my personal mental health... I have 6 kids, 5 of whom are special needs (won't know about the baby for about a year), and a hot shower/bath is the only luxury I have sometimes. And since I'm lucky to get one once a week, I don't want anything to compromise my scalding hot showers. Plus, I like to labor in the shower... Very hot water on my lower back to relieve contractions (I like to give birth at home) is a must for me... And when it's the only thing that helps me cope during such an intense experience, I don't want *anything* messing with it, lol. Especially since I seem to do this every other year or so. ;-) If I can properly design the shower to reflect my preferences and lifestyle, without the need for added gadgets/appliances/increased energy usage, then I'll do it!

Our shower is 6 x 4. We chose to install 2 valves. Valve 1 has a fixed showerhead and a rain shower on a 3-way diverter. Valve 2 has a handshower positioned near the teak corner bench. For a true dual shower you might want to install 2 fixed showerheads on opposite ends, and one central rain shower. For ease of cleaning, you might want to change one of the fixed showerheads to an adjustable handshower on a slide bar. It will still work the same as a fixed showerhead, but you could use it to rinse the shower down after cleaning. If you post a drawing of the shape of your shower, where the door will be, etc, etc. people can weigh in more.