There is a reason

I am 78 years old. I love to cook and spend a great deal of time in my kitchen. The addition I am planning will increase my linear counter space from 17.5 feet to 28 feet. That sounds like heaven to me! I went from a 4,000 square foot house on two floors to a 1900 square foot house on THREE floors!

For five years now I have been trying to squeeze 20 pounds of you-know-what into a 10 pound bag, and frankly I'm tired of that. But really, just because I have to go to the garage, the bookcase where I keep my cookbooks, the drawer in my china cabinet and the front hall closet as well as the normal places for ingredients and cooking gear on baking days, there is no need to make this investment. It appears that on the day I turn 80 I am no longer going to have any desire to bake. Or so I have been told by a couple of people recently. So why spend the money on an extension?

I was whining to my daughter about it, justifying it by saying it is my money and I'll do as I please. And then she reminded me of what precipitated this building project in the first place. When I had foot surgery two years ago, I found out just how difficult it was to live on three floors. 

I love where I live, my view of the river will still light up my life even when I am too old to hop in my kayak. But it is unreasonable to believe I will be able to navigate three floors when I am 95 years old. So I came up with the idea of adding on to the house so that I could have a full bath, laundry room and bedroom on the first floor. So that's what I am planning. The architect pointed out that I wouldn't need that floor plan for a few years (hopefully), and so the project became a living room extension, and while they are at it, an extension of the kitchen as well. And there will be an extension of my walkout basement underneath the new addition (all above ground), so that means more space for inventory for my ever growing skin care business. Business has doubled in the past year, and I am really feeling the squeeze in the soap room. I will have a workout area, too. Right now my exercise equipment is being used to hold boxes of jars and paper supplies. There is just no room down there!

Anyway, enough of a long story. The next person who questions why I think I need a bigger kitchen at my age will be told that this is an extension so I can remain in my house when I can't navigate three floors anymore. Spend it on the house now and get some enjoyment out of it -- including a bigger kitchen and a living room extension with a fireplace -- or wait until I can't live here anymore and spend it on assisted living. Easy choice, hey?

My view