With the recent debut of Seaboard Junction in Loganville and the upcoming premiere of Gladstone Landing in Snellville, Paran Homes is finding a great reception to its age-restricted communities by Atlanta’s active adult homebuyers. Since the move to a new 55+ community often marks a transition to empty nest-hood, you may want to feather your new nest a little differently than your previous homes. Paran Homes is happy to provide you with a few tips to making your new empty nest feel FULL…

Surround Yourself with Loved Ones

One of the best ways to keep those you love close is by surrounding yourself with photos of their happy, smiling faces. Choose a color theme and stick to it regarding frames, only occasionally mixing in a little metal that coincides with your fixtures and handles – such as a brushed nickel, burnt umber or copper to change things up. If black plays a prominent role in your color story, consider using black frames to highlight several of your favorite photos – then feature them in a collage on a wall or two. Elect to go with all color or black and white in each collection. You can also use standing frames for bookcases and tabletops. Be careful not to overdo it, you don’t want your space to appear cluttered. Clean lines are all the rage these days and fewer frames means less to dust and more time for FUN!

Find Meaning in Mementos

Another way to fill your home with happy memories from your family’s journey is by creating shadow boxes that feature special mementos that hold meaning. Real Simple offers several suggestions for designing beautiful eye-catching shadow boxes that you can cherish for years to come. If your daughter or son played a sport or dance, you could have their jersey or favorite costume quilted onto a backdrop and framed – a great addition to a game room, media space or kids’ room for when the grandkids come to visit.

Choose Happy Colors

Whether for an accent wall or pops of color in your throw pillows and décor, be sure to use happy colors to make your home feel vibrant and full of life. VeryWellMind.com describes this as a modern take on the ancient practice of Chromotherapy and suggests that warm colors like yellow, red and orange are likely the happiest of colors. Although Pink is associated with romance and kindness, purple with wealth and wisdom, white with purity and innocence, green with nature and good fortune, and brown with reliability and strength. When black is used as an accent – particularly in a Feng Shui kind of way to harmonize your home – use it sparingly to have a grounding effect on your environment. It represents power. Blue, on the other hand, is thought to have a calming effect – depending on the shade used.

Incorporate Music to Your Smart Home

If you opt to add the convenience of Smart Home elements to your new home, be sure that music is incorporated somehow. If you have a central system that wirelessly pipes out tunes to various rooms of your home through a series of speakers, you can fill your home with your favorite music. From Mozart to Maroon 5 – and everything in between. According to BeBrainFit.com, “music activates every known part of the brain. Listening to and playing music can make you smarter, happier, healthier and more productive at all stages of life.”

Cozy Up with Comfy Furniture

Although you are an ACTIVE ADULT, you may want to occasionally turn on the boob tube and binge watch your favorite shows. It’s important to have cozy furniture for that reason, but also because inviting overstuffed furniture can help fill a space beautifully without making it feel cluttered. It’s a more practical solution than austere furniture you purchase only for appearance sake. You’ll also want your furniture to rank high on the cozy factor for those grandkid sleepover snuggle fests in front of the fireplace. S’mores, anyone?

Create Dedicated Spaces for Future Visits

While your Master Suite, Kitchen and Family Room may be all about you, you can create dedicated spaces for the people you hope to welcome regularly to your home. If you have grandkids, a bedroom themed just for them is sure to encourage regular visits. You might consider built-in bunkbeds to maximize the space in their room. Theme your adult children’s rooms similarly – maybe a slight suggestion of their room growing up or an homage to a favorite shared pastime like camping or visits to the beach. The same holds true for life-long friends when they come to call for an overnight stay. The point is to create a space that FEELS like it’s all their own – a place they look forward to visiting time and again.

Empty nesters, you aren’t merely limited to our active adult communities for your next home. Many of our communities throughout Metro Atlanta prove an excellent fit for families at every stage of life. To view a list of Paran Homes communities in Atlanta, peruse our floorplans to find the right one for you and check out our inventory of move in-ready homes, be sure to visit www.paranhomes.com.