Mother In Law Suites: A Growing Trend Among Baby Boomers

Adding a Mother in-law suite is a rapidly growing trend in the US specifically among baby boomers. This trend has caught the attention of many national news sources such as USA Today, MSN, and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

The trend is steadily increasing according to sources and most agree that it will continue to do so. As baby boomers consider the options they have when it comes to caring for an aging parent, many times the choice to build a mother in-law suite or purchase a home with a mother in law suite is best suited for the needs of the aging parent and the family who would be caring for them.

The Growing Trend Of Mother In-law Suites

The economic slowdown over the past several years has contributed to this trend of families opting for creating a multi-generational home by adding a mother in law suite or mother in law apartment, according to US News. In their article about Recession Remodeling in which they discuss the large numbers of Americans who are remodeling their home rather than moving to solutions such as nursing home care for their aging parents. Many Boomers are remodeling their home with their own future in mind as well. In addition to being able to better care for an aging parent, they can create a space in the home that they themselves can take advantage of as they age. Remodeling the home for a mother in-law suite can also help the adult children to age in place in the same home as well when the time comes.

A Fast And Economical Solution

Other sources report the great benefits of remodeling for a mother in-law suite regarding the cost savings and quick turnaround that can be associated with a mother in law suite. In the article , Mother in law suites a growing trend , USA Today discusses the story of one family who was able to renovate their garage into a mother in law suite in as little as 10 days and for a fraction of the cost of even one year of nursing home care. Many home builders are having great success in being able to renovate the garage for a mother in law suite such as the St. Louis based contractor T.Bills Construction who has been specializing in helping families quickly and cost effectively design and build mother in law suites since 1979.

Making Mom Feel At Home

If you decide to build a mother in law suite or renovate to incorporate one, the article; Rethinking the mother in law suite  by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, helps to give you a few ideas on how to arrange the space and consider ways to make Mom (or Dad) feel comfortable and give them a place of their own. This helps them and the rest of the family in a trans- generational home to all feel as though they each have a place that they belong and that no one is in the way or feeling like a guest.

Adding Value To Your Home

The concept of home design used to effectively create an adaptable living space for aging loved one is commonly called, Universal Design. This term simply means to build out adaptable space to accommodate any person that might occupy that space. A good example of Universal designed would be for a space designed with Universal designed used for the adult children (now caring for their aging parent) in the future to enable them to age in place, or have a new living space for other purposes in their home.
This not only adds to the flexibility and usefulness of the living space, but by adding to the usable living it adds value to the home as well if there ever comes a need to sell.