Downsizing is one of the trickiest elements of moving into assisted living in San Diego. While you may still have your own private apartment, these apartments are quite small, meaning you may have to leave many beloved items behind. While this can be troubling, it’s best to focus on what items you can and should bring, rather than to fixate on what you cannot bring.
1. Important Furniture Items
Some assisted living apartments include furnishings, and some do not. Others may offer furnishings for an additional fee. If you are bringing your own furniture to your assisted living facility in San Diego, you really only need a few pieces: a bed and nightstands, a sofa, and a coffee table. If you have a studio apartment, this may be all of the furnishings you can fit easily into the space. If you have a one-bedroom apartment, you might also add a dresser and a small café table with two chairs for eating.
Whether the facility provides these or not, most facilities for assisted living in San Diego will allow you to bring some of your own. This can be a great way to help you feel a bit more at home, especially if you have some pieces with special meaning or sentimental value.
2. Entertainment Items
When you move out of your private home and into assisted living, you take away many tasks from your daily schedule. For instance, you no longer need to cook, clean, do laundry or yardwork. This provides you with plenty of time to pursue your own interests.
While most facilities for assisted living in San Diego provide an assortment of daily, weekly, and monthly activity choices, you also need to bring some of your own entertainment options. For instance, you will want to bring a television and possibly a DVD player. If you are comfortable with technology, you can also use streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon to watch movies.
Bringing a computer is always a good idea. A laptop takes up much less space than a desktop PC, so this might be the best option. It could also be helpful to bring a tablet or iPad. Tablets are a multipurpose device that can be used to: read books, watch movies, surf the web, email friends or family, check up on social media, and more. If you are an avid reader, a tablet can ensure that you always have something to read without taking up a ton of space. Many public libraries offer free audiobook checkouts and e-book checkouts, which can keep book costs down.
3. Personal Items
The monthly fees at most assisted living communities in San Diego include apartment rent, care, weekly housekeeping, weekly laundry, meals, and some activities. However, these fees don’t include items such as toiletries, clothing and other personal items.
For toiletries, this includes everything from shampoo to toilet paper to medical supplies and makeup. Don’t forget to bring one or two small trashcans for the bath and kitchen area. You will need to bring a shower curtain and rings, a few sets of bath towels, two sets of sheets and all of your pillows, blankets, etc. These items not only are essential, they can help brighten up and personalize your apartment.
While you may have only a kitchenette and don’t plan to do much cooking, bring a few kitchen towels, some paper towels and cleaning wipes. In addition, bring some beverages and snacks to store in the kitchenette. While snacks and beverages are sure to be provided by the staff, it’s nice to have your own snacks and drinks on hand, as well.
When it comes to clothing, think about comfort, ease and washability. For most people living at a home for assisted living, mobility is an issue. There are staff members to help with dressing and grooming, but it’s still nice to have clothing that is easy to take on and off. Though weather is mild and warm in San Diego, it is a good idea to bring some jackets, since the temperature might be cool inside the assisted living facility. Bring a small laundry basket, as well, to store the items that need laundering.
In addition, you want items that aren’t particularly delicate, as the staff will be doing the laundry, and those industrial washers and dryers aren’t as easy on clothing as a home washer and dryer with its many settings. Still, bring one or two dressy outfits. There are parties and excursions at San Diego assisted living communities, and you may want to head out on your own once in a while for a special occasion. Because space is limited, it can be nice to have a family member store a few bins of out-of-season clothing at their home so that you can switch items out from time to time.
4. Sentimental & Decorative Items
These are perhaps the hardest items to pick and choose, and they tend to make the biggest impact on your apartment. Photography is always something people choose to bring, and there are several ways to bring many photos without taking up a lot of space. Rather than bring all of your photos with you, ask a family member to take the photos and have them scanned onto flash drives. From there, they can be placed onto a computer and some can be loaded into digital picture frames. These frames can hold hundreds of pictures, and will shift every few minutes to show a new picture. You also can decorate the apartment with collage frames that are filled with photos and other memorabilia.
A few plants can bring much cheer to your new home for assisted living in Rancho San Diego, so consider bringing one or two plants along with you. Too many plants can clutter up the space, making mobility difficult, but placing an easy-care plant in the living room and one in the bedroom is a good idea.
Decorative items tend to take up a great deal of space, but a few items could be placed on a shelving unit, such as the shelf you bring to hold your TV. Some framed artwork will add some additional cheer. A favorite blanket or quilt also should come along with you to increase the hominess factor. A combination clock and radio can be placed on one of your bedroom nightstands.
5. Things to Bring in San Diego
While Assisted Living facilities are similar nationwide, there are a few things that make San Diego unique. Because of the ideal weather, many communities have outdoor pools, so be sure to bring your swimsuit. Many activities take place outdoors, whether that be gardening, walking, or a barbeque on the patio, so you may also want a sunhat.
If you have a patio or balcony, you can keep some potted plants out there to liven up the space, as well as a small set of patio furniture.
Tips for Maximizing Space
- If you’re single, consider a double bed instead of a queen bed
- Store additional clothing and supplies in bins under the bed
- Get a coffee table that doubles as a storage chest
- Place narrow bookshelves against the wall to hold mementos
- Mount the TV on or against the wall
- Transfer DVDs from their cases into a large binder
- Load family photos into a digital slideshow
These are just a few suggestions for those moving into assisted living in San Diego. Each facility should provide you with a helpful list of things to bring, but you also might consider asking a few of the residents about which items they wished they had brought and which items they really didn’t need to bring.