Rosemary Bakker

Biography: I’m an interior designer, gerontologist, author of AARP Guide to Revitalizing Your Home: Beautiful Living in the Second Half of Life, and an adjunct Research Associate at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. I’m passionate about attractive and inspiring home and product designs that help us live healthier, more vibrant lives in today’s world.

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Rosemary Bakker 'sPosts

The Garden of Our Dreams: Better Living, by Design

Posted on 11/9/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Home & Family | Your Life“We’re going to build a stone wall and a terrace for our garden,” my husband, Jonathan, announced. “We are?” I replied, hoping he was joking. No such luck. We had contemplated starting the garden in our back yard, but that area was steeply sloped all the way down to the pond! I had tripped and slipped several times and my sister had gotten leveled in mid-sentence. Obviously, not the best setting for a garden. But we didn’t really have a …

Choosing Your Forever Home

Posted on 09/14/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Your LifeIt is lazy summer day and Wendy and George, avid birders, are visiting for the weekend. Over a delicious lunch with one of our local friends, Beth, we sit on the deck and watch the blue herons fly overhead. The conversation quickly turns from birding to country living and eventual retirement. City dwellers for years, Wendy and George now long for a place in the country. Wendy is smitten by our new home and its views of the pond and …

Putting the Joy Back Into Cooking

Posted on 08/8/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Home & Family | Your LifeI think I was born to cook. Ever since I was young, I’ve enjoyed cooking for friends and family. I even catered my own wedding reception for 80 when I was too young to know better. A large 3-tiered lime coconut wedding cake was the piece de resistance. But over the years the joy of cooking became more like the drudgery of cooking due to aching feet and nagging back aches. Hours of standing on an unforgiving stone floor and …

Burning Down the House – Or How Not To

Posted on 06/13/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Caregiving | Home & FamilyI don’t know about you, but I am not enamored of the bells and whistles on new stoves these days. Do I really need blower jets for crispier pizza or a new browning gizmo for crème brûlée? What I do need, however, is a stove that won’t burn down the house. I’ve been interested in cooking safety ever since my mother began to have signs of Alzheimer’s. When she was living alone (and not yet diagnosed), I would lay awake …

5 Lighting Tips for Aging Eyes

Posted on 05/23/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Your LifeI don’t know about you, but I’m starting to realize that I need more light. For starters, reading in bed is not as easy as it used to be. I have to adjust the angle of the book to catch the lamp light just right. Secondly, I can’t quite see shapes in the dark the way I could when I was younger. Just the other night I bumped into a door on my way to the bathroom. And finally, I …

3 Steps to a Safe & Soothing Bedroom

Posted on 05/10/2012 by Rosemary Bakker | Rosemary In the House | Comments

Home & FamilyWe spend one third of our lives in our bedrooms and, like you, I want to relish the time I spend there. But that’s not so easy if the bedroom is cramped, cluttered, or uncomfortably warm or chilly. And for anyone who spends more time in the bedroom because of a medical condition, a comfortable bedroom is a must. If you’re looking for ideas on how to redo your bedroom, read on. I’ll share with you three simple things I …