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A House for Tall People

At 6'0" I knew the ceilings in my house weren't terribly tall. It's a home built in the 70s and the lower level is spacious yet has a heat duct running through the middle of my office and in the hall by the downstairs bathroom. It's OK for me. I don't have to duck. When Jared moved in, I realized just how low the ceilings are. He has to walk two steps then tilt his head to walk from the hall to the garage. To walk into his office in the lower back of the house, he has to duck, duck more through a short doorway and duck again under the duct in his office. The bathroom doorway is shorter than normal as well.

So, we have decided we need a house for tall people. I told my mom this in a totally straight manner as we were walking down a city street and she literally folded in half with laughter. Yep, if only you could order a "house made for tall people," we'd be set.

For now, we're house shopping. A little of ooh and ahh shopping while we save up and make the long list of what we must have.

Ceiling Height: Our love of headroom and vaulted ceilings is making a new build seem like the best plan. There aren't too many tall-ceiling houses built in the 70s. Much earlier, ceilings were high (think of all the great Old West store fronts), but not too many of those have been available as of yet.

Mirror height: You know you'll have to re-do the bathroom if the mirrors are set so that you can only see your chest. As a woman, it makes it tough to put on your makeup when you have to do a yoga squat just to see your eyelids. And who knows what Jared would miss while shaving! At my mom's house, she was able to put a stopper under the bottom of the hanging mirror so that it angles up and we can see. That is a quick solution for mirrors that don't have doors or shelves inside.

Kitchen counter height: I always see Extreme Makeover Home Edition shows where they lower the counters. Has anyone purposely had counters raised? I could see where this might not be the choice for a future buyer, but if you're building your forever home, adding an inch or two might save on chiropractor bills.

(Did I mention we'd also like a horse property with run in sheds tall enough that we --and the horses-- don't have to duck? We've looked at several places where we had to duck to get into the barn or the run in sheds were angled so you needed to watch your head toward the back. Maybe not a necessity for all, but we have a tall horse, too!)

How about you? What tall items do you have to have in your house?

--HNM

Update: We found a house with vaulted ceilings that sits on two acres. There's nowhere to hit your head (unless it was on purpose, anyway). Our daughter loves to hear the story about why we had to move-- to find Daddy a house he could stand up in!




A Truck for Tall People

I've grown up around horses and Jared, thankfully, supports my hobby and dream of having my own horse. When it was time for him to purchase a new vehicle (he had a company car previously and was stuffed into a Ford Escape which he thought had enough room at the time), we knew we wanted a truck. The horse was on its way and we'd need a towing vehicle. Plus, with his height and the amount he drives daily, a truck offered the best head room and leg room options-- we thought. In the end, we chose a Ford F-150 Club Cab and love it. The process to find the perfect truck was more challenging than we thought. Turns out, not all trucks really do have that much head room-- and some don't have much leg room either. We tested most every option on the market. Here are our comments and thoughts on each model.

Ford F-150: The final choice.

Toyota Tundra: While our tall friend (with long legs but a shorter torso) has this truck and loves it, there wasn't as much head room for Jared. The windshield felt overly angled so that we were both looking out the top section where the shading is darker.