I was thinking in another thread that I might buy a new green home, but now I am considering keeping the house I have been in for the past 35 years.

How do I make a house that was built with mostly cost in mind green?

It has 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, a full walk-out basement and my husband and I don't have any kids in the house anymore (3 are on their own and the 4th is almost done with his second year of college). It seems like we have too much space, but maybe there is a better way to utilize this house.

What to do? What to do?

I think it is a good idea to explore the opportunities in your own home first, before looking into the option of buying another home, but you must do so with the knowledge that another family may be able to utilize your home better than you are and you may not need all that space anymore.

If you are serious about working on your home there are some things to consider.

Can you take in borders or otherwise utilize the home as an income or business source?
Can you shut off part of the home? While not really greening the home, you would be using less energy?
Don't do too much "personalization" as this may make resale more difficult in the future. Look at other homes in the area and base your decisions on what you see. You don't have to stick to what is around, but don't stray too far.

I don't like the idea of having borders. I am just a little paranoid like that and I just don't want to be a statistic.
I could shut off part of the home, but I don't know how exactly to divide it all up. The spaces we use are in different areas of the house. We could shut off bedrooms, but isn't that just wasted space and even shut off, then still use energy.
I am with you here. I --HATE-- those TV shows where they customize a home and do actual built ins and theming that would be a nightmare to take down and impossible to sell a home with it installed.

I do agree that other families may be able to utilize the home better than we can now, but I don't know if that is something that I am going to look at when making the decision. I must admit that I am seriously looking at this house in a new light and becoming nostalgic, which may be the deciding factor in staying in this home.