Most home renovation projects focus on present-day luxuries and trending design, ignoring the practical and functional requirements of the everyday household. Whether you plan to age in place or to care for aging or disabled family members, accessibility should be a large part of your home remodeling plans.
At Quality DesignWorks, we cater our design and build services to the unique needs of aging households. We offer extensive home remodeling services to bring life, style, and accessibility to your home without breaking the bank. Continue reading to learn more about the key to designing a home that will grow with you and your family, or reach out to one of our home remodeling professionals today!
Proactive Design
The phrase, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” is especially applicable to home design and large-scale remodeling projects. When renovating a home that houses aging, elderly, or disabled family members, it is, of course, normal to hope for and expect the best of their health, wellness, and mobility over time. In the best-case scenario, you wind up with the low-cost home renovation of your dreams! Your family members age gracefully and remain able to use a majority of your home’s fancy new features without issue. Worst-case scenario? You have already sunk thousands of dollars into a comprehensive home renovation project and cannot afford to remodel your home again to meet the increasing accessibility needs of your family.
That unfortunate reality is the very reason most home renovation contractors will stress the importance of proactive design when it comes to renovating what you hope to be your forever home. Whether your home is multi-generational, or you plan to age in place to avoid stuffy nursing homes and assisted living facilities, proactive home remodeling is the best way to keep your home stylish, functional, and accessible throughout every stage of your household’s life.
Proactive design requires homeowners to consider not just their household’s current accessibility needs, but also the needs they expect members of their family to require in the near and distant future.
Main-Floor Living
For elderly people with arthritis pain or severe mobility issues, stairs often require more effort to climb than they are worth. To remedy this without investing in in-home elevators or stairlifts, many homeowners opt to make the first floor of their home completely accessible and self-sufficient for the disabled or elderly members of their family. Incorporate flexible bedrooms and living spaces, at least one full bathroom, and a laundry room on the first floor of your home to maximize accessibility for those with age- or disability-related mobility limitations.
Accessible Design
Those planning to age in place should consider future accessibility needs with each feature included in their home updates.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms are usually the largest barrier to accessibility for the elderly as their mobility decreases over time. When designing your comprehensive bathroom remodel, work closely with your bathroom remodel contractor to ensure that all aspects and features of your new, modern bathroom are suitable for every member of your household.
Roll-in showers, low sinks, high-rise toilets, grab bars, and outswing doors make your bathroom easily accessible for wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility tools. If your bathroom is small, consider expanding it to make it more easily accessible to all members of your household.
Kitchens
Kitchen remodels are labor-, cost-, and time-intensive projects, so it’s no wonder that most homeowners leave accessibility considerations out of their plans. Accessible kitchens often include multi-level cabinets and appliances that can easily be used by people of different heights and disabilities. To make appliances easier to use, consider avoiding over-the-range microwaves, tall stoves, and top-loading laundry machines.
Flooring
To minimize the risk of injury from falls, non-slip flooring is ideal for aging households. Carpets, however, can make it difficult for wheelchairs and walkers to move around, making them a less-than-ideal alternative to classic tile and wood flooring. Instead, consider installing vinyl planks or textured tile throughout your home. For added comfort, rugs can be removed, replaced, and rearranged as the mobility needs of your household change over time.
Doors & Hallways
When it comes to doors and hallways, the wider they are, the better suited they are to those with mobility issues. Avoid adding built-in storage to narrow hallways that may make them inaccessible to walkers and wheelchairs in the future. As a general rule, doors should be at least 32 inches wide, and hallways should be at least 36 inches wide to provide adequate allowance for wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
Stairs
Stairs should always be designed to be as accessible as possible to account for illness, injury, and disability, whether temporary or permanent. If precautions are not taken during your remodeling project, an injury as simple and common as a broken leg can leave even the youngest member of your family unable to access the upper floors of your home while they heal. Always design stairs to have double handrails, and ensure steps are as gradual and deep as possible to avoid unintentional tripping and falling. It is recommended to install stair runners or carpet stair treads to further reduce the risk of falling for all members of your household, not just the elderly or disabled!
If possible, homeowners should consider having electrical outlets wired at the top and bottom of their stairs in case a stairlift becomes necessary at any point in the future. Otherwise, installing a stairlift can become a needlessly expensive undertaking that requires the coordination of an electrician, carpenter, and a certified installer.
Smart Home Technology
Voice-activated home assistant technology can be useful to elderly and disabled family members alike. Digital home assistants can allow members of the household to turn off the lights, raise and lower the blinds, adjust the temperature, see who is at the door, and more, without having to move from their spot on the couch, bed, or reclining chair.
Looking for a home renovation company to help you turn your home into the perfect retirement destination for your entire family? Look no further than Quality DesignWorks! Our Gainesville, Florida, home remodeling company offers a variety of renovation services to suit the unique needs of your household. Whether you’re in the market for a kitchen, bathroom, or large-scale home remodel, our team of experienced contractors will be happy to help you design and build the home of your dreams. To learn more, contact us today!
