“If these walls could talk!” It’s a phrase expressing the life in a building – the love, laughter and tears.
The family home must adapt to many changing needs over the years. Toddler years mean stair gates and play spaces. Teenagers may need both privacy and connection. Parents may need or choose to work from home. Empty-nesters may repurpose some rooms to accommodate new hobbies.
And, at any stage, accessibility may become a key requirement.
Sometimes, it’s simply the gradual decline in function associated with getting older – it’ll come to us all eventually.
Some homes are built with accessibility requirements in mind. Others are modified to meet changed needs.
Table of Contents
ToggleTrends in accessible home design
Accessibility is really another word for liveability. An accessible home makes life easier for people with different mobility, enabling you or your family member to be more independent when it comes to:- Getting in and out of the house
- Moving around the home
- Using the bathroom
- Cooking food
- Enjoying activities
Entry
Getting into a house usually involves unlocking the front door using either a key or a code. But what if your upper limb is impaired/limited or can’t easily manoeuvre into a position where you can reach the lock? Consider installing an automatic door. This can be opened or closed using:-
- RFID card readers are installed on the door, and the user carries a credit card-sized tag. When this tag comes in range, the door opens.
- Remote control – this can be built into the wheelchair using an adaptive switch (which varies depending on your preference); these ability switches activate with the slightest touch.
- Touch- or voice-activated sensors – several different apps can be set up using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, meaning you can open the door from your device.
Hallways and living areas
Moving through your home becomes easier and safer when you consider your:- Flooring
- Style
- Furniture
- Lighting
Kitchen, bathroom and laundry
These are some of the most important rooms of the house – it’s here that you create meals, attend to personal hygiene and turn dirty laundry into clean clothes. You can make these areas more accessible by:- Remodelling to ensure the spaces are wide enough for you to move around
- Installing worktops with knee clearance so that wheelchair user can get their legs underneath the benchtop when chopping vegetables
- Installing an oven with a retractable or side-opening door so that someone in a wheelchair can reach inside easily without the risk of burning themselves
- Replacing old taps with lever mixer taps. These make it easier to set the water temperature and are easier to turn on and off for people with limited mobility – including conditions like arthritis
- Underfloor bathroom heating to provide consistent room temperature for those with difficulty regulating their temperature
- Level-entry showers for people who use a wheelchair or have limited mobility
- Raising the level of a front-loading washing machine so there’s no need for people with mobility issues or balance difficulties to bend down when doing laundry.