Whether you are preparing your home for a beloved family member to spend their golden years with you or you are thinking of adapting your home to your own future needs, it is an excellent idea to convert your home to be more senior-friendly.
Older adults experience an increase in injuries around the home if they live in houses that do not suit their needs. It is not difficult to renovate or fix your home to suit aging capabilities.
Renovating now reduces the financial burden of moving or renovating when you are older. The home modifications can be relatively low cost if you do the research and find out which aspects of your home need changing.
Make Simple Modifications to Prevent Avoidable Accidents
Older adults are at a greater risk of falling, and they can suffer a lot more serious after-effects from a fall than young people. You can easily prevent falls by adding support handles to the shower and bathtub and grab rails next to the toilets.
Consider removing loose rugs and small obstructions such as footstalls from hallways, or have them attached firmly in place. Remove distracting and overly bright wallpaper and hire a painting contractor to advise you on soothing and relaxing paint colors for important living spaces.
They will also be able to advise you on how to modify lighting to enhance visibility. Also, look into replacing light switches with more accessible models and adding additional switches at different heights on the walls.
Some modifications that can take some planning are adding non-slip flooring around the home and entryways and adding ramps to short stairways. This can cost a bit initially but are good value for money as they significantly improve mobility and accessibility.
Start with Renovating and Updating the Kitchen
Making full use of your kitchen requires a level of manual dexterity that gets more difficult with age. Therefore, your kitchen should be the first place to renovate to make it into a functional space for any age.
Aesthetics are important, and you can choose designs that appeal to your taste while making modifications that will make your kitchen safer.
Focus on reducing the amount of bending by raising counter spaces and moving cabinet space from the floor to eye-level. Improve ease of access to the oven by getting a wall unit with a door that opens to one side.
Change out all kitchen appliances with controls that need to be read to units with larger fonts and clearly labeled push to operate buttons. Consider changing out your whole sink unit to one with faucets that have large handles as well as pressure-balanced valves that can regulate the water temperature. Insulate all exposed water pipes as these can be a source of unanticipated burns.
Re-do your cabinets to have more open shelving and glass-fronted doors as this will make it easier to see cutlery and pots and pans and make it easier to access all items.
Safe and Accessible Bathrooms Can Make a Big Difference
Being able to use the bathroom independently becomes a luxury as one gets older. It can have a significant impact on confidence and quality of life. It is all too easy to prevent accidents in the bathroom, and these types of modifications make it safer for everyone who uses it.
The shower area and the bathtub are the most prone to being slippery, and non-skid bath mats are a simple way to prevent any falls. It is not enough to place a non0skid bathmat on the floor. Make sure to use rug tape or water-resistant sealant to make sure that the bathmat is securely attached.
As mentioned above, grab bars are a valuable addition to any bathroom. But do some research and be aware of the most suitable grab bars for the situation at hand. Use vertical or angled bars in the shower and near the toilet to decrease the chances of slippage. It might be best to renovate the bathroom walls before installing the grab bars to ensure that the walls have the bracing necessary to bear a person’s weight.
Homebuilders and interior designers tend to focus on what appeals to young people. Yet, the changes necessary to make a home accessible also make it safer for children and older adults.
There are some very good assisted living facilities, but many people prefer to age in place once they have moved into the home of their dreams. These modifications and renovations can ensure that you can keep living at home and maintain your standard of living for as long as you please.
