Make your home a place you’ll appreciate even more as you age

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Published Date 2/15/2023

Staying put? Lots of people have decided to make the homes they now occupy their “forever homes.” Perhaps the pandemic lockdown found you re-tooling and redecorating parts of your home and now you’re snugly (and smugly) telling the world you’re not going anywhere.

While Realtor.com’s Jennifer Kelly Geddes says making your forever home as beautiful as possible is a no-brainer, improving accessibility for your later life is not something many homeowners tend to prioritize. “Mobility and functionality are key for comfortably aging in place. Plus, home design that factors in accessibility can also be beneficial when selling a house.”

It’s called universal design — a plan that makes a home accessible and safe for anyone who lives there. It can also be referred to as “inclusive design” or “design for all” because the point is to create an equitable environment that accommodates seniors or those with mobility issues in addition to making the house more livable in the meantime.

If you think all this costs a boatload of money, however, think again. Many of these tweaks don’t have to break the bank, according to Geddes. The first is better lighting, and no — not all lightbulbs are created equal. Geddes engages with designer Pamela O’Brien, who says, “Good, quality ambient lighting is very important to anyone with vision issues or those of us who are starting to see our vision change.” The designer says she has seen homes with missing or burned-out bulbs—or bulbs with different wattages and color temperatures, even in the same lamp or fixture. It all adds up to bad lighting, which is a big no-no when it comes to safety.

“The fix here is purchasing new, matching LED bulbs in a 3000K color temperature or upgrading existing recessed cans with LED retrofit kits,” she explains. Even smarter? Smart home technology can turn lights off and on automatically when you enter and exit a room, adding an extra layer of home safety.

Believe it or not, a change out from door knobs to lever-type handles on your doors can have you doing a happy dance someday. “This makes infinite sense to anyone whose joints aren’t as nimble as they used to be,” says Geddes, who says to consider also changing out handles on cupboards, doors, cabinets, and faucets. “Levers only need to be pushed down to open a door or turn on a tap, whereas traditional knobs require more twisting and dexterity of the hand and wrist,” she says. Truth be told, they probably look better too. If you’ve ever tried to open a door with a load of laundry or groceries in tow, you’d know that levers are vastly superior.

Okay. So Marie Kondo recently announced that with three kids running around her house, she has lowered her organizational standards just a tad. Perhaps her kids bring her more joy than keeping everything in its place? So Geddes asks if it really matters how your utensils or cracker boxes are arranged. Well, it does if your motion is limited in some capacity. Wellness design professional Jamie Gold suggests cabinet organizers that pull out, pull down, swing forward, or roll. These mechanisms make the contents easier to reach. And the best part is that these are easy to add to your existing home.

Okay. Let’s go to the bathroom. No. Not for that. Just to survey it for now. “Bathroom design is critical when it comes to inclusive amenities in the home,” says Gold, who votes for bidet functions on toilets for “easier, safe hygiene and personal independence.” After all, sitting down while washing is generally smarter when one’s balance isn’t reliable. If you can’t afford one of those fancy bidet seats or toilets, try a shower bench or chair (which costs less) for seated showering, he adds.

Adding good-looking grab bars in showers, tubs, and near toilets means the room doesn’t have to look like a hospital WC. “Grab bars today come in the same styles and finishes as your plumbing fixtures, so they’ll look integrated,” says O’Brien. Also consider making the shower entry curbless by consulting with a professional. “The solution for this project, as well as for homeowners in single-family dwellings, was to install a very shallow linear drain, cover it in a gorgeous mosaic tile, and pitch the water from both directions to conceal it,” says Geddes.

Maneuvering around a house may seem easy for now, but as we age, we need more room. “Allowing lots of space to maneuver is another hallmark of universal design,” says Geddes. This starts creating a one-level, living layout, which may mean making your downstairs bedroom or little-used formal dining room your new primary bedroom. Barrier-free entry to rooms allows wheelchairs and walkers to roll smoothly. Plus, it reduces the risk of tripping for residents who are mobile. This translates into removing thresholds for a smoother transition from room to room and can also help those who become visually impaired.

Voice-activated everything is not only smart. It’s also safer. “Smart lights activated by voice control remove the need to feel around for switches in the dark or have to reach for them at all,” says Graham. Gold also suggests voice-activated window coverings and home security capabilities for convenience and safety, “though installing these options is best performed by a skilled professional.”

Realtor, TBWS

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