The Importance of Upgrading Your Home for Accessibility After Retirement
Designing a custom home is a challenge for many couples and families. There is so much work involved in getting every room to your liking, as you are not working from a framework or remodeling an existing home. But it is also advantageous, as you can design every square foot of the property to your liking. And when you are learning about how to start planning a custom home build, it is wise to consider the long-term implications of your decisions.
Aging in Place
When you are young and designing a custom home, you are probably not thinking about your retirement years. But it is wise to plan a home build with the consideration that you will live on the property for decades.
Having a home where you can age comfortably and gracefully is so beneficial. Not only does it mean that you can retire and enjoy your later years with dignity, but it also means that you will not have to spend a lot of money on remodels or accessibility upgrades in 15 or 20 years.
Bathroom Considerations
Bathroom safety is not only relevant for seniors, but anyone who is living in the home. It is always better to have features such as grab bars, reinforced walls, raised toilets, non-slip shower flooring and walk-in showers. Adding these elements while constructing a custom home will barely cost anything over a typical bathroom – but adding them later can be expensive.
Accessible Kitchens
Most homeowners would plan to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, even as they get older. If you love to bake or cook, you can imagine being older and wanting to bake cookies or a cake for your grandchildren!
By adding accessible elements to your kitchen, you can ensure that it is a safe place for anyone to spend time, even if they are hurt or not as mobile as they were in the past. Features such as pull out shelves, adjustable cabinets and countertops, hand grips and easy grip faucets can help in this regard.
Other options include installing hanging racks, sliding or pull-down shelves, accessible appliances and more. It is also a good idea to consult with a home building specialist to ask about the most common and beneficial accessibility installations to modern kitchens.
Other Accessibility Adjustments
Building a home that is stylish, spacious, cozy and inviting will be at the top of your priorities list. But making that home accessible and friendly to family members with any type of health issue should be equally important.
One can never know what happens later in life. Being prepared is always the best approach. Adding ramps to the outside, where wheelchairs can be accommodated, is a future proof way to make the exterior space accessible.
Staircases should be designed with enough space so that it is possible to add a stair lift in the future. If the staircase is too narrow or twisting, it may not be possible to make such an accomodation in the future.
When you are young and in your 20s or 30s, you are probably not thinking about accessibility tweaks to your home. But if you design a custom home build with aging in place in mind, you can create an accessible environment that only needs minimal tweaks in the coming decades.
