Our lives can change drastically, whether through illness or reduced mobility. Even as we age naturally, we can find our ability to complete tasks we’d once never thought about, markedly impacted. This is never easy to handle. But, there are ways to adapt to these changes and make your life much easier. Reassess the accessibility of your home and follow these tips to make your environment much easier to navigate – and, most importantly – much more homely!
Invest in Handrails
Moving around the house, from room to room and downstairs to upstairs, is made significantly easier by the inclusion of handrails. Install handrails in a few key areas – such as your kitchen, bathroom, hallway and living room – and notice the positive impact not only on your mobility, but your increased confidence to move around independently.
Consider a Stair Lift
When facing limited mobility, having a home that is stratified on two levels can be a challenge. Many prefer bungalows, or cottages all on one floor. Unfortunately, these options aren’t always available – whether down to our financial situation or our location. If walking up and down the stairs for daily tasks and chores is becoming unfeasible, consider investing in a stair lift. Transport yourself from one floor to another with ease, and make full use of your home.
Re-evaluate your bathroom
Bathrooms aren’t always accessible, which can be damaging to your personal hygiene and your wellbeing. A few minor adjustments can restore your independence, and your right to have an accessible, easy-to-use bathroom. Consider easy or low-level access showers, meaning there’s no reaching up or climbing over raised ground to bathe yourself. Easy access showers (or baths!) can also come with a range of accessible benefits: a comfortable shower seat, sliding door and grab bars. An added bonus of such an installation is remarkably easy cleaning and maintenance.
Avoid clutter
We can accumulate so much stuff in a lifetime, and we often find this clutter in the most inconvenient places! Crammed into your kitchen, living room or bedroom. This isn’t viable if you want easy, stress-free access to your home. Make sure no clutter blocks doorways, pathways or any necessary parts of the home. Decluttering is recommended, but you don’t have to give everything away!
Consider investing in sturdy furniture, raised to an appropriate height for your comfort, as ways to house all of your clutter safely. Take an oak table top for example: place your favourite books or décor on this table top, not just useful for dining and cutlery!
Focus on making an entrance!
Getting in and out of the house should be simple. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. To make ‘making an entrance’ much easier, consider investing in a ramp or handrail placed outside of the home. Even altering your door to include an automatic door opener or emergency pull cords can be a great, and useful, idea. Engineered wood flooring in the hallway will provide a smooth, even surface making ease of mobility simpler.
Adapting your home doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Many of us, in the here and now, are thinking ahead to the future. If you want to plan in advance for future needs or requirements, these tips are sure to help. With the right ideas and guidance, your surroundings can become whatever you need them to be!
