With the first wave of baby boomers preparing for retirement and planning for later years, the demand for homes to fit their needs is causing innovative changes in home design. Universal Design is a concept that has been around for a couple of decades, but the increasing demand has brought it into popularity with homebuyers, designers, and builders. The idea is to create buildings, whether homes, businesses, or public spaces, with the needs of all ages and abilities in mind, without sacrificing style. More and more homeshows feature products and spaces designed to meet people’s changing needs.
Universal Design is about more than just aging. Thanks to advances in medical care, people are living longer with disabilities and debilitating illnesses or injuries, and require spaces to meet varying stages of abilities. Because it doesn’t require costly retrofitting to make a home accessable, universal design is the best way to accommodate everyone, regardless of age or ability. Many of us can adopt some of the concepts of Universal Design in our own homes.
Some Ideas:
- Lower shelves 3 inches from the standard height for easier access.
- Use height adjustable closet rods to keep clothes within easy reach.
- Install a handheld showerhead to allow showering while sitting on a bath bench.
- Choose u-shaped handles for cabinets and drawers, they are easier to grasp for arthritic hands.
- Choose lever door handles instead of knobs.
- Give patios, driveways and stairs a textured surface to increase footing stability.
To Find out more about Universal Design, here are 2 websites: http://www.universaldesign.org/ and http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/
As many boomers age, they want to be independent and live in their own homes as long as possible. Not only is home design important, but products to make home life easier are becoming more popular. Lowes is just one retailer with a line of products to meet Universal Design concepts. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=CommLib/UnivDesDef.html
For more tips, visit http://www.aarp.org/families/home_design/
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Chris Karen Highland * 301-831-9947
Turning Point Real Estate
email us: isell4u2@msn.com
Text Us: 301-401-5119
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