Home Improvement Articles

Incorporating an evergreen concept means that you can learn how to age-proof the rooms in your home that you’re planning to include in your interior design project. It makes sense to consider adding specific elements into your plans so that the money you spend now will pay off later; perhaps ten or twenty years from now. Of course, it’s not only about the money; it’s about adding features and functionality to rooms that every homeowner wishes they had as they grow a few years older.

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When homeowners in their 40s and 50s begin to consider redesigning their living spaces, they are naturally cognizant of their approaching senior years that bring physical challenges into the home environment. Standard heights for counters, sinks, and appliances, for example, could bring pain when certain things are out of reach or when it becomes difficult to bend or contort the body while doing everyday chores or tasks.

* One concept is to make your doorway entrances into your rooms thirty-six inches wide so they can accommodate someone using a motorized wheelchair, rather than using the standard thirty-two inch doorways provided by most builders.

* To ease the pain for those who have arthritis, consider installing French door type handles or lever handles on your doors rather than using knobs or drawer pulls. Likewise, when selecting your bathroom or kitchen faucets, choose lever-type fixtures, since they’re easier to use when you or someone in your family does not have total flexibility in their hands and fingers.

* Place light switches at a level that will be accessible to someone sitting in a wheelchair; normally, if you measured forty-two inches from the floor, you would have just about the exact right height for a light switch.

* Rather than installing light switches to turn on porch lights outside, or small lamps that are situated on the opposite wall of a large room, you could install motion sensors that would automatically light the room when someone entered it, and turn the lights off when the person left the room. The same would be true for exterior lighting. The sensors would detect motion and turn the lights on for easy accessibility.

* Another important consideration is the type of flooring that you select. Again, to age-proof a room, choose flooring that’s made of wood, tile with no grout lines, commercial grade carpeting or laminate that doesn’t crack.

* Configure a cubbyhole space in your line of lower cabinets and countertops that would allow someone in a wheelchair to roll up to in the kitchen to prepare and chop foods. Most people don’t think about this when designing a kitchen, but if you’ve ever had to get around in a wheelchair, you would appreciate this feature.

* Also in the kitchen, if you plan to have faucets installed on the right side of the sink rather than at the rear of the sink, it will make it easier for someone in a wheelchair or walker to have access to the sink.

* If you plan to install a microwave oven in your newly designed kitchen, and there will be a senior citizen living in the home, place the microwave at an accessible level, say about eight or ten inches above the counter. If you place the microwave above the stove or on a high shelf, it would make the oven inaccessible to most short or handicapped family members.

Sometimes it’s difficult to view the world from a different perspective when you’re planning your redesign, but it’s better to add these features now and be able to live in your home later, than to go through another redesign in the future to age-proof your home. In addition, whenever you sell your home, the evergreen factor that’s been built into it will become an excellent selling feature.

Next, you’re invited to view a video presentation that appeared on TV which features Michael Mariotti’s interior design tips and portfolio. To learn how he creates beautiful home spaces one green room at a time, visit http://www.michaelmariotti.com/media_tv.html