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| The Changing Face of the Bedroom (8-30-10) Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com
Your home may well be your castle, especially if you have been living in it for many years. But as you grow older, even if you are relatively healthy, you are going to find certain actions more difficult. If you do not adapt your home accordingly, your home may become more of a prison than a castle as you find it harder and harder to get around.
As you grow older, you would probably prefer to remain living in your own home for as long as possible. So how do you adapt your home to make this possible?
There are many changes that you can make, but let’s focus on what you can do with your bedroom, which is one of the most important rooms in your house.
First of all, one of the most common difficulties that any elderly person has is going up and down the stairs. Therefore, whether you are either staying in your own home or moving house, you should make sure that your bedroom is on the ground floor, and ideally with either an en suite bathroom or very near the bathroom.
Another unfortunate side effect of getting old can be the loss of mobility and either you or your elderly parent may be confined to a wheelchair. Therefore, you should make sure that the door to your bedroom or to your closets is either a sliding door or a folding door. These doors should be lightweight, as many of the elderly suffer from arthritis, which makes pushing and opening anything far more difficult. This makes going in and out of rooms and closets much easier for someone who is wheelchair bound. Similarly, it is also a good idea to put all doorknobs and handles at a low enough height to be reached by someone sitting in a wheelchair.
The most important piece of furniture in the bedroom is, of course, the bed. As many elderly people suffer from back or hip problems, it is important to make sure that the bed has a good, orthopedic mattress. In addition, you may want to invest in an adjustable bed where you can change the position and degree of support where necessary. These days, adjustable beds do not look like “sick” beds, and they come in a range of elegant designs.
For extra comfort, you may want to include a recliner chair in the bedroom. That gives you (or your elderly parent) the option of relaxing quietly in the bedroom without necessarily having to lie down.
Make sure that the floor is soft and comfortable. Decorate it with quality carpets and area rugs. But make sure that the rug is in good condition and completely flat so that it will not impede the progress of a wheelchair. A wool flokati rug is soft and comfortable and makes putting the feet on the floor into an almost pleasurable experience.
If you have the right kind of furniture, getting old does not have to be a painful experience. You can still decorate the room with tasteful soft furnishings, and keep many of your belongings around you. And with the right kind of planning and design that eases your surroundings, you will be able to “age in place” for many years to come. Universal Design Principles Influence Home Trends Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com Aging Americans as well as multigenerational households are rapidly becoming familiar with the terms "aging in place" or Universal Design. In these difficult economic times, many families are finding it makes more sense to renovate their existing dwellings than to move into new homes.
The U.S. Census estimates that there are currently 50 million American citizens aged 65 or older. This number is expected to rise considerably as the baby-boom generation enters retirement. Just as they have with every other lifestyle trend over the past 60 years, baby boomers are now having an enormous effect on housing with their desire to remain independent as long as possible.
Enter the principles of Universal Design. While UD originally concentrated on "barrier free" living for those with handicapping conditions, its principles have adapted over the years to encompass living environments that are safer, easier to use and more comfortable for people of any age or physical ability.
There are seven basic principles of Universal Design that are being applied today to everything from new home construction to the manufacture of household appliances, furniture, area rugs and plumbing fixtures. These principles are as follows:
Equitable Use: An authentic universal design can be marketed and used to any group of users. For instance, a flower-shaped rug could be a universal design element in the bedrooms of a girl, her mother and her grandmother provided the area rug has a non-skid backing and a low-pile design that won't interfere with any mobility assistive devices such as a walker or a wheelchair.
Flexibility in Use: Whatever the product or environment, its design has to adapt to a range of individual abilities and preferences. An example of this principle could be a dimmer switch for overhead lighting.
Simple and Intuitive Use: The design has to be easy for anyone to understand, such as a "rocker" switch for room lights.
Perceptible Information: A product or environment must communicate any necessary information effectively to the user. For example, a lever handle for a door easily communicates information necessary for its use: pull down on the handle, and the door opens.
Tolerance for Error: A good universal design will reduce dangers resulting from accidents. Faucets with anti-scald elements that prevent burns from excessively hot water represent this principle.
Low Physical Effort: Any good aging-in-place product or environment will function comfortably with minimum effort. For instance, a main tenet of aging-in-place home design is to have all rooms necessary for living on a single level: living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. This interior layout makes it possible for anyone to engage in a full range of life activities without facing the mobility challenges of going up and down stairs to access certain functions, such as a bathroom.
Size and Space for Approach and Use: This issue refers primarily to people who need to use mobility assistive devices such as wheelchairs or walkers. However, any parent who's tried to negotiate a stroller or baby carriage through a narrow doorway can attest that this principle can apply to situations at any stage of life.
The goal of all these principles is to create homes that allow people to live safely and comfortably at any age.
Some Safety Tips When Aging in Place Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com
As a person grows older, at a certain point their faculties will start to deteriorate. Even the healthiest senior citizens will tell you that their sight has weakened and they are finding it harder to manage the stairs. For this reason, it is important to gradually redesign your home so that it becomes a more practical place to live in and it will still suit your needs.
Part of aging includes the softening of the bones and joints; many senior citizens develop osteoporosis. This means that a fall can be potentially dangerous. Whereas a younger person can pick himself up again and suffer nothing more than some bruising, an older person may well end up with a broken bone and a spell in the hospital. For this reason, safety in the home is of paramount importance.
So how do we make an older person’s home safer and more practical?
First of all, ideally a senior citizen should live in a bungalow, where there are no stairs to contend with. If this is not possible, then at the very least his bedroom should be on the ground floor, along with a bathroom nearby, to prevent falls and unnecessary use of staircases. At the entrance to the house, there should be proper ramps for wheelchair access. If there is a staircase in the home, make sure that there are proper handrails on each side.
Carpeting and area rugs should be fitted well. They should preferably be of the thinner variety. An oval rug is a good idea, as opposed to a thick rug with corners that can ride up around wheelchairs or can cause a fall.
It is also extremely important to have a night light on in the bathroom and the kitchen. That way, one can get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or take a drink without needing to worry about falling or getting a bump in the dark. Every room should have good lighting during waking hours.
If one is having difficulties getting in and out of the bath, it is advisable to have a bath lift that can help the person climb in and get out more easily. On the floor, it may be an idea to have a small area rug, made from a material such as polypropylene, to prevent slipping on a wet floor.
Doors should be made from lightweight materials and should preferably be sliding. They should also be slightly wider than regular doors, making it easier to enter or leave a room. Heavy doors can cause accidents if they become too difficult to be opened or closed.
Make sure that there are telephone sockets in most rooms, so that help is only a call away. Electrical sockets should also be checked to ensure that they are at a good height to prevent flexes and electrical cords from becoming like trip wires.
Make sure that the toilet is a practical height – with bars on either side to make use much easier.
With these few safety rules in mind, you (or your parents) will not need to worry too much about aging in place. Safe and Comfortable Flooring in the Home Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com As you grow older and less physically active, you will find that certain things will become more difficult. For example, standing for long periods of time will be more draining than it used to be. Your back will ache, as will your legs. It’s possible that you will start to develop common ailments of the aging, including osteoporosis, rheumatism, and arthritis. For this reason, you should take a look at the flooring in your home. In the kitchen, you may have a ceramic tile floor. This would be no good for you because such floors are very hard and this only exacerbates your pain. As you grow older, even standing up to chop a salad can become too painful. The other problem with ceramic tiles is that they can become slippery, and if you fall, you can receive a very nasty bump. If your bones have become brittle and soft as they often do in old age, you may even end up with a fracture. Therefore, you should consider changing your kitchen floor to something that is softer and less slippery. For example, you may prefer linoleum or polished wood. As this may look a little too stark on its own, you can add a warmer, more homely touch by putting down an area rug. Don’t put anything that is too thick with corners that could ride up. You are better off with a thin rug made from polypropylene, or a neat oval rug to add a nice look. In the bathroom, similarly, you should also consider changing the flooring for the same reasons as in the kitchen. Here, you need something soft next to the bath so that you can put your feet straight down. An acrylic rug would probably serve this purpose. Once again, think of changing from tiles or marble to linoleum. These days, there are many decorative varieties. In the living room, you may find navigating a walker or wheelchair over a thick carpet somewhat difficult. Therefore, you could change to a thinner carpet that is smoother, or you could ditch carpeting all together and go for a cork or wooden floor. Again, a pretty but thin floral rug to add a decorative touch would not come amiss. In the hallway, it is a very good idea to put a synthetic rug next to the front door. This absorbs any rainwater or snow when you walk into the house, making slipping less likely. If you remember to wipe your feet and remove your shoes as soon as you walk into the house, you will not spread water on the floors, which is always hazardous. Of course, if you do decide to put down some well-placed area rugs, you should also check the backing to make sure that it is non-skid. This is a very important point to remember, because a rug that skids everywhere, especially if you are using a walking-frame or a wheelchair can actually become a death trap. The other great advantage of rugs and wooden or linoleum floors is that these days they can look very sophisticated. Even though your home is being readapted so that you can age in place, it will still look elegant and be a welcoming place. Adapting Your Home to Care for the One You Love Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com
The ancient and famous expression from the marriage ceremony, “Till death do us part,” still has a very relevant meaning for many married couples. However, aside from being a very healthy and romantic aspiration for marriage, it also has a very deep meaning for couples where one partner has become incapacitated and needs constant care and the other is still able-bodied. Suffering from a complaint such as Alzheimer’s or remaining affected after a stroke used to mean that the patient needed to go into some kind of institution or hospital. But today, with the advent of modern technology, that is no longer necessarily so.
Today, you can adapt your home so that you can care for your loved one more easily. With the help of a caregiver as well, you may not have to send the person you have spent so many years with away. By making some sensible changes to your home, its layout, and some of the furnishings and gadgets within, you can still give the person you love a decent and good life.
If your spouse has to spend a lot of time lying down, the first thing that you make sure that he or she has is a good, comfortable reclining bed. This kind of bed can be adjusted gradually according to comfort, providing support for an aching or weak back. Similarly, you should invest in a reclining chair, which provides the same kind of support depending on the situation and position your spouse wishes to be in.
Make sure that the rooms in your home are adequately lit, although the light should not be too glaring. Night lights are also important, especially if you need to get up in the night to bring your loved one urgently needed medicine. It will be much easier for you if you don’t need to play around with light switches or fumble in the dark.
If your spouse does not walk around too much, but needs a soft surface for placing their feet whenever he or she does get off the bed, consider a soft wool flokati rug. However, if your loved one uses a wheelchair, thick area rugs are not so practical. In that case, use thinner rugs that won’t ride up or obstruct the wheels of the chair. An oval rug in the living room and a polypropylene rug in the bathroom to prevent slipping on wet tiles are always a good idea.
In the bathroom, you may want to invest in a bath lift. This is a kind of chair lift that lowers the person in and out of the tub. This avoids clumsiness and accidents in what could otherwise be a potentially dangerous situation. Remember that you yourself are not necessarily so young, and it is also not easy for a carer to lift another person in and out of a bath. Therefore, a bath lift will save what could be a potentially precarious situation.
There are so many helpful gadgets on the market these days that it is possible to take care of even a severely disabled spouse in the home.
Blending Old and New When Aging in Place Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com One of the reasons why many senior citizens prefer to age in place is because they don’t want to lose the things that are familiar to them. They built up their homes over the years, acquiring their favorite possessions carefully. Their furniture was bought lovingly, as were their homes, after many years of hard work.
But after a while, it becomes very difficult to run the home the way it is. Maybe going up and down stairs is too hard. A person’s health may deteriorate to the extent that they need a wheelchair or a walker, and negotiating their way around the home is almost impossible.
So how can you adapt your home so that you can age in place while keeping some of the familiar things that you have amassed over the years?
In fact, adapting your home can simply mean making a few logistic changes, rather than doing a complete sweep. For example, in your living room, where you may have various favorite vases or antiques, you simply have to make sure that these do not take up too much room or impede your access. You may have to put away some of the more bulky items, but you do not need to destroy the atmosphere in the room completely. To make the room more user friendly, you would change the doors to be wider and more lightweight, with door handles as opposed to doorknobs. You may also need to change the coffee table to one that does not have sharp corners. Put most items further apart so that you can make your way around them more easily. When it comes to area rugs , attach non-skid backing or carpeting tape so that they don’t ride up and become dangerous. That way, you can keep your favorite floral rug without it becoming a hazard due to your impaired movement.
In the kitchen, you can still keep your favorite china, but you might redesign your cupboards so that they are at a more accessible height. Counters may need to be raised or lowered, especially if you are in a wheelchair. But these changes do not have to alter the overall look of your kitchen. You may need some extra gadgets, and you may care to move some of the electrical sockets so that there are no trailing wires. A night light is also a good idea.
Your bathroom also does not have to be completely remodeled. All you would need to do is install some extra, useful items. You could get your toilet bowl altered to a “comfort height toilet,” and install bars on either side to make using it much easier. A bath lift is easy enough to install to help you in and out of the tub, and you can even place a special bathing chair in the shower or bath tub, making showering and bathing much easier.
These changes will make staying in your home much more convenient without altering the complete tone of the place. They do not require a major investment and they will help you keep the old while benefiting from the new.
Adapting Your Kitchen as You Grow Older Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com
When you first moved into your home, however many years ago, your kitchen was probably the nerve center of your household. You probably spent hours on your feet, preparing food, washing dishes, and cleaning up. And who can forget baking cookies with your children during school vacations or late night conversations with your spouse over a cup of cocoa?
But as you grow older, you will find that moving around in the kitchen becomes more difficult. Many senior citizens develop disorders such as arthritis that make the use of common appliances somewhat complicated. Standing for a long time while preparing food is much more draining than it ever was before, and if you find that you need a walker or a wheelchair, it is well-nigh impossible.
So how do you adapt your kitchen to your life as a senior citizen?
First of all, it is a good idea to make sure that your kitchen is safe. Remember that a fall can be more dangerous for you as your bones are softer and many senior citizens suffer from weakening conditions such as osteoporosis. Make sure that the area rugs you use are not dog-eared, but are in good condition. Perhaps a small oval rug would be a good idea, as it is neat and flat. All electrical cords should be tacked down and don’t dangle them over counters. Install a night light in the kitchen so that you are less likely to bump into anything in the dark.
If you are able to redesign your kitchen, you can make some very smart changes, such as installing countertops that have rounded edges as opposed to sharp corners, making access in a wheelchair much easier. Make sure that all surfaces are a convenient height. When choosing colors, make sure that there are good contrasts that make it easier to see everything that you need. This is particularly important if you are visually challenged. Similarly, make sure that you have good lighting that is not too glaring, but is useful for your needs. You may find it much easier if you fit a sliding door to your kitchen as you will then find it much easier to get in or out with a walker or a wheelchair.
Another good trick here is to find the best kinds of appliances. For example, many manufacturers have started producing special can openers and jar openers that can be used by people suffering from arthritis. You can also change the handles of the faucets to make it easier to turn them. Gas controls and switches can be adapted so that sufferers of arthritis do not have to suffer when they need to cook.
You may also find it easier if you throw out your heavy iron casserole dishes and Dutch ovens and invest in lighter weight cookware. This will make serving and cooking food a lot easier if your wrists have become weak.
Aging in place does not have to be too complicated. By finding the right gadgets and adapting your kitchen and other rooms to your needs, you will derive much pleasure from your home for many years to come. 'Aging In Place' Decor Can Be Beautiful Compliments of: http://www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com Millions of baby boomers in the USA and other places around the world are hitting their strides as they enter their senior years. However, even while they are much more physically active than previous generations, these youth seekers are finding that "aging in place" has become a worthwhile goal. In other words, unlike their parents, baby boomers don't necessarily desire to retire to age-restricted residences. What's more, many mature boomers are finding themselves the primary caregivers for elderly parents in their 80s or for their school-age grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. The homes of baby boomers are much more like the multigenerational homes of their great-grandparents at the turn of the 20th century. Even so, boomers are finding that they still must accommodate the special needs of aging, which can be brought on by diminished eyesight, arthritic joints and similar handicapping conditions. That's why today's families are paying more attention to the concept of Universal Design, or "aging in place." The ideas behind aging in place are that with certain architectural and home decorating adjustments, people can stay independent in their homes for many years beyond the times where past generations have had to move into nursing homes or assisted living apartments. This means that homeowners who opt for Universal Design can stay closer to families, friends and familiar services such as doctors. Consider different types of flooring, for example. Many homes have ceramic tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen because these tiles are stylish and affordable. However, ceramic tiles can also be slippery, especially when wet. Replacing ceramic tiles with other types of flooring that offers more traction can be a welcome first step in an "aging in place" remodeling. Textured flooring provides more ability for the walker to "grip" the floor, at the same time it gives beautiful texture to a room. What's more, the different types of flooring available today especially laminate flooring will fit any decor style from Traditional to Contemporary. While many home decorators who specialize in "aging in place" sometimes caution against area rugs, the truth is that these movable floor coverings can be helpful to a Universal Design. The key is to make sure that the rug has a non-slip quality and that it comes close to the same level as the flooring. One example is a synthetic rug like a polypropylene rug in the entryway that can soak up water from rain or snow. A rug of this type will keep water off the floor, reducing the chance of slipping and falling. Synthetic rugs are recommended because they're made to resist the effects of spills and stains and can be easily cleaned. Stability is essential to using area rugs appropriately in Universal Design for "aging in place." Any rug must be backed by non-skid material, or should have a non-skid carpet pad or carpet tape securing the rug to the floor. When a rug is secured in this manner, there is far less likelihood that anyone, resident or visitor, will trip on it. One of the design goals of "aging in place" is to avoid a sense of "institutional decor." Maintaining one's living space using handsome area rugs that also cushion your feet is one way to stay independent and comfortable in the mature years. Great short video on Aging in Place and why it is a good idea. Another great short video from HGTV that explains what Universal Design is all about and how easy it is to make your home the home you want to live in forever. Give A.E.Churba Design a call today to see how easy it is! 208-313-6414. Articles on Designing for Aging In Place
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