27 Sep Designing a Home for Your Future: Aging in Place

When you design a custom home you should do so with an eye on your family’s needs today and in the future. According to the National Institute on Aging adults who remain in their forever home for their golden years are happier and healthier than those who move to “age appropriate” or assisted living housing. For many seniors, aging in place is the best option. 

Your ability to age in place depends on how you design your home. Designing a functional home for your future, as well as your present, helps ensure that you can remain in the home you’ve grown to love, the community with which you’re familiar and continue to live near those family members and friends that you can depend on. 

Designing a Forever Home for Today and Your Future

Here we offer our tips on designing a custom home with your future in mind. The top priorities include accessibility, comfortability, mobility and, most importantly, safety. Keeping your desire for aging in place at the top of your list we can help you design the right home for all your tomorrows. 

For Aging in Place Reconsider Stairs

This is a tough one but for aging in place you really need to embrace the stately ranch style design. It’s especially important that the entry to your home remain stair-free. If that isn’t something you van do then design your home’s entry in a way that accommodates a ramp in the future. 

Indoor floor plans should be stair-free to accommodate aging in place. But if you desire a multi-level design of any kind consider a master-on-the-main for now and in the future. An elevator is another possibility. 

Truly today’s ranch style custom home designs are much more elegant and stately than you may imagine. Many homeowners in the Quad Cities area opt for single floor homes designed in an open floor plan but with privacy in mind. Your custom home reflects your needs and desires. 

Increased Light and Visibility

Natural light, and plenty of it, is essential to assist mobility. Install large windows, skylights and  sun tubes to increase visibility for aging in place. As you age less light reaches your retinas so bringing more light into your surroundings lowers the risk of falling. 

Recessed lighting and ambient lighting is also essential to healthy and safe aging in place. Motion lights along hallways, in closets, pantries and beneath and above counters are also helpful. Lighting that works with a virtual assistant such as Alexa or Siri makes it easy to light a room upon entry or, through the use of smart lighting, change the brightness or color of the lighting. 

And don’t forget your exterior lighting. Make sure the walkways to your home, your porch and other exterior pathways are well lit. You can use solar lights that come on when it gets dark or motion lights with spotlights to deter unwelcome visitors.

Kitchen Storage, Doorways and Counters

Accessibility is important when you’re designing a custom home with your future in mind. Bathroom vanity counters and kitchen counters with recessed areas for chairs should be wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair or other mobility device and be of varying heights as well. Your breakfast bar should also be height adjusted for accessibility.  Your sinks should be easily accessible in the event some member of your household is wheelchair bound. 

Well-lit pantries with easy-to-pull-out shelves help you find what you need. Lower level cabinets for easy access, one-touch open and close drawers and storage that is neither too low or too high make meal prep a breeze.

Doorways between rooms and entry areas of your home need to be 36 inches or more with low door sills. Surprisingly, door sills are one of the biggest tripping hazards in the home. 

The Ideal Bathroom for Aging in Place

According to the US News Health, 80% of senior falls resulting in injury occur in the bathroom. Surfaces are wet and slippery, tubs, showers and toilets are made of extremely hard materials and it’s impossible to catch yourself as you’re going down. That’s why it’s so important to design your bathroom for the future with safety in mind.

A large walk-in or curb-less shower with a hand-held wand allows easy entry and bathing. The “shower room” is trendy right now so that’s a plus. A built bench offers somewhere to sit which lowers the fall risk. Handheld sprayer wands provide greater functionality for seniors aging in place as do easy to access knobs and shower controls. 

Non-slip shower flooring is essential and non-slip flooring with hand rails and bars throughout the bathroom helps prevent slip-and-falls. If a tub is a must eschew the soaker tub that’s difficult to get in and out of and focus on a walk-in tub instead for less risk while aging in place. 

Technology Helps Aging in Place

Today’s smart homes provide a much safer and greater opportunity for aging in place. Virtual assistants are at the ready 24/7 to help adjust the thermostat, turn on lights throughout your home, order groceries, inform family members when you need them, reach out to police, fire or ambulance in a medical or safety emergency, and even provide information about the weather. There’s much more your virtual assistant can do and you can customize it to your needs.

Smart home technology equips appliances such as your refrigerator and oven so that you can prevent cooking accidents and access your grocery list. And technology is constantly evolving. Embrace it now to make aging in place easy to achieve.

We’ll Help You Design The Perfect Home for Aging in Place

For your new custom home trust Seiffert Home Design to help you create the home of your dreams. For today and the future we make sure you and your family have your forever home. Contact Seiffert Home Design for more ideas on aging in place safely and comfortably.