Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
Do you need to improve the accessibility of your home? Transforming your house into an accessible home may sound like a significant challenge and you may be wondering where to begin. In this blog post, we will examine the adaptations you can make to your home to ensure that it is far easier to navigate for wheelchair users or people with reduced mobility. Whether you need these adaptions for the long term or short term use, making the changes can create an immeasurable difference to the lives of those that benefit from them. Life becomes so much simpler when every area of the home is easy to access. Here are some adaptations you may want to consider to make your home accessible to all:
Create an Accessible Entrance
The entrance to your home is an excellent place to start when adapting your home. You may find it helps to begin at your front door and then work your way around your home in a logical order to assess the accessibility to each area of the house. Evaluating your house in a logical order will help you spot potential problem areas and ensure that nothing gets missed along the way.
Your first consideration is how a wheelchair user will be able to enter the house. Most homes have some kind of step leading to the front door, which means that it will be helpful to get an ADA ramp to make entering and exiting your home far easier. Your next consideration is the front door itself. Is it wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair? It is also essential to think about the height of the door handle and lock. If the door handle and lock are too high, it will be impossible for them to be reached from a seated position, so these may need to be changed.
Make Bathing Easier
There are many helpful solutions available to make bathing easier. While traditional bathtubs can be hard to climb in and out of, you may choose to switch to a walk-in bath or even to get a bath seat installed, which will gently lower the user into the water. Alternatively, you could decide to make your shower more accessible by adding a shower seat so that there is no need to stand while washing. Whichever option you choose from your bathroom, don’t forget to get handles installed to help with stability.
Accessing Different Floors
In some homes, it is possible to have everything you need all on one floor. However, if you don’t live in a bungalow or flat, and your only bathroom is upstairs, this may not be possible. To overcome this problem, you may choose to get a stairlift installed in your home. A stairlift can make a real difference in everyday life, especially if climbing the stairs is becoming increasingly difficult. Instead of exerting lots of time and effort trying to get upstairs, a stairlift will help make this challenging task more straightforward and a lot less time-consuming.
