Your Kitchen
One of the most innovative areas when it comes to aging-in-place home remodeling is the kitchen. A traditional kitchen can present quite a few obstacles from an aging stpoint: low ovens, slippery floors, high countertops, hard to reach cabinet space, just to name a few. A kitchen remodel that takes aging-in-place into account is designed to remove those obstacles as much as possible.
- Single (not double) wall ovens under cabinet mounted microwaves make for easy access.
- Vary the counter top heights where possible. Try lowering the cooktop, even if it is between two higher countertops, to make it easier to access. Try making one 36″ long space table height to make it possible to do kitchen tasks seated or sting up.
- Add Lazy Susans pull outs or cabinet drawers to make the back of the cabinet space accessible for anyone, children too!
- Don’t forget lighting improvements non-slip flooring (more on this in next post).
- Replace hles or knobs on the kitchen drawers with something grippable, make sure it doesn’t have ends that poke out to catch your clothing. Many modern looks use this look, but a hle that curves into the door or drawer is much safer for all.
