Useful design features for your retirement accommodation
Avoid the - 'I can do that later,' mind-set (Useful design features for your retirement accommodation)
If your unit is yet to be built, and you are fortunate enough to have influence in respect of the design, it is worth considering the following, in order to accommodate your needs when you become older or frailer: Minimise steps in favour of ramps. Install grab-rails in the bathroom, shower and toilet areas. Doorways should be wide enough to allow wheelchairs easier access. Construct your toilet so that the seat is 10cms to 15cms higher than would normally be the case. This makes seating oneself, and standing up afterwards, far easier - reducing the risk of falling. Place plug-points half way up the wall (i.e. at a height suitable to use if you are in a wheelchair. The height of ' hanging-rails' in built-in cupboards should be 5cms, less than the height at which they are normally positioned - this to accommodate the fact that by the time they are 70 men shrink by 3cms, while women can be up to 5cms shorter. Install lighting that is brighter. By the time we are 60, we generally need three times as much light as was the case when we were 20 years of age. Install 'night-lights.' This could serve two purposes: firstly, if activated by movement ,they could light your way to the loo at night or, if battery powered, they could automatically provide lighting during power outages. Dispense with traditional cubicle, or raised showers in favour of 'wet-rooms.' In the event that your intended cottage comprises of a double story, ensure that there is a bedroom, and loo, on the ground floor as well; as there may well come a time in future years, when climbing stairs could become difficult. (Even if only temporarily - for example whilst recovering from hip or knee surgery). It could also provide comfortably positioned accommodation for over-night guests. And whilst you may consider such measures excessive, remember ... you may have elderly relatives, or friends, who may find such design features helpful. Do I hear you say... "But we can do that later - in the future." In which case my advice would be - Perhaps the future is now! Later could be more costly and perhaps too late?
Henry Spencer