As you age you will probably want to stay in the same house as much as possible. While there are advantages and disadvantages to sheltered housing, the emotional security of ageing in place should not be discounted. There are many ways to enhance and modify a home to make it more accessible. By putting these methods to use, many elderly people are able to stay in their homes and remain perfectly safe. Some of these changes and upgrades are costly, but many of them are not and as we usually don’t wish our homes to look like hospitals, there are an increasing number of options to ensure they look stylish.
As a general rule a minimalist style is great for creating an accessible space, it not only allows you to access the house and move around with ease, but also makes it easier to adapt as you go.
Ramps and Stairlifts:
Whether it is temporary or permanent, a wheelchair and other forms of restricted mobility can pose serious problems for elderly people when it comes to getting around the house. Stairs present the biggest challenge. Getting an occupied wheelchair up or down a set of stairs is challenging to say the least. Steps can be covered by ramps, which can be integrated into the pathway creating a smooth and natural look. It recommended that ramps are at least 12” long for every 1” that they rise. For stairs there isn’t really anything other than your standard stairlift. These can be upholstered to match your decoration and fitted to the vast majority of stairs. Reconditioned stairliftsprovide a safe more affordable version.
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While lighting may not cost you a huge amount on your bills, (a rough estimate is between 10 and 15%) you can still make a significant saving by using natural light as much as possible. If done well, you can not only save on lighting but also on heating and air conditioning bills. There are a number of tips to help you get the most out of the sun without remodeling your house!
The key factors you will need to pay attention to are intensity and duration. How strong the sunlight is and how long a room is exposed to it. While the differences this can cause are most obvious during winter and summer, the direction a room faces can also have a more subtle impact. The list below gives a rundown of how different rooms are affected; if anyone’s reading from the southern hemisphere, then switch north and south. (I probably didn’t need to tell you that)
- North facing rooms only get reflected sunlight and tend to get the least number of hours. This meaning that light is not only less intense but the room is likely to be colder and darker than other rooms. Interestingly artists find north facing rooms the most useful as they give a truer light than other rooms.
- South facing rooms in contrast tend to get more intense sunlight for more hours, making them warmer and brighter.
- East facing rooms get direct sunlight in the morning and reflected sunlight in the afternoon. This means they will be the brightest and warmest rooms early on in the day.
- West facing rooms will only get reflected light in the morning, but by mid-afternoon will be receiving direct sunlight, meaning that they will warm up in the afternoon and evening. They tend to be warmer than east facing rooms as they sun is more intense after midday. [click to continue…]
