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If you or a loved one has a disability or develops accessibility needs, you may find yourself in the position of needing to improve your home accessibility. Whether it is for yourself, someone living with you or a friend or family member who will regularly visit or come to stay, it’s important and considerate to make your home more accessible, for the wellbeing and convenience of everyone involved. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at 6 modifications you can make to improve your home accessibility.
6 Helpful Modifications To Improve Home Accessibility
1. Get a ramp fitted
Front doors are often approached by a step or a series of steps, and this is the first challenge anyone with limited mobility will face when arriving at your home. Installing a ramp to your front door will make it easier to access your home, particularly for wheelchair users. You could also consider a ramp for your back door too, or for any steps or changes of level in the interior of your home.
2. Install a stair lift
Getting up and down stairs can be a challenge or an impossibility for people with limited mobility. Installing a stair lift is one of the most practical ways to overcome this. A stair lift can be fitted to almost any staircase, allowing easier access to the upper floor or floors of your home.
3. Install a walk in bath
To aid with accessibility in your bathroom, consider installing a walk in bath. Walk in baths are designed for those with limited mobility who have trouble getting in and out of a regular bath. They have a door in the side of the bath allowing you, as the name suggests, to walk in. This takes away some of the worries and hazards of bathing and allows it to be a more relaxing experience.
4. Fit handrails and bars
One of the easiest and most helpful ways to improve home accessibility is by fitting handrails and bars. These provide something to hold on to when moving around your home, giving an extra level of safety and ease of mind for anyone with limited mobility. You can completely customise your handrail setup, and fit as many or as few rails and bars as you want, wherever they will be needed in your home and at the optimum height, angle and position.
5. Consider your flooring
To improve your home accessibility, it’s important to take your flooring into account as this can make a big difference to accessibility. Hard floors are better for wheelchairs compared to carpets, whereas carpets provide a softer landing for potential falls, so consider the particular accessibility needs in your home. In any accessible home, it’s best to avoid rugs as they can be a trip hazard, and they are also not ideal for wheelchair users.
6. Get some night lights
Moving around the house in the dark can be a hazard, especially for those with limited mobility. To make your home more accessible for night-time bathroom visits, it’s a good idea to invest in some night lights that will come on automatically when they detect movement. This eliminates the need to navigate to a light switch, and will light up your way around the house so you can move around more safely. You can also get toilet lights that light up the toilet when they detect movement, which is another simple yet great modification for home accessibility.
Home accessibility: Where to begin?
Improving your home accessibility can begin as simply as a DIY project: reconsider your flooring, remove rugs, add night lights and fix a few handrails to the walls. For the more complex modifications, such as installing a ramp, a stair lift and a walk-in bath, it’s best to rely on the experts to install them properly and safely. That way, with minimal time and effort on your part, you will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of a more accessible home.
