While designing for people with special needs can be challenging, it is very rewarding to know that the little details that you have taken care of have made their life easier on a day to day basis. There are some basic things to consider when placing the new baby's crib, changing table, etc. in their room that will still enable your sweet little boy to get around easily.

How large is the bedroom? Can you sketch a quick layout of where the door, window, and closet are? I would love to help you out with this.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Andie P., ASID
Interior Designer
Purehome.com

I will take some measurements and some pictures. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!

Great, I will look forward to it!

Andie

The room is 12'x14'. We are scrapping the old wallpaper and painting the room white for the time being. We are also polishing the floors.

Closet and windows. The fabrics above are an example of what colors and patterns we are thinking. Chevron for Jaxson's bedding and something floral or feminine for his sister Genevieve.

What is the size of the room?

Wall-art

The room is 12' wide 14' long and the ceiling is 8 feet.

I mean 8 feet from floor to ceiling.

Baby monitor.

What great architectural details your home has! Attached are some renderings of a floor plan that will allow for your little boy to maneuver throughout the room easily. I hope these help! Please don't hesitate to ask questions.

Warm Regards,

Andie P., ASID
Interior Designer
Purehome.com

oh I hope you keep those beautiful old doors!!

Will a wheelchair go over that rug ok PureHome?

I love it! Thank you soooo much Andie. I will be sure to post pictures of the finished product.

Definitely keeping the old doors Kristy. Our home was built in 1887 and we want to keep as many of the old details as possible.

I would look up universal design guidelines - they are generally intended for kitchens and bathrooms mostly but the guidelines about how much space to allow for maneuvering in a wheelchair will be useful. If your son has a physical therapist they might be able to help you figure out how to customize it to his specific needs also.

For sure before getting caught up in decorating I would get quotes and budget for any changes that might be necessary to make the room function better from a wheelchair, like altering the height of light switches and wall outlets. (even if he is too young to plug things in himself now, if you expect to stay in the house for a while it will likely be cheaper to have that kind of work done at the same time before you paint and finish the room.)

I would be concerned about things like rugs under the wheels - before investing in a large rug I would try to get a similar sample to test to see how easily the chair move up on to it, etc.

Occupational Therapist.

Also plan for things like - where will the chair sit when he isn't using it because he is in bed or in the bathroom? Since the room will be shared you don't want it to end up in the way so people are tempted to move it and then not put it back where he can get to it. Independence is very important when you have disabilities - it can be really frustrating to have to ask for help to do something that you usually should be able to do on your own.

Also consider things like direction of transfer - can he do either direction with no problem? Does he need to be careful to go both ways evenly so he doesn't develop uneven muscles or similar issues? What kind of transfers can he do? My late husband used a wheelchair and there were some standard transfers he never did because he found them uncomfortable, so some accessible layouts didn't work well for him at all even though on paper they were good for people with disabilities.

I'm sorry, I don't have any ideas for you but I just wanted to say good luck and G-d bless you and your family.

PureHome, That is a well thought out, absolutely adorable design you did there! You have my respect and admiration!

Totally agree with Karemore.
PureHome's design is lovely. And so wonderfully worked out.

Congratulations on your new home graceyount. It looks like a wonderful, characterful space. Good luck and all the best for you and your family.

Can't wait to see the 'after' photos :-)

My only concerns with PureHome's design is the rug and the rocker, which looks uncomfortable for the hours of time that mom will spend there. I also worry about tiny fingers and wooden rockers. The metal supports on the bottom look like the same kind of danger that cribs and stairs have been known for in the past - space for little heads to get caught.
I think, while is isn't so stylish, I'd still prefer a traditional nursery rocker glider that is skirted to hide the mechanism. Cordless shades are also a necessity, otherwise, the room looks great!

Thank you all for your comments. Many of these things are not things I've thought about. Of course not all apply to my son and his needs but perhaps will in the future so I really appreciate your comments. One thing that you should all know is that he spends a lot of time on the floor. So we want to make a play area where he can reach things from the floor. He cannot move from the knee down and his quads are very weak but his arm and trunk muscles are amazingly strong. He also uses his chair and we want to encourage more use of his chair. He is very good with his chair and can maneuver very well. It's a small chair so can fit in small spaces.

@graceyount - how long do you anticipate being in this house? Because his chair may be small now, but it isn't going to stay small if you're there for some time, so any changes to the actual structure of the house itself should be made with that in mind (doorway widths, for example, and the positioning of anything built in.)

Also, if you want to encourage him to use the chair, try to make as much of the house as possible accessible from the chair so that he can actually do things in it. He'll want to use it more if it means he can do things that he can't do from floor level. (Not necessarily in his play area, since you do want some space that's comfortable for him as is, but for example I'd try to have surfaces or tables that are an appropriate height for him when he's using the wheelchair in living spaces like the kitchen and living/family room.)

I agree with the suggestion of getting an occupational therapist involved if you can - someone familiar with his needs might be able to help you set some things up in ways where just everyday use will improve or develop skills that he'll need for everyday life.

For the play area, to maximize storage space that he can reach, I wonder if you could do something using those closet rods that can swing down to a lower level. (You see them sometimes in children's closets to make use of the full vertical space in the closet.) Some shelves hanging on the rods would give storage for softer and lighter stuff and he could pull the rod down to get access to the shelves.

I wonder if the bed should have under-drawer storage for the toys.

I am glad you enjoyed those! You can purchase ADA friendly rugs that will allow you to have coziness while keeping mobility up- they should be less than half and inch of pile. You will want to secure them to the floor (there are tape strips you can purchase at any home remodel store). Also, I agree with Karemore about maybe considering a captain's bed with storage underneath that he can access from the floor, or storage in the headboard will maximize space. Here are some great examples (of rugs and beds):

Graceyount, as you need plenty of floor space and to give your son a tucked-in cozy feeling, I would put his bed in the bottom-right corner of the room/sketch, with both the head and one side of the bed against a wall. The head of the bed would be on the right wall facing the wall with the 2 doors.

I always find kids sleep better when tucked into a corner. As well, that opens the entire center area for play.

Personally I wouldn't risk putting a carpet; I'd want free and easy clearance for his chair.

I do like the crib by the window. :)

Carpet tiles may work for you. Very thin and stick to the floor, but still add softness and warmth for play. Check out "Flor".

FLOR carpet tiles stick to each other, not to the floor if you don't stick it down with double-sided carpet tape. But it's a great idea!

I do like the idea of a captain's bed but we've already purchased both the crib and toddler bed. And the carpet is something I'm still debating as it would be nice for floor time but could be an issue with his wheelchair.

Also was planning on putting the bed against the wall but going with the floor plan Andie has made. We have an old fashioned rocking chair for the corner by the crib. And rather than having a changing table we are going to make a custom bookshelf for Jax. He will be able to reach the bottom level from the floor and the other two from his wheelchair.

[houzz=]

Thank you all so much for your contributions. I am having so much fun with this now.

And so you should, Gracey! Enjoy the process!

I would probably get a rug, but something small enough that you can roll it up and store it if it is being a problem for him at a particular point in time.

My thought is this: Rugs are a thing that happens, and obviously would be nicer to sit on for play than a hard surface. So learning how to manage them both on the floor and in the chair is going to be a good thing for him going forwards. But if he's having a bad time (like if he's doing a lot of other new things and you want his room to be as relaxing and low-effort for him as possible) then you can roll up the rug out of the way and make things easier for him just while he needs that.

You might even build a little box or something in one of the closets that you can just stand the rug in when you want to stash it away rolled up, so it's right there and it's no work to put it away or get it out.

(I'm thinking that while it's tempting to make everything as easy as possible, and sometimes you do need that - I have disabilities myself although not to the point of needing a wheelchair and I know some days it's just all you can do to manage what you HAVE to do without extra challenges - it's not usually a good thing to avoid things that are a little more challenging ALL the time, particularly if they're things that do have positive elements - like a rug would make a play area nicer. If you don't have to face those little challenges when you can manage them, sometimes you forget that you can manage challenges at all? And that's bad.) (I would think that an OT or PT would be able to help give you some guidance on if any particular thing is an appropriate amount of challenge for him based on where he is with development and skills. I know it's hard enough to get ADULTS to do things like exercises to help them stay as mobile as possible, so with kids I strongly suspect that there may be situations where it's actually beneficial to work challenges or exercises into everyday life - so they're doing the exact same skill or muscle building that they'd be doing if they were doing exercises, but it doesn't FEEL like they're Doing Exercises. If you see what I mean.)

An occupational therapist will have many suggestions for you.

Here are some places to look for more ideas and information.
Please take from this whatever is helpful. Best wishes.

Houzz
1.) Go to Houzz Ideabooks and enter "Universal Design" in the search box.
2.) Go to Houzz.com/Handicap-accessible
3.) Go to Houzz Design Dilemma and enter "handicapped" in the search box.

Universal Design
1.) www.universaldesignstyle.com
2.) www.schaefferconstruction.com specializes in Universal Design

Handicap Access
1.) The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) site has specific measurements for wheelchair turning radius, angle of ramps, handrails, everything.
www.ada.gov/adast94.pdf
www.ada.gov/

Suggest sliding barn or pocket doors when possible. It is always best to maintain 18" on the pull/12" on the push side of any door. Agree with the area rug comments--they can be a problem. Pergo/Hdwd/VCT/Flat tile best materials for unencumbered maneuverability. Light switches & smart controls on the bed wall/through a mobile device for easy access are helpful also. Your asking the right questions and getting a lot of good advice. Happy Houzzing.

Hi graceyount, if your in the market for a barn doors and hardware take a look at our website. Our hardware is smooth and very customizable from precise sizing, finishes and even the type of wheel you like. We offer a wide variety of doors and hardware. http://rusticahardware.com/barn-door-hardware/