Flip, Flop, Extension
Encountering unsettling changes to mobility, eyesight, and memory can be a scary prospect. An increasingly common question we are challenged with is how our clients can age gracefully and in the comfort of their own home. Evelyn and Leroy, already grandparents, have a classic seventies home, with crowded, dimly lit, and poorly accessible spaces, that needed adjustments to help them seamlessly transition into the years ahead.
We discussed with our clients the reasons to stay put like the familiarity of the neighborhood and with the house itself. We found that it was important to maintain the feelings and activities that make their house home. Working together with our clients, we established which areas of the house that needed to be addressed such as transitioning the couple from living on two floors to one over time. We kept the combination of spaces but adjusted the layout and design to take advantage of natural daylight and improve the flow between spaces.
To revitalize the kitchen, we flipped the layout and redesigned cabinets to house all heavy equipment in lower cabinets with full extension drawers or on hardware that pops up to counter height. Utilizing an existing bay window, the kitchen’s shallow sink is nicely framed to receive plenty of natural light during the day. The sink depth was chosen to provide ease for reaching in and washing vegetables or dishes. Our clients love to cook having long enjoyed cooking on a gas cooktop, however the idea of forgetting to turn off an open flame or worse had them researching alternatives. A new induction cooktop was selected and is featured in the island that receives regular use in preparing meals by our happy cooks.
This open, inviting family space allows the couple to have a continual dialogue whether it is the two of them in the kitchen preparing dinner or entertaining guests around the cozy fireplace in the den. Large windows flood the interior space with natural light. Layered lighting that includes natural, general overhead and task lighting was critical in the design to accommodate aging eyes. From these inviting interior spaces, our clients can now step through a door with a flush threshold onto a new spacious porch. The porch provides the perfect summer gathering space, complete with a wraparound wooden bench that extends the comfortable seating.
Bathrooms are another space that is commonly in need for adjustment when anticipating making your house a forever home. We minimized thresholds, added wall mounted sink cabinets to make room for better accessibility, added grab bars, and included in the shower a fold down seat and hand shower sprayer. All of these seemingly small things help to prepare for maintaining easy bathing while growing older.
We worked hard to make adjustments to our clients’ home that did not scream “ADA” but instead sing of a well thought-out seamless design. Our design brings light, fluidity and openness to outdated and increasingly inaccessible spaces. With incorporating age appropriate fixtures, appliances and accessibility features with our architectural designs, the final product allows the couple to age gracefully into the next phase of life.
We discussed with our clients the reasons to stay put like the familiarity of the neighborhood and with the house itself. We found that it was important to maintain the feelings and activities that make their house home. Working together with our clients, we established which areas of the house that needed to be addressed such as transitioning the couple from living on two floors to one over time. We kept the combination of spaces but adjusted the layout and design to take advantage of natural daylight and improve the flow between spaces.
To revitalize the kitchen, we flipped the layout and redesigned cabinets to house all heavy equipment in lower cabinets with full extension drawers or on hardware that pops up to counter height. Utilizing an existing bay window, the kitchen’s shallow sink is nicely framed to receive plenty of natural light during the day. The sink depth was chosen to provide ease for reaching in and washing vegetables or dishes. Our clients love to cook having long enjoyed cooking on a gas cooktop, however the idea of forgetting to turn off an open flame or worse had them researching alternatives. A new induction cooktop was selected and is featured in the island that receives regular use in preparing meals by our happy cooks.
This open, inviting family space allows the couple to have a continual dialogue whether it is the two of them in the kitchen preparing dinner or entertaining guests around the cozy fireplace in the den. Large windows flood the interior space with natural light. Layered lighting that includes natural, general overhead and task lighting was critical in the design to accommodate aging eyes. From these inviting interior spaces, our clients can now step through a door with a flush threshold onto a new spacious porch. The porch provides the perfect summer gathering space, complete with a wraparound wooden bench that extends the comfortable seating.
Bathrooms are another space that is commonly in need for adjustment when anticipating making your house a forever home. We minimized thresholds, added wall mounted sink cabinets to make room for better accessibility, added grab bars, and included in the shower a fold down seat and hand shower sprayer. All of these seemingly small things help to prepare for maintaining easy bathing while growing older.
We worked hard to make adjustments to our clients’ home that did not scream “ADA” but instead sing of a well thought-out seamless design. Our design brings light, fluidity and openness to outdated and increasingly inaccessible spaces. With incorporating age appropriate fixtures, appliances and accessibility features with our architectural designs, the final product allows the couple to age gracefully into the next phase of life.
