Stylish Living at Any Age
Do you love your neighborhood and your home and want to live there forever? Have you given any thought to the challenges you might face in your residence as you get older? Many interior designers specialize in universal design and can make your home look fabulous while maintaining a safe, functional environment. Here are some precautionary safety measures you can take to help avoid in-home accidents.
1. Create space by improving your storage. Get things off the floor and put them where they can be accessed easily. Display only those artifacts and accessories you really love. Store or cover the rest. Having a dust-free, uncluttered space is calming and provides a safer environment.
2. Make your seating firmer so that getting up and down won’t be a challenge.
3. Place round or oval tables near walkways. They are easier to maneuver around and pose less of a threat if someone accidentally bumps into them.
4. Be sure your floors are slip-free. Remove trip hazards like loose rugs and mats.
5. Brighten your rooms to accommodate dimming eyesight. New LED technology provides clean, white light.
6. Provide contrasts so that walkways, steps, counters and walls are easy to distinguish.
7. Install grab bars. Some of the most beautiful hardware provides support and does double duty as towel racks.
8. Relocate light switches, thermostats and other controls that are not easily accessible.
9. Opt for a side-by-side refrigerator, drawer-model microwave and wall oven.
10. Consider changing critical elements, such as replacing twist/turn doorknobs and faucets with lever-style handles, widening doorways/hallways and providing at least one step-free entrance to your home.
Be sure to attend the second Designed for Life educational event on lighting from 4 to 6 p.m., Aug. 6, at Illuminating Interiors, 7816 Miramar Road. For more information, visit. asidsandiego.org/news-events/designed-for-life-2/
Lynn Wyndham Morris, IIDA, Allied ASID, NKBA
Senior Interior Designer
A Touch of Tradition — Home
7313 Carroll Road, Suite D
San Diego, CA 92126
619-669-8871
tot-home.com
