By Anne Patterson
Mary Fisher Knott is six feet tall and has a bad back–physical challenge that make bending difficult. She also is approaching her senior years. But as president of Mary Fisher Designs (Scottsdale, Ariz.), a kitchen and bath designer and a residential space planner, Mary is well-versed on design concepts that can make a home more accessible for the aging and handicapped. She offers a number of practical age-proofing ideas for use throughout the home and especially in the kitchen. In fact, they are ideas she has used in her own home:
Throughout the home:
- Use lever-type handles instead of door knobs and lever handles for faucets.
- Make doorways 36 inches wide, instead of the standard 32 inches, to accommodate a wheel chair.
- Position light switches 42 inches off the finished floor where they are accessible to someone in a wheelchair and are a comfortable height for most people.
- Use motion sensors for lighting at entry areas of the home.
- Select floor coverings that can accommodate a wheelchair or walker: commercial grade carpet, wood, laminate and ceramic tile with grout joints not more than 3/8-inch wide. For kitchen flooring, Mary often recommends commercial carpet squares, which can be cleaned or replaced.
- Use pocket doors when possible.
- Put dimmers on all light switches, allowing a mix of daylight and artificial light. At night the light level can be changed.
- Use pull-down wardrobe lifts for upper clothes- pole spaces in walk-in closets. Hafele offers such a wardrobe system, which allows the user to pull down the upper rack. The system requires a 48-inch-deep closet.
In the kitchen:
- Provide open spaces in base cabinets accommodate wheelchairs.
- Vary counter heights, and include pull-out boards that lock in place for use as extra counter space.
- Install faucets to the right or left of the sink instead of behind it.
- Install appliances at accessible levels. "The upper oven should be installed to allow your client to use the big muscles of their upper arms to remove things," Mary says. "This makes the lower oven too low for efficient removal of food. It makes more sense to install single ovens side-by-side." She also points out that microwave ovens are usually placed too high. "Ideally, microwaves should only be eight or 10 inches off the finished counter," she says. She recommends the new Sharp microwave that can be installed flush with the bottom rail of the upper cabinets and vents from the bottom.
- To make dishwashers more accessible, she suggests elevating them or using dishwasher drawers placed on either side of the sink. Front-loading laundry equipment also can be elevated.
- Select non-reflective counter surfaces and appliances with easy-to-read controls to prevent eye strain.
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