What is living in place?
Is your home ready for every stage of life? “Living in Place” refers to the concept of creating or remodeling, adding home modifications that are accessible, safe, and comfortable. Allowing people of all ages to enjoy independent life in their home for as long as possible.
This approach is similar to “Aging in Place,” but it goes beyond senior housing. This design principle considers the needs of people with disabilities, injuries, or other mobility challenges as well, encompassing a variety of accessible housing needs.
There are many things that can happen in life that affect someone’s accessibility and independence. For aging, home accessibility concerns often stem from:
- Vision or hearing impairment
- Reduced sensitivity and mobility
- Join and muscle pain
How to Design Your Home for Living in Place
What do we need to consider when designing a home for living in place? A kitchen designer can help you with the accessibility needs of your family, but as a rule these are some home safety and accessibility features that will help with aging or living in place.
- Consider work zones in the kitchen layout
- Choosing full-extension drawers over doors
- Limiting or removing tall upper cabinets
- Create organized storage areas
- Appliance garages to limit heavy lifting
Universal Design for Living in Place
Universal design takes living in place into account by approaching design to ensure the kitchen can be used by virtually anyone, regardless of their level age or ability.
Why choose living in place?
Living in place is becoming more common as people prefer to stay at home to maintain independence, to save money on assisted care facilities and medical professionals, and to prioritize staying connected to friends and family or a trusted partner.
Learn More About Living In Place
Watch this session from Blum Canada’s Lucy Taretto on Living in Place that she delivered at Decor Cabinet’s Academy XP Disrupt event.
Living in Place by Lucy Taretto, Blum Canada at Decor Cabinets Academy XP Event
