As our parents age, it is important that their homes are suitable for them to continue living in. Old age can often make people a lot frailer than what they once were, and they can sometimes suffer from mobility issues. As a result, their homes need to be specially adapted and designed with their old age in mind. If you want to try and improve things for your elderly parents without resorting to major adaptations just yet, you could try improving the interior design. Here are some changes that could be really beneficial for your parents.
Non-Slip Flooring –
Elderly people are extremely likely to fall over when they are pottering around their home. This possibility can be very worrying for relatives, especially if they live on their own and won’t have anyone with them who can help them up. Because of this, it’s necessary to replace any slippy flooring materials with non-slip varieties. Generally speaking, that means getting rid of smooth tiles and wooden floors and swapping them with rough carpets and rugs that offer plenty of friction.
High Furniture –
If your parents suffer from arthritis and aren’t all that mobile in general, they will find it very difficult to sit down on low furniture. Getting up again could also prove problematic. So, it’s a good idea to replace any low chairs, sofas, and beds, with ones that are quite high off the ground. You can take a look and buy from this site. It features a range of different furniture collections, so is sure to have something suitable for your elderly parents.
Light And Airy –
As we age, our eyesight can become a lot weaker. One way to help improve your parent’s sight around the home is to increase the amount of natural light that comes into the house. To do that, you can simply replace heavy curtains with lighter ones that will allow more sunlight to flow through them. It’s also a good idea to add more lamps around the home to supplement all this natural light. Just make sure that the lamp switches are within easy reach for your parents.
Wide Walkways –
If your parents now rely on mobility aids such as wheelchairs and zimmer frames, they will need plenty of space to manoeuvre these through their rooms. It’s a good idea to try and widen the walkways in each room if there is the space. You might need to remove some furniture to do this, especially in the bedroom where closets and chests of drawers might stick out into the walkways. Remember, though, that your parents might need some items of furniture to hold on to so that they can balance themselves. So, it’s important to place them close enough to reach, but not too close that they completely block any walkways.
Wet Rooms –
Getting in and out of the shower can be dangerous for elderly people. However, you can get around this problem by building a wet room. The basic idea is actually very simple. You just turn the entire room into a wet room, with shower walls and a sloping floor leading down to a central drain. Because there are no lips or obstacles to getting into the shower, these setups are suitable for wheelchair users, offering great long-term value. Plus they look great too – much more minimalist and serene.
We all want to do what is best for our elderly parents, and sorting out their home decor can be a really big help for them. Hopefully, this blog post has given you some really useful ideas!
Love,
*This is a collaborative post