A young girl from Kansas once said, “There’s no place like home.”
That’s true no matter your age, but aging in place at home can bring its own challenges for older adults—and may require some new additions like grab bars, shower seats or chair lifts.
Too often, though, people think renovations to add these important mobility helpers to a home means creating a sterile, nursing home atmosphere. And in the past, that might have been true.
Today, however, modifying your living space to meet the needs of a loved one doesn’t mean you have to forgo all sense of style or put a dent in your home’s value. In fact, homeowners will be surprised at just how easily mobility aids and other helpful modifications will mesh with the current style of your home while encouraging independent living.
“Make these things part of your home,” said Sarabeth Asaff South, a home and garden writer for Fixr.com and an advocate for universal design and disability accommodations in the home. “If they match all the other details in your home, no one’s going to look twice at them.”
Home modification options abound
In the past, finding stylish home modification options like grab bars and doorknobs could be difficult, but many companies have added trendy and stylish options to their product lines to ease the home improvement and interior design process—and many are simple DIY projects.
“There really are a lot of things on the market,” South said. “It’s just becoming more mainstream now. It used to be specialty companies and higher-end companies. Now you can just order stuff on Amazon.”
From grab bars that double as toilet-paper holders to fold-down shower seats and chair lifts, caregivers can choose from plenty of different companies.
“You don’t have to get white plastic rails like in a hospital room,” South said.
No matter the style of your home, you can find items that fit your needs and your decor. A variety of well-known companies offer home modification products in many of their styles and finishes. Kohler, for example, offers a line of toilets, sinks, lever-style faucets and grab bars that match their other accessories.
Other companies that offer home modification products in multiple styles and finishes include Moen, Watermark, American Standard and Ginger. And CVS Health recently announced the addition of a new line of products designed specifically with both comfort and visual appeal in mind.
The CVS Health by Michael Graves Design line is the result of in-home research that resulted in products with an “aesthetically pleasing, minimalistic style,” said Brenda Lord, vice president of store brands at CVS Health.
“By filling an unmet need for functional, but beautifully designed products, we aim to help improve the everyday lives of those who rely on these tools and who are seeking a more premium and customized market offering.”
Making changes
Finding the right products that match your home style doesn’t have to be difficult. South recommends starting with what you have.
“If you know the brands you already have installed, I would start there,” she said. Many companies already have a line of accessible products that will match your current decor.
Don’t despair, though, if you don’t know who made your current fixtures. Check out some of the companies mentioned above. Items like grab bars can often be made in any finish and with any escutcheons (the decorative piece that hides the hardware holding a grab bar or towel bar to the wall).
Another easy tip for making your modifications fit the style of your home is to switch out all your doorknobs or faucets so they match. Faucets, in particular, come in a variety of styles and with a variety of accommodations like hand sensors and toe-touch activation.
Another way to avoid disrupting the flow of your home, South said, is to invest in the latest home tech.
“I’m also a really big fan of home automation,” South says. “With home automation, smart lights turn themselves off. Lights turn on when you enter a room. I recommend automating as much as possible. It’s behind the scenes. If you automate it, it’s less obvious.”
Considering cost of renovations
There’s no doubt that installing things like grab bars, shower seats, chair lifts, new countertops, smart lights and raised sinks and toilets can be costly. Just plan ahead as much as possible, South said.
“Start with the needs that you have today with a mind of looking forward to taking the next step with the next helpful item within the next six months to a year,” she said. “It’s more about planning ahead. Installing the ramps and the grab bars before you have trouble walking. If you make these changes a little bit at a time, it can help offset the cost.”
And, of course, expect to pay for style.
“The more stylish, the more they tend to cost,” she said.
But that’s not to say you can’t find stylish options that fit your budget.
“It really depends,” South said. “They can run the full gamut. Smart lights aren’t that expensive, but fully automating a room can run several thousand dollars. You also really can’t rule out Amazon. We got all of our bathroom accessories including the grab bars on Amazon.”
Whether you need a single mobility aid or you need a makeover to modify every room in your house, it’s possible to find low-cost products that match your decor and your budget, which means you’ll continue to feel like “there’s no place like home.”
Here’s a glimpse at some of the stylish home modification and mobility products available now: