Let’s take a moment and imagine a spacious wet room bathroom. Accessible vanity, elevated toilet, levers for all handles and faucets, open zero transition shower, and all the space to move around. Imagine not having to step over/into tubs, easily access the toilet and sink with enough room, less risk for falling. Now doesn’t that sound amazing? Even if you are not a fan of a wet room bathroom wouldn’t it be nice to have more space and easier access to taking a shower and getting ready in the morning.
The bathroom is a highly used room in the house. You shower, take a bath, go to the toilet, wash hands, get dressed, and for women put on makeup. Quite a few of our activities of daily living are performed in the bathroom. Now imagine not being able to do all those things for yourself because you can’t access the bathroom or it isn’t adapted to meet your needs. That is a lot of independence taken away right there.
So what can you do to ensure that your bathroom meets your needs as you age?
Here at ADL Solutions, located in Tempe AZ, we have put together some ideas on how you can remodel your bathroom to meet your current and future needs. There are several ideas using universal design that can help you get what you want and use.
Listed below are home remodeling ideas for the bathroom using universal design, adaptive equipment, and other concepts.
- Grab bars are an easy and necessary addition to the bathroom, and especially the shower. They don’t have to look institutional. There are a variety and wide range of grab bars that have a designer touch with a functional component. For example: you can have a towel rack that is also a grab bar or a shampoo shelf in the shower that is also a grab bar. Moen, Seach rome, and Health Craft all have specialty and designer grab bars.
- Comfort height toilets are another great addition. Whether you need to transfer from your wheelchair to the toilet or just need more ease with getting up and sitting down; having the toilet seat 16 to 17 inches off the floor provides that added ease and comfort.
- Another great idea is to have wall-hung or tank less toilets. They create more space, more convenience, and easier to clean.
- Roll under sinks are also a great addition to the bathroom when remodeling. Easy access, room underneath, and you can always add pull out drawers. You will still have a vanity but now you will be able to get a wheelchair underneath so someone could pull up to the sink.
- If you don’t have a lot of space and you need to create more you can remove the vanity and put in a pedestal sink. If you still need storage space you can add shelves or wall mounted cabinets.
- When it comes to a shower or tub, or combo of the two, you have options. A couple examples are listed below.
- Barrier free, or roll-in showers, are a great option when you need something easier to get in and out of. These showers provide easy access into the shower whether you can still walk or are in a wheelchair. You can either do a custom tile shower or go for the easy fiberglass showers. Both are great options.
- If you still want the luxury of having a tub or spa to sit and soak in there is the option of a walk in tub. Small step in, close the door, sit down on a seat and wait for the water to fill up and the jets to turn on. Easy to get in and out of, great style, function, and luxury.
- Another option is the ADL Spa by Best Bath. It is a transfer spa tub. Cabinet underneath to make the tub elevated to the seat height of a wheelchair. Easy to transfer in to, slide the door closed, let the water fill up and the jets turn on. This is always a great option for ease with care giving as well.
There are a lot more options out there on how to remodel your bathroom to make it more accessible and have a universal design. These are just a few that are the most common things to be done in the bathroom.