Universal Design: Let Your Home Work For You

Decreasing the time spent taking care of your home and increasing the time your home takes care of you.

According to a survey conducted by the AARP, 89 percent of people older than 50 wish to remain at home, rather than move to other housing options. The question not being asked is how do you make this possible? At what point does your home hinder you rather than serve you?

I’m a home improvement nut. My idea of exercise is digging a 20' trench and installing an 8” culvert … by hand. At 46, I can pull that off. At 56? Probably (add a chiropractic adjustment). At 66? I doubt it. Even I will one day be overwhelmed by my home (never, I say). But, between now and then, I can do things that will reduce or prevent that day. This culvert is such an improvement; my annual driveway maintenance will decrease: less washouts, fewer repairs, easier plowing, smoother and safer driving.

As you contemplate improvements in a home that you plan to stay in, ask yourself these questions: Will the improvement I am about to make be one that will last for years to come? How soon will it need to be maintained, repaired or replaced? Is there a better solution? If I spend less, have I spent wisely? Or, has cost-cutting provided short-term gains only to leave me with a costly expense in the future?

Consider this wisdom, “Decisions made in haste are regretted in leisure.”

Here is a short list of home improvements that reduce maintenance. Add to this list as you renovate through Internet searches and conversations with experienced professionals.

• Favor no-maintenance siding on your house such as vinyl, or more environmentally sound, brick or stone. Choose long lasting roofing.
• Favor surfaces and designs that clean easily.
• Favor furniture over built-in. For example, a hallway wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair might look awkward especially if the rest of the home doesn’t have a spacious feel, so, install a bookcase that can be one day easily removed.
• Apply universal design as much as possible.
• Throw stuff out – give up attachment to the things that have no more meaning in your life; gain freedom and clarity in the process for something new.
• If moving, choose a neighborhood that has supplies, services and activities nearby, and one that has useful public transportation.
• Keep choosing access and convenience – if something is going to be difficult to use, don’t get it.
  

Being motivated by the fear of loosing independence, or a vision of ongoing independence is useful. Grab the impulse (the visioning one feels better) and run with it. You’ll be happy to be one of the people who says, “ I’m glad I did it that way; I'm secure, comfortable and live a great life.”

Konrad Kaletsch © 2008, Universal Design Resource, June 30, 2008

Universal Design: Consciousness Precedes Form

Being green has been around for a long time. However, in the last year a tipping point was reached and green is now visible everywhere. Governments are doing it, business is doing it, schools are teaching it, and even the “bad” guys, such as the petroleum industry, are dabbling with it. We are still on our way to the tipping point for universal design.

Much like being green, the tipping point is reached once we recognize that the box we are living in is just too small. Like any box, it’s fit is limited both by space and time. As our natural state is growth, the logical evolution is that at some point we need a bigger box, just like a hermit needs bigger shell. In the field of universal design, we are just beginning to feel the limits of an outdated box, yet, we’re not aware of the limits that we have outgrown; we just feel the pinch.

The typical behavior of living inside a box that has grown too small is to look for answers inside the box. It’s absurd, but it’s what we do. The irony is that the answer to expanding the box is outside the box. The other paradox is that from inside the box we can’t see outside the box. This experience is frustrating and the first results show up as conflict. Without a method or trick, the state of conflict grows until we experience is as a pain so great we collapse in defeat and surrender to the change.

The good news is that there is a trick/method for accessing expansion, and, it’s ridiculously simple: ask a guiding question. If we want to kick the petroleum habit, an outgrown and limiting box, we could ask, “How are we gonna live well without petroleum?” That’s not a good question and perhaps you can see why, it’s still inside the box! Here’s the good and guiding question: “What would life on this planet look like if our energy needs were met through healthy and safe means?” You can answer that question, can’t you? The answer feels pretty good doesn’t it? You can even see an action to take. The box just got bigger, didn’t it?

The technique is based upon preceding the form with consciousness. The access to consciousness is through expansive questioning. The answer shows up through insight. A garnish of patience adds ease to the process. Frustration and conflict can’t and don’t exist in this environment; wisdom, creativity and genius do. One beckons the consciousness, which is then answered with form.

Here are some universal design questions:

• What is possible for us all when we live in an inclusive and human centered society?
• What are the gifts I have that would contribute to those less able-bodied?
• How can I manifest this higher vibration of a society that leaves no one behind?
• What does design look like that profoundly supports our sense of joy, independence, security, confidence and comfort?
• What lifestyle is possible for me if I have taken steps to include universal design in my life?

Konrad Kaletsch © 2008, Universal Design Resource, June 20, 2008

Universal Design: 10-Minute Improvements

“I did not know that!” There are many steps one takes toward becoming a universal design environment and many are as simple as a trip to the store or a few simple changes in the home. Many are common-sense improvements which contribute to your home working with greater ease.

• Increase light output by using highest wattage bulb allowed by manufacturer; have two-bulb fixtures as often as possible and you will still have light even when one bulb burns out.
• Create a place where you can sit comfortably and have everything within reach including ample light, phone, TV and remote, radio/music, computer, tissues, wastebasket, beverage & snacks, reading & writing materials, and medications.
  
• Install more phones especially bathroom and next to bed; look for large illuminated text screens.
  
• Consider removing upper cabinet doors in the kitchen (maybe lower ones too) and remove doors where ease of access would become an advantage (closet).
• Add night lights for dark rooms and hallways.
• Add non-slip stickers to slippery areas such as outdoor steps, bathtub, shower and even slippery indoor floors (non-slip mats are good too).
• Reorganize stuff: put the frequently used items within easy access (lower closet bar); remove that which is no longer used.
• Replace items that are hard to use with ones that are easy to use; Oxo products, such as GoodGrips, update many common kitchen utensils with bigger handles, smarter design and lower strength requirements.
  
• If the bathroom mirror is poorly positioned, add a second adjustable mirror.
• Raise the toilet seat with a raiser attachment; install a grab bar (the toilet paper holder isn't a grab bar).
• Journal! Collect additional tips, resources, photographs and contacts. Use the journal to ask and answer, “What is the modification that would improve/restore livability?” Record the improvements you would like to make, why they seem to address the problem, and, what you see as the problem. This is a journal you might keep for years until the big day when you renovate, relocate or build a new home.
• Improve your computer work station: adjustable chair with armrests, raised monitor, glare-free lighting, straight posture, feet flat on floor, forearms sloping slightly down to the keyboard (laptops are pretty much a disaster for your body).
• Remove hazardous throw-rugs that are easily tripped on. If keeping throw-rugs; use double-sided carpet tape to hold them in place.
• Tidy-up other trip hazards such as extension cords.
  
• For round doorknobs that are hard to use, switch to or add a lever handle that fits over the existing round one; replace knobs that are hard to grab with handles that you could open with a closed fist.
  
• For dark cabinets, purchase an easy-to-install battery operated light.
• Acquire a wheeled cart to move stuff about.
• Keep making new friends!
  

Universal Design: More than Your House

Another area of self evaluation will be your economic forecast. Most simply, will there be enough financial resources for you to live the way you wish to live? Managing your assets always mattered, however, the retirement model you grew up with has little remaining practical value. To retire at age 65 and to have a nice life for the next 20 years requires a crazy amount of money – think millions (you might have less than $50,000.00 cash). Or, you’ll considerably scale back your lifestyle (about 60%). Neither are reasoned actions. When this retirement model was created, lifespan was 65; death and retirement happened about the same time. To survive a 20 year vacation, one needs a new model.

The old model was a rugged three-legged stool: savings/assets, social security and pension fund. Social security has not kept pace with inflation and will likely provide less as the wage earners that support it decrease and the dependents increase. Employers are moving out of pension savings to reduce expenses and compete in a global market. Statistically your savings have dropped. So what does a new model financial picture look like? It has four legs: savings/assets, post-retirement job, investments, and your own past contribution to a retirement plan such as an IRA. This is a productive aging society model. Universal design becomes essential for this model to thrive as it acknowledges and prepares for an older workforce.