Home Modifications for Seniors that Improve Safety but Also Look Good
I’m not old, and I Don’t Want My Home to Look it!
As seniors feel their mobility start to decrease, they may begin looking into ways to modify their homes to make them safer, allowing them to stay in their beloved homes comfortably for many years to come. However, though they may know something needs to be done, some of the options out there may just not appeal, causing seniors to despair.
“I am not old and don’t need a stairlift!” is one of the war cries of the Boomer generation, as is “I don’t want my rooms to look like a hospital!”
A Changing Home Modification Market
In fact, Jim Closs, National Director of Age Safe Canada, a national organization focused on safe ageing in place, explains that “I have seen many iterations of successful and failed product launches in my 30 years of making homes safe. In this time, the common denominator that makes products successful has been clear: their looks. Despite the overwhelming need for safety, clients want things that look as though they are part of the home. House pride is a very strong component of any renovation, so it is important that the products fall in line with these thoughts.”
Options of Home Modifications that Look Good
Of the options available, ancillary products such as grab bars and railings are becoming more attractive as consumers realize that they have a choice in materials, locations and overall looks, allowing them to mould their home modifications to meet their tastes and homes. However, though grab bars provide stability, help maintain balance and lessen fatigue, they don’t solve one of the biggest mobility challenges faced in a home: the stairs. Though there are several options to overcome this barrier, one of the most popular is a stairlift. However, though they are customizable to a certain extent using different fabrics and designs, it’s very difficult to seamlessly make a stairlift blend into a home, leading to many homeowners looking for a different, more discrete, more attractive option.
Homelifts: an attractive solution to the problem that is stairs
