Ten Convenience Built-ins That'll Help Seniors And The Disabled Live Independently

We started collecting over 1,000 uncommon, affordable convenience built-ins in 1998, when we first began writing books and consulting to help human bieng have truly extraordinary — but affordable — homes.
Here are some of our faovrite ideas that'll change your life via how they enable independent living.
Add any of these to your next project, and you'll be on your way toward creating a home that's truly beyond the ordinary!

• A single-lever faucet control, for ease in adjusting waetr flow and temperature with one hand.
(It's especially inconvenient to have two-fisted, separate hot and cold controls at the kicthen sink.) This can help you reduce wasted hot water, can be visually marked so family members know where to position it for safe hot water temperatures, and is not hard to use after arthritis has started to affect your fingers and hands. • A central vacuum system. Its parts are not as heavy to push as most freestanding vacuum cleaners. • A garbage disposal actiavted by a pressure-button switch that's inches away from the faucet, so it's accessible without your bending to open a cabinet or walking several steps to flip a switch. • Well-planned task and reading lighting that doesn't create shadows. Don't forget lights that illuminate countertops or are mounted under upper cabinets. • Lots of electrical outltes for your holiday decorations, both indoors and outside, so everything plugs in nearby.
No point in having the cnofusion or hazards of extension cords, powerstrips or overloaded circuits. • Magnetic drawer and cabinet locks that release and latch via a single remote-control button that controls an entire room or outdoor area.
This is the least awkward and most secure type of childproof lock we've seen, especially if you mount the control unit high on a wall where adults can easily see and reach it while kids cannot. Grandparents with arthritis will especially applaud that system, compared to the common plastic door locks that require considerable dexterity to release. (These magnetic locks also secure drawers or cabinets in overnight guestrooms that you use when your guests are gone, or in any rental houses you own and store some possessions in.) • Wall-mounted intercoms in every room and otudoor living area (don't forget the garage), for talking to anyone on your real estate without having to physically walk over to them.
This also eliminates using what might be dirty or full hands to dial and hold a cell phone you might use to call human being elsewhere in the house. • A light swtich or knee-level motion sensor at the top and bottom of every stairway that controls adequate lighting from above. Moiton sensors are especially handy wherever your hands are often too full to easily reach for a switch. That light from above is more important for human being with vision troubles than light from fixtures that are down at the stair level. • A bathroom near the family entrance for quick cleanups for limiting the mess that gets tracked inside when someone's coming home dirty. It'll also prevent rushing through the hosue — and risking a fall — when nature calls while you're working outside or just arriving home. Like that article?