Hi Glenda,

Email me on kostaspartou@gmail.com - I think I can assist with this one.

Regards,

Kostas

Glenda there are government publications on designing houses for the elderly that would have some good tips for you. Have a Google. And I’ll also try and find the link.

Door way widths, avoiding steps, having benches you can get a wheelchair under and accessible bathroom. Have a tour of high end fully accessible retirement village unit or apartment for ideas. Well done for thinking of this. There is also the Australian standards. Check out the disability act and national construction code for references.

Wider walkway areas, wall hung vanity with sensor taps. Something they can fit there wheelchair under. You can get those mirrors Handheld shower head, try to have furniture items built in so there is no legs to trip or get stuck on. You will need the rails for showers and toilet area so design something and then ask around who can make it or fancy ones premade

. Aesthetically, disabled homes do look like hospitals, you can get anything specially made you just have to find the right person to make it for you. You can get hanging clothes on a pulldown system. Make things in general open plan so there is no awkward corners. shoe cabinets that rotate so you can just stay in place. Pull out pantry's or cabinets so there is no reaching to the back of a cupboard in the kitchen to worry about. Have a walk in bathtub photo below, have no clutter, use smart devices for things like lights, kettle, shower temperature, curtains. Have a bidet with the ass warmer.

we installed a walk in hydrotherapy bath that was meant to be ideal for aged and disabled use but have found it tedious to use as you have to get in and sit down and then wait for it to fill (we included extra fast taps and fast drain to reduce the time but still feels like it takes forever to fill and empty) but, once the door is shut it is lovely to be able to sit upright with water over your shoulders but the therapeutic massage function is far too noisy to use for more than a few minutes (and the noise is exaggerated in a tiled bathroom) and, despite extra noise insulation installed in all surrounding walls the motor is noisy from adjoining rooms so can't recommend the walk in bath although small grandchildren find it entertaining filled with bubbles

The term used is universal housing design. that might help you find some resources. https://universaldesignaustralia.net.au/category/housing-design-guidelines/ A lot of agencies release pdfs and guides with info like what standard measurements etc for halls and kitchen benches etc. I wouldn't install anything specific like because it will be easier to source those as required. but the things like space and layout certainly need to be done now!
Access in an out. When I used a wheelchair we really struggled to find houses to rent I could access. the best we could do was a house with 4 steps in and out, and my husband had to carry me up the stairs. generally speaking wider passageways and traffic zones. You need space around furniture placement for mobility aids and wheelchairs. A shower that is open and is continuous with the bathroom floor. non-slip tiling. A bench or sitting area in the bathroom for changing and showering. As someone with mobility issues sometimes things that don't seem an issue are, like when your mobility is affected even slight level changes are an issue. my most frustrating level change is just the 5cm rise on the kitchen tiling and around the fireplace hearth. It's hard to explain but the small level changes are harder than stairs! So a flat floor that stays flat with no lips or trimming or metal capping on the carpets is important.
Overall, keeping things low maintenance because any illness or mobility challenge brings fatigue and things can get too hard if the house is fussy. simple no fuss surfaces and hard-wearing materials. I really like cork floors as they are easy to clean and if you fall its not as painful. Good connection to outdoors and a nice view. The worst thing is it becomes harder to get out and about and sometimes you aren't well enough to, so for those days staring at a blank wall is the worst, an interesting view with good bright light and fresh air helps a lot. . don't use taps and door handles that twist and turn on, use sliders and knobs and handles that you push down with your whole hand to open. Good easy access to the home for emergency services. A wide front door that could allow ambulance access. One home I visited with universal design positioned bedroom and bathroom on opposite sides of a wide tiled entrance area that also had the laundry in a cupboard. It meant for good access to the bathroom and easy laundry use, and good emergency access to bed and bathroom in case of a fall. they also had a help button in the bathroom. but I would suggest phone access across the house or a handy (Dry) mobile phone nook works just as well. a bathroom close to the bedroom, but not so close that a partner is kept up at night. Think about the overall traffic flow, if you have to move too far and cross back and forth a lot it's going to be really exhausting. Disability modifications actually kinda suck and aren't always useful. The wheelie walker i was supposed to use as I learned to walk again actually was so heavy it would exhaust me, I find grasping dado rails and chairs and doors is often easier, so an oversized timber dado rail that could be grabbed hold of would be useful, and making sure its not far to sit down and rest. a chair in the bathroom, a chair in the bedroom, a chair near the front door for sitting and sorting shoes etc. they can be pretty corner chairs and not disability chairs iykwim. often just good efficient design and layout are key. Flexibility so that things can be adapted to suit specific requirements.

We are currently building and decided to ensure we can “age in place” Found the builder willing to do what we asked but quite useless at extending on our ideas. Loads of good info in the posts above. One thing that really occurs to me is that you have to be prepared for a disabled person to lean more heavily on items such as wall basin, so these things have to be particularly well installed. As others have said above, replace all towel rails with grab rails. There are nice options, just not in Bunnings. Connection points also need to be much stronger - just connecting a grab rails into the tiles is not safe. We asked for extensive blocking out of one ensuite but in the end the builder only blocked exactly where we said we wanted to put grab rails and the sink (similarly in a small kitchenette built to be wheelchair accessible). This means that we can’t easily add or move rails - beyond what we already have. I am really annoyed by this but didn't discover it until the walls were sealed up. It gives a lot of piece of mind to know you can make adjustments to meet the needs of an individual. Good luck with it.

I hope you don't mind the plug, but I have actually written an article on things to keep in mind when designing an accessible home. I hope it gives you some inspiration!

Designing a home for accessibility

I've finalised my kitchen designs and I realised another feature i really like. Installing castors on all the furniture so it can easily be moved for cleaning. I'm designing my kitchen cabinets freestanding and i realise now it's to make it easier for me to clean as bending and reaching is tricky. The cabinets and dining table will be on castors so I can move them out of the way when I want. I like to be able to shift every large piece out of the way and mop and vacuum easily. I'm thinking I need to put castors on my couch too. People as they get older/less mobile can get home help for cleaning, but I've noticed they really only do the everyday weekly basic clean and its that once in a while deeper clean, behind and under furniture clean that never happens. Houses can end up tidy but really unclean, so designing easy solutions for those things helps. Gutter cleaning seems to be the biggest thing that people can't handle around my neighbourhood.

Excellent advice, Billy Hoo. I wish that more of this were required by building codes, not optional, with it no longer being ‘ disability’ planning, but advancing to true universal access for new builds.

Particularly would like to see more generous corridor and door widths for critical areas and grab rail provision in bathrooms.

There seems to be an unmet market for excellent and even beautiful design for some of these items. Most rails etc at lower price points are utilitarian and a bit depressing. Great to see the discussion.

Thank you!! and I 100% agree brizcs! there are definitely some great new products appearing but unfortunately they filter down so slowly to the mass residential market because so much of the money in the industry is supported by this awful 'fast fashion' concept we seem to be stuck in. I was only thinking about it this morning and I think it's probably another discussion to be had on my blog soon!

thanks Billy Hoo for sharing the excellent blog and an extra suggestion for non slip floors in bathrooms is mosaics and similar small tiles have more wet foot grip than standard big tiles

You may find this publication helpful
https://www.yourhome.gov.au/housing/livable-and-adaptable-house