Doug Sutton, CGR, CAPS

By Doug Sutton, CGR, CAPS

During a recent CAPS class I got into a rather heated discussion with a kitchen and bath designer over the location of a microwave in homes of our aging clients.

I had made the comment that some of the kitchen designs were not good for our clients. I stated “most kitchen designs were very pleasing from an aesthetic point of view for the majority of clients, but not for those above the age of 50+. This brought a frown from one of the students, which got the class into a lively group discussion. We discussed the pros and cons of placing the microwave over the kitchen stove and everyone (I hope) went away with a better understanding that the traditional placement was not the best for our clients.

The most valuable lessons to remember from the discussion were that we sometimes forget who we are designing for, and the various problems that come with the aging process.

We have the tendency to think about how the design would affect us. Sometimes we think of the present and not the future needs of these clients.

Driving this point home, I recently was working for a client who needed to make some modifications to her new home located in a retirement facility that offered homes, apartments, assisted living units, and a nursing area. This community is a state of the art facility with a great exterior street view and well designed interior units.

My client was a single female, 5 feet tall with back problems. We sat down in the kitchen and went over the items she wanted changed in her patio home. During our discussion I noticed that holding onto items was difficult for her.

I looked at her kitchen cabinets and asked how she liked her beautiful wooden cabinets. She stated “they are great but I have a problem getting things in and out of the upper shelves.” I noted that about half of the upper cabinet shelves were bare. I asked how she was able to get things in and out of the upper cabinet shelves. She said “I get out my stool and put it next to the counter.”

Then I looked over at the stove area. Guess where the microwave was located? Yes, it was directly above the stove. I asked how she liked her microwave. The answer was “I don’t use it because I can’t reach that high.”

We were able to make minor changes to accommodate this client. We adjusted the upper cabinet shelving and a pantry cabinet with shelving to accommodate her daily use. We were fortunate that the home had lots of storage space. A counter microwave unit was also added to meet the client’s reach.

During our inspection of the unit we found another problem. In the closets, the rods and shelves were too high. The simple solution was just to lower them to accommodate her height.

Another room that’s important for adjusting designs for aging-in-place needs is the laundry room. Front loading washers and dryers should be used instead of top loading machines because this eliminates reaching over and pulling items out of the machine. Some clients may also prefer stacked washer-dryer units for their convenience.

With these simple examples it was apparent that the architect and design personnel forgot about the clients who were going to be living in these units.

Let’s make sure that we do not make the same mistakes. It is most important to take the time and listen to these clients so you can provide them with changes for their present and future years.

For more information, email Doug Sutton at Sutton Siding and Remodeling in Springfield, Ill., or call him at 217-528-3911.