If you have moved into a new home that needs adjusting to become accessible one of the first rooms that you should look at adapting in our opinion is the bathroom.
The bathroom is one of the most used rooms in the house and if you don’t have access to your bathroom you can feel as if you have lost all of your independence. In this blog post, we will look at the top 5 tips that you can implement to make your bathroom more accessible. Adapting your bathroom furniture
The bathroom is the most difficult room in the home to use if it isn’t adapted to your needs. But not to worry, there are many bathroom manufacturers that specialise in disabled baths, showers, and toilets that can help to adapt your bathroom. You can purchase adapted toilets, sinks, units, bathtubs, and rain shower heads to make your life easier when using the bathroom.
Toilets can come in a wide variety of accessible choices, some of them can be suspended at different levels while others can lift up and down and tilt forward to help you to get into position easier.
Bathtubs and sinks can be adapted to allow you to be able to sit down when using them, these are usually called walk-in showers or baths. These are especially good for wheelchair users as you can position your wheelchair at the side of them and slide in to use them.
Sinks and washbasin units can be adjusted to your height, but you can also buy units that have space beneath them.
Specialised fixtures and fittings
When using the specialised bathroom furniture you will also want to add specialised fittings to help you move around the bathroom. To help you move around the bathroom consider installing hand/grab rails next to the furniture you are going to use the most such as the bath or toilet.
One tip we can give you is to make sure your walls and tiles are in good condition before installing the grab rails as they will need to take your weight to stop you from falling. A badly installed grab rail could cause you serious injury.
Adapting your bathroom furniture
The bathroom is the most difficult room in the home to use if it isn’t adapted to your needs. But not to worry, there are many bathroom manufacturers that specialise in disabled baths, showers, and toilets that can help to adapt your bathroom. You can purchase adapted toilets, sinks, units, bathtubs, and rain shower heads to make your life easier when using the bathroom.
Toilets can come in a wide variety of accessible choices, some of them can be suspended at different levels while others can lift up and down and tilt forward to help you to get into position easier.
Bathtubs and sinks can be adapted to allow you to be able to sit down when using them, these are usually called walk-in showers or baths. These are especially good for wheelchair users as you can position your wheelchair at the side of them and slide in to use them.
Sinks and washbasin units can be adjusted to your height, but you can also buy units that have space beneath them.
Non-slip floors
When you suffer from mobility problems, you are going to need all the help you can get when it comes to keeping your balance. Because of this, you should install non-slip flooring where applicable. Most accessible bathroom furniture will be non-slip by default but if they are not you could look to install non-slip flooring in the bathtub or the shower.
Making space
If your bathroom is cluttered you will need to get rid of that clutter to minimise the chance of any trips or falls. There are a few ways around getting rid of clutter, the first is to simply throw away everything you don’t need.
Not surprisingly, most people don’t want to throw their items out so they go for the next best option which is to invest in clever storage solutions. When purchasing furniture, look for furniture that comes with storage. This way you can keep items such as towels, flannels, and other washing accessories out of the way until you need them.
Plan before doing anything
It can be tempting to just hire the demolition crew to tear down that old bathroom and replace it with a more accessible one, but before doing so plan everything and run through it a few times in your head so that the design of your new bathroom makes sense to you.
Think of all of the problems you may need help with and then think of how you can solve those problems with the accessible furniture that’s on the market. Only when you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve should you redesign your bathroom.
Conclusion
Redesigning your bathroom to become more accessible is easy when you take the time to think of everything that you need help with. Once you do that I would recommend shopping around for items you are going to need and then finally hire a local plumber or bathroom fitter that specialises in accessible bathrooms to fit your new bathroom.
