Most seniors these days want to maintain their active and independent lifestyle, whether they stay in their current home or move into retirement communities. However, active seniors may face certain physical challenges such as mobility issues, inability to see and sense with ageing. When these challenges set in, it requires some degree of change in their living space.
With the right products and design decisions, you can recreate their living spaces to accommodate their present and future needs. In this blog post, we’ll provide you with some tips to design a bathroom without common barriers for active seniors so that they’re able to enjoy the luxury they deserve.
Construct a Curbless Shower
A one level shower or a curbless shower works best for seniors. The process of constructing a curbless walk-in shower in a one level bathroom used to involve altering the subfloor. But now there are several easier methods to create a one-level bathroom. One of the easiest methods involves setting in a pre-sloped pan directly on the floor joists using a shower base former. The process is followed by waterproofing the floor and installing tiles.
Let in More Natural Lighting
Lighting plays a crucial role in creating a safe, secure, and functional environment for active seniors. As there are changes in vision with age, seniors require more light to adjust to changes in light levels. Since the bathroom is considered one of the most high-risk areas for accidents and injuries, you should plan the bathroom lighting very carefully.
Natural lighting helps create a relaxing and calm bathroom environment besides enhancing safety. Apart from investing in good electric lighting, you should make some strategies to improve the natural lighting. For an open, fresh and cleaner appearance, increase the size of your existing bathroom windows, if possible.
Another way of letting in more light in the bathroom is to remove window coverings like blinds and curtains. Use frosted glass or obscure glass to tackle privacy instead.
Include a Seating Area
A relaxing and enjoyable seating area in the shower is one of the most sought after bathroom luxuries. Incorporate a corner bench seat or a fold down seat in the shower area where they can sit back and relax or read a book.
Additional Tips
- When choosing a bathtub for active seniors keep the ageing process in mind. Mobility issues will come up over the years. To give them a luxurious bathtub experience you need to choose a type that works well through the ageing process. Freestanding tubs may be a good choice at present but a wider platform tub is a more practical choice because it will enable the senior will be able to slide into the tub more easily. You can also opt for a walk-in bathtub.
- Install grab bars at multiple places in the bathroom. However, to avoid making the space look like a hospital or an institution, choose from a wide variety of stylish grab bars available in the market.
It’s possible to design a bathroom that stands the test of time and also serves as a luxury space for active seniors. If you need professional help in designing your bathroom with the right ideas and products, contact Shower Lagoon. We have the finest quality shower glasses, shower enclosures, and hardware for all kinds and styles of bathrooms.
