Kitchen, hallway, bathroom
19 ideas that will make life at home easier
Far more people die in the home than on the streets. Stairs and tiles can be real killers. A few ideas to make the household less life-threatening.
Dear readers, this topic affects you exactly – at least from a statistical point of view. Many of you are in your 50s, your children are slowly moving out, and your parents are approaching an age where they are becoming increasingly needy. And maybe you’ll notice it in yourself too: it’s harder to get up. Not because you’re tired, but because you need your arms to help you get up off the mattress. In the past, the strength of the legs was enough.
Be sure: it won’t get better. Strength decreases, mobility dwindles, vision worsens, and steps become more unsteady. This doesn’t happen overnight, but creeps in over many years. The doctor and comedian Eckart von Hirschhausen once put it humorously: When tying his shoes, he increasingly thought about what else he could do “since he was already down here.”
It is like it is. But there are two things you can do: exercise regularly, avoid being overweight and adapt your living space to suit your age at an early stage – or, more importantly, that of your parents so that they can live independently for as long as possible. Often it doesn’t take much at all.
That’s what it’s about20 tips that follow now: practical ideas for age-appropriate renovations in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and hallway.Age-appropriate means low-barrier – not barrier-free and certainly not handicapped-accessible. The latter requires major modifications, such as widening doors or removing walls.
For anyone planning such more extensive measures, there is information at the end Funding opportunities through the Nursing care fund or the KfW.
Source: Stern
