Universal Design Principles & Trends to Consider for Living in Place Kitchens
Hello readers! In my blog in week two, I introduced the topic of universal design principles – a key element of living in place design. The seven principles guide practice for interior designers like myself and actually anyone who wishes to achieve living in place home modifications without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Today I’ll focus in more detail on two principles - (1) Equitable Use and (2) Flexibility in Use.
Equitable Use
Put into practice, the resulting design of a living-in-place space should be useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities. In a kitchen, a good example of applying equitable use for food preparation would include having countertops of varying heights – 36” for standing tasks, 28” to 32” for activity while seated that could be used by various family members.
This kitchen features varying surface heights for dining and food preparation and flexible seating
Flexibility in Use
Nobody is the same as another person. Flexible design recognizes and features products that are customizable to a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. For example, kitchen shears that are designed to be used by either left or right-handed individuals illustrates this very practical principle.
Never before have there been more, more and even more features to think about when wanting to improve our kitchens. New appliance offerings, multiple countertop and tile options, storage needs, the desire for more “open and adjacent room” space planning, etc.
What to do when your kitchen doesn’t work for you anymore?
It can all feel a bit overwhelming when taking on a remodeling project. When you add in the desire for your new kitchen to follow universal design practice, it may feel even more of a monumental task. But it doesn’t have to. As your design professional, I will touch on a few universal kitchen design space planning ideas and some product options to consider:
Maneuverability is a key consideration. “Open concept” kitchen layouts are very popular, are generally defined by the kitchen (with no walls and open sightlines) and adjacent rooms such as a family room, dining room, etc. “open” to one another. It’s important to have enough space to not only support the tasks associated with food preparation, serving and cleaning but also have enough clearance room for potential walkers, wheelchairs, multiple cooks and helpers, etc. Aisle space between cabinets should minimally have 42” and ideally 48”. For wheelchair users, a turning space of 60” is highly recommended.
Cabinets:
Corner base – for easier access select lazy susan cabinets, or ones that feature pivot out systems. Add LED lighting inside the cabinet and you won’t have to “search and hunt” for out-of-sight and reach items.
Handles (Hardware) – use pulls that don’t catch or snag on clothes. “C” and “D” shape ones are good choices to consider.
Sink cabinets – This cabinet is the most used one in homes. Consider a base cabinet that includes a fully sliding recessed door option. Position plumbing as far back as possible to allow for potential seating at the sink.
Drawers & Pull Out Trays versus Doors – Base cabinets with pull out drawers and/or trays are more accessible to reach and it’s also easier see what’s at the very back.
Countertops: Quartz surfaces are very popular and understandably so since they are durable, easy to keep clean, have anti microbic options, can mimic the look of natural stone, and offer a range of finish options including honed and matte surfaces.
Flooring: Opt for hard surface flooring. Luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and luxury vinyl (LV) planks provide the look and feel of hardwood without the maintenance requirement needs. Large format size porcelain tiles are also a good choice.
Courtesy of Elkay Sinks
Courtesy of Omega Cabinets
That’s all for now – tune in next week when I will address budgetary considerations for kitchen and bath remodels. An investment of funds for sure – but is it really worth it?
Have a good week and stay safe!