We were very interested today to see a spread of accessible home design in the New York Times -- and of course we were most interested in the kitchens. Accessible in this case means accessible to the elderly, those with impaired abilities, and others who might find conventional design ill-equipped for them. Here are a few of the ideas mentioned in the piece -- and we find most of them to be very good ideas for contemporary kitchen design in all sorts of homes.
The Times featured two homes that have been made very accessible and user-friendly. The first is in France, and was designed for Jean-Yves Prodel, who lives alone and uses a wheelchair. The other is in the Rockies, and it's a showplace home for Cynthia Leibrock, who designed it to accomodate aging and the challenges of limited mobility that come along with it.
What struck us, though, is that these user-friendly homes, designed to accomodate those with a limited range of motion or physical capacity, actually have some great features for anyone building a new kitchen. Here are a few of the things that really stood out to us.
• In Prodel's kitchen he had the countertops lowered to just 32" high, which he says are better for "children, the elderly, the disabled, and just about everyone who is not six and a half feet tall." I personally love this, since I am quite short and find the average countertop at a poor height for good chopping leverage and other kitchen work. I also like the idea of keeping countertops at a friendlier height for children.
• Prodel also uses one-touch appliances that let him easily make coffee and bake cakes and roast chickens. This made me think twice about dismissing "smart" appliances, or gadgets that seem overly simplified. Appliances that seem like a unitasker or superfluous to me might actually be quite helpful for a cook with disabilities.
• In Ms. Leibrock's kitchen there are pull-down shelves that let you easily bring high shelves down within reach. Again, as a short person, I love this. I don't want to wait until I'm 75 to implement this!
• Induction cooktops are a great thing in accessible kitchens; since they don't get hot they are safer for everyone to use.
• See the whole slideshow here: User-Friendly Design at The New York Times
Related: London Kitchen Spotlight: Tim Sloan's Box of Tricks
Images: Kevin Moloney and Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
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When my Mother re-did her kitchen, she kept the countertops at standard height, but dropped the work surface of the island/bar a few inches, because my whole family is SHORT. I never really appreciated the difference it made until I moved out, and now I have to cope with work surfaces that are either waaaay to high, or too low (like the kitchen table).
I LOVE the pull down cabinets, too.
Deleriumsama - I have the exact opposite problem. When I moved into my new place due to some weird structural stuff on one side of the kitchen the countertop is about 3" higher than standard. It's bliss. As a tall person I never knew you could chop something without getting a backache from hunching over.
It's nice to see this!
There are plenty of challenges for the disabled, outside of the home, being able to come home and spend time with the family, comfortably, in the kitchen has got to be so enjoyable.
Universal design is something to think about in any kitchen design--rehab or new construction. Do you have a bad back? Then install a wall oven or a dishdrawer to prevent having to bend over. Make the countertops higher or lower as other commentators point out.
These are great houses. Beautifully and thoughtfully designed.
I wish I had pull-down shelves! I'm of average height and I still can't reach half my cabinet space without a stepladder.
I thought Mr. Prodel's house looked absolutely lovely and functional. I would love to move right in.
The other house, completely, utterly ridiculous, ill-conceived, and....hello bad 80's architecture and decor? I mean please...chromatherapy...whatever. But that stupid eighty bajillion dollar chromatherapy bathtub? WTF does that have to do with universal design? GIVE ME A BREAK. And there are just no words for how stupid those uselessly narrow sinks on either side of the steam oven are. Too much money, too little sense, and not very relevant to the point of the article, IMO.