Aging in place

Now that we are both in our 60's, we are thinking through our choices in life.  One of those is where to live. 

Our current home is one story and fairly near where we work.  Family lives nearby.  We have already lived in our house for 27 years and decided to live the rest of our years there as well.

We decided to change our house to accommodate ourselves as we age.  The first room to think about is the bathroom.

Our original bathroom was gold and white.

The shower was in the bathtub.

This bathroom was transformed into a laundry room.  The sink is in the same place as before.  We considered saving the cabinet too, but the continuous shelf works better as a folding table.

The washer and dryer were relocated to where the bathtub was.  A rack near the washer holds hangers for line dry items.

There is more drying space over the folding table and space beneath for a laundry basket and wastebasket.  We kept the existing closet in this room for the sundries that collect in a hard working room like this.

 Next door was the smallest bedroom in the house, the perfect size for our new bathroom.

We used this room as a study.  I hated the Kelly green carpet, but the view of my garden through the double window was a nice feature.

On the other side of the room was a closet.

With the closet removed, the bathroom is deeper, a generous size.  The cabinet on the right has large drawers that hold our towels and cosmetic items too.  The half wall on the left is the doorless curbless shower.  Grab bars double as a towel bars for now.

The toilet is higher than normal and the bathtub is long and wide.  Infirm people can sit on the end and swing their legs around to slide in.

The floor tiles are rough and non-slip.  The floor below is heated and turned on each morning by a timer, which is much appreciated during cold weather.

There is no door to the shower, but the half wall provides sufficient privacy.  The glass keeps the heat in.  There is a rain shower and a hand held one as well. We did not expect to enjoy the rain shower as much as we do.

The giant mirror over the sink is back lighted to reduce shadows.  LED lights beneath the sink cabinet act as a night light.  There are overhead lights as well, but these more subtle lights are what we use the most.

We enjoyed working with the architect and the builder Pearl and Brent Arnold.  The architect paid close attention to what we wanted.  She was sensitive to my taste.  The builder and his subcontractors were very capable. The project came in on time and under budget.  The bathroom is beautiful and functions well.  It does not get much better than that.