Where to Live the Rest of Our Lives?

NeverBored said:
When we remodeled both bathrooms 3 years ago, I kept that in mind. "Universal design" and all that. I love the bathrooms; they turned out just like I hoped, and we should be able to use them comfortably for quite a while. The main things I did were to place grab bars in the combo bath/shower and in the master shower, a full ceramic bench in our shower, small hex ceramic tile floor in our shower (extremely grippy), a hand shower as well as a fixed one, towel hooks instead of bars (much easier to use). We put in lever faucet handles and soap dispensers inset in the granite tops. Oh and lever door handles throughout the house. We're not set for wheelchair use, but that would have added a lot of expense; hopefully we won't need to do it here.
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I forgot one of my favorite Universal design bathroom items - "comfort height" toilets. Seriously - they should be everywhere. Most of us aren't 4'10".

I don't consider Universal design to be opposite to the "use it or lose it" mantra. Just common sense. I get plenty of exercise outside of the bathroom. :)
 
NeverBored said:
I forgot one of my favorite Universal design bathroom items - "comfort height" toilets. Seriously - they should be everywhere. Most of us aren't 4'10".

I don't consider Universal design to be opposite to the "use it or lose it" mantra. Just common sense. I get plenty of exercise outside of the bathroom. :)
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Ooooooooo.....taller toilets. I know what is on my Christmas wish list now! :smitten:................:D
 
NeverBored said:
When we remodeled both bathrooms 3 years ago, I kept that in mind. "Universal design" and all that. I love the bathrooms; they turned out just like I hoped, and we should be able to use them comfortably for quite a while. The main things I did were to place grab bars in the combo bath/shower and in the master shower, a full ceramic bench in our shower, small hex ceramic tile floor in our shower (extremely grippy), a hand shower as well as a fixed one, towel hooks instead of bars (much easier to use). We put in lever faucet handles and soap dispensers inset in the granite tops. Oh and lever door handles throughout the house. We're not set for wheelchair use, but that would have added a lot of expense; hopefully we won't need to do it here.

Our home isn't too large for us and is only one level. We would have to hire gardeners (DH has always done it), but we hope to do some landscaping in the next few years that will cut down considerably on upkeep. We still have a kitchen remodel ahead of us.

A small thing we changed is to install light switches with built-in nightlights in the bathrooms. Makes a huge difference for those more frequent night trips. Also put a lit switch in the hallway.
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I love your bathroom ideas and they seem unusually well thought out. I dream of having a bathroom remodel like that some day. Right now all I have out of your list is lever faucet and door handles. I don't have arthritis in my hands, but they were there when I bought my house. They don't bother me at all and I like the look, so I really like having them, just in case.

It never occurred to me that the small hex ceramic tile floors are more grippy. I do know that I love the way they feel on my feet, and that how flooring feels on my feet is a Big Deal to me for some reason.

I like your idea of having built-in nightlights in the bathrooms. Right now, I have dimmer switches and just use the regular bulbs greatly dimmed at bedtime. However, built-in nightlights make more sense in the long run.

I could get nearly anywhere in my house in a wheelchair if necessary, except through the master_bedroom/dressing_room/bathroom doors which are right next to one another. So, if I eventually re-do that part of my house to remodel the bathroom then I could tear all that out and widen those doorways at the same time.

bbbamI said:
Ooooooooo.....taller toilets. I know what is on my Christmas wish list now! :smitten:................:D
Click to expand...

Sound nice, don't they? :D Right now I have one normal height and one a little shorter. :rolleyes: I am a tall person, too.
 
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W2R said:
...(snip)...
It never occurred to me that the small hex ceramic tile floors are more grippy. I do know that I love the way they feel on my feet, and that how flooring feels on my feet is a Big Deal to me for some reason.

I like your idea of having built-in nightlights in the bathrooms. Right now, I have dimmer switches and just use the regular bulbs greatly dimmed at bedtime. However, built-in nightlights make more sense in the long run.
...
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A few comments. We have tile floors in the bathroom. Both of us always use thongs when showering. The shower is one of those "European" types with no door. We also have an oriental rug over the tile in front of the sinks. The rug has a good quality rubberized pad under it. Looks classy and is functional.

Nightlights tend to wake me up too much when I use the toilet. So DW has one of those nice LED flashlights for night excursions. We happen to have skylights so there is almost always some ambient light for me.
 
OK! It just took me a while to remember that thongs=flip-flops! My mind was getting blown there for a minute......
 
audreyh1 said:
OK! It just took me a while to remember that thongs=flip-flops! My mind was getting blown there for a minute......
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Yeah, when I'm showering I usually use shampoo and a washcloth...
 
W2R said:
I love your bathroom ideas and they seem unusually well thought out. I dream of having a bathroom remodel like that some day. Right now all I have out of your list is lever faucet and door handles. I don't have arthritis in my hands, but they were there when I bought my house. They don't bother me at all and I like the look, so I really like having them, just in case.

It never occurred to me that the small hex ceramic tile floors are more grippy. I do know that I love the way they feel on my feet, and that how flooring feels on my feet is a Big Deal to me for some reason.

I like your idea of having built-in nightlights in the bathrooms. Right now, I have dimmer switches and just use the regular bulbs greatly dimmed at bedtime. However, built-in nightlights make more sense in the long run.

I could get nearly anywhere in my house in a wheelchair if necessary, except through the master_bedroom/dressing_room/bathroom doors which are right next to one another. So, if I eventually re-do that part of my house to remodel the bathroom then I could tear all that out and widen those doorways at the same time.



Sound nice, don't they? :D Right now I have one normal height and one a little shorter. :rolleyes: I am a tall person, too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliments! Our bathrooms were 50 years old and pretty awful and I spent a lot of time researching and planning. I got wonderful ideas and help from the GardenWeb bath forum; things I would never have figured out on my own. Like how laying the floor tiles on the diagonal makes the room feel much larger, and what kind of exhaust fan is best. There were many hours spent in showrooms and warehouses, and many more hours online. We had a contractor do the work, but we bought everything ourselves. I had one Hansgrohe faucet a year ahead of time - it was what I really wanted and was discontinued; got it for a great price. I even bought some stuff on eBay, like Ginger grab bars, which I got for about 1/3 of retail, and a Restoration Hardware light fixture. One of my favorite finds was an automatic timer switch (WattStopper RT50W - White Universal Time Controlled Wall Switch | 1000Bulbs.com) for the exhaust fan that matches the light switch - six buttons for 1-60 minutes. Push the button when you get in the shower, and it goes off 30 minutes later. No more forgetting to turn it off -- we have a lot less mildew than we did before.

Here's the nightlight switch we have. Since we're in California, land of regulation, we had to comply with Title 24 residential energy code, so we have to have an occupancy sensor that will turn the lights off after 30 minutes of non-occupancy. Watt Stopper - Legrand RS150BANW - Vacancy Sensor Wall Switch with Nightlight - White | 1000Bulbs.com

Now if I can do as well when we remodel the kitchen....
 
audreyh1 said:
OK! It just took me a while to remember that thongs=flip-flops! My mind was getting blown there for a minute......
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I never heard that eqiuvalence before (slippers, yes, thongs no). I was stuck with an awkward image until I read down through the thread. Oddly, the mental image was a sexy one -- not what we old pharts would actually look like in thongs. :)
 
I really don't look that bad with just wearing thongs (flip-flops) but would never claim to be sexy at my age. :cool:

Maybe I should post a picture? Ha, dream on.
 
Except for the toilets which are not handicap friendly, my place is perfect for living till old age sets in. The condo has a large podium which is wheel chair friendly, concierge service at the club house to handle laundry and housekeeping, security service which is very good - I call them even when I mistakenly lock myself out of my door. I just hope the place is still as well maintained when I am older, otherwise may move to a newer establishment with similar facilities.
 
Nords said:
Well, since you're an artist, I'd have to ask whether this would be oil or latex...
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Neither, but here is a picture by (not so) popular demand of LSBCAL naked in his thongs:



1zl62y0.jpg
 
There's something just so wrong about wearing rubbah slippahs indoors!
 
Nords said:
There's something just so wrong about wearing rubbah slippahs indoors!
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Bought at Target because I'm cheap with this stuff. And they don't slip any even though they're slippahs (flip-flops, thongs, etc.).
 
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