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Accommodating Homes

November 9, 2012 By creatingyourspace Leave a Comment

The desire for a lovely home for homeowners and their family is important, but equally important is a home that can accommodate certain requirements.

For people in wheelchairs, there are requirements that can make a home work well. Basic elements such as halls and doorways wide enough to allow for wheelchairs to pass through are a must.  Open floor plans often help provide the space for wheelchairs to maneuver among furniture and architectural elements.

Flooring is also important. The best choice is tile for a number of reasons. First, the smooth surface makes it easy to move through a home in a wheelchair. The sturdy nature of tile also means that it will hold up under some potentially rougher than usual traffic. Finally, it’s one of the easier materials to maintain.

Kitchens and bathrooms require some special consideration. They have to be large enough to handle a wheelchair, include a shower with easy access and toilet that is set higher. A lower sink with space underneath works well, and drawer storage is obviously better than a traditional medicine cabinet.

For a kitchen, upper cabinets are not particularly useful, although most homes include them. Plenty of lower cabinet or open shelf space within reach from a sitting position is critical. Having a prep/work surface at table level will make fixing meals much easier, and a faucet with a pull-out spray helps with cleaning up.

Today’s designers and home suppliers are addressing the needs of people with wheelchairs. If this is a concern for you or a member of your family, let us know if you would like more information.

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Filed Under: Kitchen & Bath, Tile & Stone Tagged With: a home everyone can function in, accessible storage, accessing home storage, bathrooms, home accommodations, home functionality, home space, Kitchen, storage, suitable home for a wheelchair, wheelchair accessible homes, wheelchairs in a home

Home Office Storage

November 30, 2011 By creatingyourspace Leave a Comment

When you work from home, it’s smart to set up your own location for basic office supplies. You can buy a simple two-door cabinet like this one, or add shelves and doors to a closet so that you’re able to recreate this type of storage space.

Before you set up your cabinet, choose a location with hard even flooring like the one in this photo, and then use a level and shims to make sure that the cabinet is even. This will keep the doors from falling closed or open and keep your supplies in place.

It makes sense to limit your choices so that you don’t have to use up too much space. Think of your office basics. To start, what do you need for your computer and printer? You may want to buy a case of paper because it’s less expensive than buying it by the 500-sheet ream. Ink in an ink-jet printer often runs out without warning, so it’s a good idea to have an extra set of color and black and white ink cartridges.

Make a list of supplies that you use regularly, and those that could cause trouble or inconvenience if you ran out of them unexpectedly. Add to that list those items that are less expensive if bought in bulk. Now you have a good start.

To avoid unnecessary clutter, look for a few boxes or containers to hold things such as paper clips, staples, pens and other small items. Don’t overcrowd the shelves so that you can keep track of materials easily. If you want, place a small clipboard or notepad on the inside of one door to write down a shopping list when you use up your extra supplies or start running low.

While a cabinet like this may take some time and effort to set up, your office supplies will then be permanently under control with very little additional effort on your part.

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Filed Under: Hints & Tips, Inspiration Tagged With: closet as supply storage, DIY supply closet, home office, home office organization, keeping your home office stocked, office storage, storage

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