Kathy's Remodeling Blog

Have wheelchair, will roll . . . in the bathroom

As you can see in this article I wrote for Remodeling Magazine, a bathroom can be both standard and then accessible for wheelchair users when they visit.

When architect Emory Baldwin designed a Seattle house for his family, he thought of all this. Though his family is young and able-bodied, he also has visiting inlaws — who may one day move in — who need an accessible environment. Imagine using a wheelchair and not being able to roll up to the sink? What a hassle.

In fact, Emory designed the entire ground floor for wheelchair accessibility.

So when the wheelchair-using relative visits, the vanity cabinet rolls out of the way on its lockable casters. The house won an AARP/NAHB Livable Communities Award for its intergenerational focus. 

Well played, Mr. Baldwin!

A new kitchen for an older woman

Outside of Charlotte, N.C., Judy Hammill moved back to the farmhouse where she grew up and that her own father built. But the kitchen was dated and would not work as Judy settled into retirement and got older.

She won a makeover from AARP and an aging-in-place specialist to make the kitchen accessible. The new kitchen includes:

• Better lighting, including under cabinet lights

• An induction stovetop for safety

• Wall oven for easy access

• Lever handles on the faucet for easier use

• Toggle switches on the switchplates

• Easy-to-pull-out drawers for pots and pans

• An inside washer and dryer (to replace the one out in a shed)

• A built-in desk area for sit-down meal preparation

• And more

See the whole story

Volunteers remodel bathroom for paralyzed teen — Knoxville News Sentinel

By this morning, Demario Cornelius will have enjoyed his first real shower in two years.

A 2008 shooting left Cornelius, 19, paralyzed and in a wheelchair - which has always been too big to fit through the door frame of the single bathroom in the house Cornelius shares with his mother, grandmother and four siblings.

And even if he could have gotten into the bathroom, it was outfitted with a bathtub he certainly couldn't have used.

So Cornelius has been limited to sponge baths and often was forced to eliminate in his bedroom, which is next to the bathroom. Many times, he relied on his grandmother, Jennie, and mother, Mary, for assistance.

That changed early this week, when a group of volunteers finished renovating the family's bathroom, putting in a door he can get through in his chair and installing a shower he can roll into.

See the whole story at www.knoxnews.com

A wheelchair-friendly remodel preserves a bungalow's 1920s character

They had identical twin boys and a baby girl on the way when Max and Tali Woodbury decided it was time to expand. Their 1½-story bungalow in the heart of Hawthorne, Ore., was fine for two adults -- including one who uses a wheelchair -- but it was far too cramped for their rapidly expanding family.

The couple's ensuing search for a one-story ranch proved fruitless -- mainly because they realized they didn't want to leave their friends, neighbors and lovely Southeast Portland home of 10 years. Hawthorne is also a dense, high-traffic neighborhood with plenty of sidewalks that are easy to negotiate for Max.

See the whole story at www.oregonlive.com

Deputy's home readied for paralyzed daughter

Photo caption: Sheriff Paul Pastor, left, and project leader Sgt. Jim Heishman, right, talk with consultant Marty Wittman on Saturday at the work site.

Less than two weeks after the daughter of a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy suffered a paralyzing car crash, friends and neighbors are building her a new place to call home.

Volunteers started construction Saturday on an addition to the home of John and Peggy Heacock, whose daughter Richelle drove off Highway 7 near Elbe on Jan. 4.

The accident left Richelle, a college athlete, paralyzed from the chest down.

See the whole story at www.thenewstribune.com

At age 80, Betty Frazier rocks her remodel

As Betty Frazier approached her 80th birthday, no one would have thought twice if she had decided to downsize her living arrangements.

Instead, the Leisure World resident did the opposite, opting to sell her one-bedroom place, move up to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit she bought in the same Laguna Woods community and embark on an all-encompassing, five-month, $45,000 remodel.

"I took off like a sail in the wind," said Betty, who used part of her savings to finance the project. By the time the remodel was complete, Betty was so pumped up, she decided to go back to work as an interior designer after an eight-year retirement.