Lasting Impressions Home Remodeling Center, LTD
As Printed In The Suburban Journels Of North County
"The New Fifty"
Oct 2005
PHONE: (314) 837-7722 FAX (314) 837-0655
2168 N. Waterford; Florissant, Missouri 63033
The Maturing Market
Part IV
“What's Cooking?”
So far in this four-part series we’ve looked at ways to de-clutter the house, how you can make small adjustments to doorways to make it easier for you to navigate, and identified changes you will want to consider for your bathroom. Remember, all of these things have one goal in common—they’re meant to help you stay living independently longer in your own home.
Now it’s time to move into the kitchen. Whether you’re a gourmet cook or think reheating pizza is culinary challenge, you need a kitchen and it should accommodate your new mobility restrictions.
Let’s start at the very beginning—counter clutter. We need to minimize clutter so we can make some minor changes that will help temporarily. Major remodeling, however, may be necessary to enable you to stay home and eat in a healthy manner.
One thing you will want to keep on your counter is a tempered glass cutting board. These handy little items give you a place to put hot pots, chop food, they are sanitary, can be cleaned in your diswasher and they will save your countertop. There are lots of patterns to choose from so have fun shopping for this.
If standing at a counter is a problem, there are lap tables available that fit on a wheelchair and will help you with transporting and chopping food. A cabinet on wheels can also help you safely transport the food from the stove to the table. Remember, we are thinking minor, temporary changes right now.
For a short-term cooking solution, a countertop-style convection microwave oven offers you a lot of flexibility. It works like a microwave so it can warm your tea and veggies. It also functions as an oven so it can roast your meat and bake your pies!
At the sink, changing to a lever-style faucet with the sprayer built in will help simplify your life. After all, you don’t want to fight with the water sprayer every time you do dishes.
Those are small things you can do to help you get by on a short-term basis. To make cooking fun, enjoyable and safe, may require major changes. If your limited mobility is permanent, you’ll want to look at things like roll-out trays, large pots-n-pans drawer bases, pull-out trash containers, a super-lazy susan for your corner storage, pull-out pantry cabinets, and much more.
There are hundreds of products and accessories available today that are designed to increase your kitchen’s efficiency and make it easier for you to get around in it. The great thing is, while they make your kitchen more usable for you, they also make it more comfortable for other people who cook with you. It’s called universal design, which means it accommodates everyone in the family.
Universal-designed kitchens feature things like varied heights of counter tops, recessable doors under the cook top, a raised dishwasher, taller base cabinets to house your microwave, and convection single wall ovens that double your baking capacity and can be installed lower for easier access. You will also find taller toe areas to accommodate your wheel chair so you won’t nick your beautiful new wood cabinets. Also available are quartz countertops so you can cook and not worry about burning or chipping your countertop, and sinks that can be raised or lowered to allow everyone to be involved in the clean-up process.
With some modifications and using universal design techniques, cooking in your kitchen can be fun and enjoyable again! The kitchen has always been the heart of the home, the gathering room. Keep your “heart” alive. It’s possible and yes, even beautiful.
Feel free to call me at 314-837-7722 if you have any questions or comments, and if you missed the first three articles of this series or you would like a copy of them, you can find them on our articles page.
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