The living space in a senior's apartment - a large living room, arranged in a separate room or a small relaxation area in a studio apartment, tucked between the hall and the bedroom zone - must be safe, functional, comfortable. It should also help you relax in your own company, incl. development of passions, as well as enabling spending time with relatives or friends. Therefore, giving it high utility values, you should also take care of its cozy, home-like character.
Contents:
- Living space in a senior apartment - hall
- Living space in a senior apartment - living room
- Living space in a senior apartment - leisure furniture
- Living space in a senior apartment - RTV equipment
- Living space for a senior - dining room
Living space in a senior apartment - hall
Like every hall, the one designed with the senior citizen in mind must allow you to comfortably flatten yourself or get dressed before going out. A hanger at a height adjusted to the user's posture is indispensable here, so that even reaching the shelves for headgear does not require any exercise.
Another solution may be a pantograph hanger, with a bar that is conveniently (thanks to a hydraulic lift) lowered and raised to reach for a jacket or hang up a coat. This type of device also facilitates the arrangement of the interior - it helps to use the upper parts, which are less accessible in the usual way.
The way of storing shoes, especially in a senior's apartment, should not force you to bend down frequently. Here, the answer to the needs of users may turn out to be the so-called a revolving shoe cabinet, a kind of very shallow hinged rack with a large mirror mounted on the back side.
After closing, such a cabinet allows you to see, while the open one shows a series of shelves, of which centrally located are used to store more frequently used shoes, and the lowest and highest ones - less worn and seasonal shoes. To help keep things tidy, a drip tray should be placed in the hall - to put away wet shoes to dry. A container for umbrellas will also be useful, also with a drainer - preferably easy to remove and empty from the water.
In the senior's hall must also befind a bench that will make it easier to change shoes. It can be a chest (additional storage space), a free-standing stool or a tilting seat (this will not take up space; however, you need to make sure that the spring mechanism does not require the use of force).
You should not forget to place a shoehorn in the hall, preferably two - a short one (to be used when changing shoes while sitting, e.g. with laced or fastened models) and a long one (to be used in a standing position - for pull-on shoes).
If the space of the apartment allows it, in the hall it is worth placing at least a small wardrobe for storing coats that are worn less frequently. For hygiene reasons, jackets or coats should not be placed in the same wardrobe as clothes worn directly on the body. Such a solution will also relieve a wardrobe or a chiffonier usually found in a bedroom. In order for the furniture not to take up too much space, it is worth choosing a wardrobe with sliding doors.
Living space in a senior apartment - living room
A living room in a senior's apartment must be functional, but no less beautiful - or properly corresponding to the main user's sense of aesthetics. The character of the decor, the choice of colors or the way of displaying subjectively important elements is to be decided by the inhabitant.
Of course, possible options should be presented, you can also recommend certain arrangement moves, but in no case arbitrarily decide on every detail. However, it is worth presenting available (also very modern or even innovative) functional solutions for the individual needs or expectations of users.
You have to start from scratch, i.e. with a floor that must not pose a risk of slipping, and at the same time must be easy to keep clean. There are guides that suggest replacing carpets with carpet flooring. Indeed, it is impossible to slip on a carpet, and in the case of a small carpet on a varnished parquet or boards, this can happen.
The carpet is susceptible to stains, however, so you need to take into account not only spilled wine, as in the advertisement of upholstery washing liquids, but also, for example, vortices, and if less thoroughly vacuumed, it can become a hotbed of dust and allergens.
For this reason, a hard floor seems to be a better solution than a carpet (boards, parquet, so-called Barlinek board, panels, also vinyl floors imitating wood). Of course, you can unfold a rug on it, as long as it has a gummed bottom, or an additional stabilizing mat that will hold it in place. Impractic althere is, however, sticking the carpet to the floor.
What should you pay attention to when arranging a living room for a senior? Including on the solidity of the furniture (material, quality of processing, durability of joints, resistance of the finish to typical cleaning methods). You should also look at their form - are the corners rounded and the edges softened?
The soft lines of the furniture are not only more pleasing to the eye, but also safer in the event of a trip or fall. Doors of cabinets or cabinets and drawers should be equipped with easily visible (contrasting in color) and comfortable handles, and on the other hand - with closing modules, which also reduce the risk of pinching your fingers and prevent slamming. At the same time, it is worth making efforts to ensure easy access to all furniture.
Sometimes the thinness of space makes you, for example, move the armchair away to open a wardrobe or a cupboard. In such a situation, the solution may be furniture with sliding doors (less models on wheels, which in the case of an elderly person or with motor problems do not provide the desired support).
You also need to pay attention to the stability of the furniture. Contemporary chests of drawers, low cabinets and high bookcases are not as massive as their predecessors from one hundred or more years ago. In order to provide a safe support in the event of a temporary loss of balance, they should be attached to the wall. How?
Usually, two screws (four for tall furniture) that will pass through the back of the wardrobe or chest of drawers are enough for this. In order for them to do their job well, it is worth placing a wide steel washer under the screw head (the back of the furniture is usually made of soft materials, such as fibreboard, which are easy to knead). The type of screw itself, its length and the type of dowel should be matched to the type of walls in the apartment - the service of a hardware store or DIY store will help.
Living space in a senior apartment - leisure furniture
The basis for furnishing a living room in a senior apartment should be comfortable lounge furniture. Their height and depth should be selected according to the stature of the inhabitants; first of all, they should not be too spacious, so that the person sitting on the couch or armchair does not feel like collapsing. The appropriate sizes are those when the comfortably seated user has a firmly supported back and head, the feet touch the floor along their entire length, and the knees are slightly elevated (the thighs are not pressed against the upholstery, thanks to which blood circulation in the legs is not impeded).
For similar reasons, but mainly for the sake of easy getting up and getting up, it is better to choose furniture for a senior's living room that is slightly harder than quite soft. Personsmore mature and older, they generally feel more at ease when sitting in an armchair, not on a multi-person couch.
Thing, incl. in the standard proportions of both types of furniture, but also in the armrests, which make it easier to get up - especially after prolonged standstill. A good choice for elderly people, as well as for younger people with reduced mobility, is a standing chair - seemingly an ordinary chair, which in fact has the features of rehabilitation equipment.
Thanks to the built-in motor and the mechanism controlling the position of the footrest and the backrest, it allows the user to assume a lying, reclining, sitting or, as the name suggests, vertical position (tilts forward to assist getting up).
When buying new or renovating existing furniture, pay attention to the ease of keeping the upholstery clean. More and more fabrics in various styles have increased stain resistance, and are also suitable for washing both at home and with professional devices (washing equipment can be rented, although the call of a specialist usually turns out to be a little more expensive). These issues are important not only in terms of aesthetics and hygiene, but also the well-being of the senior.
Leisure furniture should be accompanied by the so-called occasional tables - i.e. changing places and specific functions depending on the circumstances. It is better to choose a set of several small ones than one large one, especially when we are dealing with a couple of seniors or even an elderly person who lives alone, but leads a lively family or social life.
It is important that the tables are not too low (at least 60 cm instead of the standard 50 cm high today) - they cannot force you to bend down for a cup and saucer, a book or a remote control. A useful gadget may be an organizer placed on the arm of an armchair or sofa, serving as a permanent place for a remote control and a TV program.
Living space in a senior apartment - RTV equipment
The axis of the living room of modern 60-, 70- and 80-year-olds is usually the TV set. Therefore, it is worth placing it so that it is clearly visible from as much area of the living space as possible. Of course, the relationship between the screen and the window is an important issue - strong sunlight makes it difficult to see. As not only the image, but also the sound (RTV equipment is more and more often integrated), pay attention to the arrangement of the speakers.
Hard of hearing people get irritated when the voice from the TV does not reach them, when they go out for tea for a while, while the environment often suffers when solutions to this type of problem are sought in increasing the volume.
Crucial to the case (if left asideissues of improving the quality of hearing) is to arrange the speakers in such a way that they distribute the sound most effectively around the living space. Acoustic panels made of felt or wood can also be a support, as they remove noise and, as a result, make it easier to hear key sounds.
As a problem also for young people is the multitude of remote controls (for TV, set-top box, DVD player plus a separate set for the stereo system), it is worth paying attention to the possibility of combining the management functions of several devices in one remote control - it is often possible , it only requires reading the manual or seeking information on the equipment manufacturer's website.
Note, however, you cannot overdo it the other way - the course of action must always be the simplicity of use of the equipment. A remote control with hundreds of tiny, poorly visible buttons with illegible captions will create rather than solve problems.
Living space for a senior - dining room
The living space in a senior's apartment will not be without a dining room. It doesn't have to be a separate room, of course - it's usually an inaccessible luxury. In the living room, or in the kitchen, or at the junction of these two zones (when the kitchen is open to the living room or when there is a small kitchenette in the living room), there should be a comfortable table.
It does not have to be large (even a square one is enough for 4 people on a daily basis), but it should be easily and slightly unfolded to at least 6 people (or more, if the habits of the inhabitant or residents so suggest).
A good solution, but rather for a more spacious apartment, may also be a 6-person table in the living room, and a 4-person table from the same series in the kitchen. After combining both, there will be a place for 8 people.
It is good when the table for the senior's apartment is light (so that it is not effortless to move it if necessary, and it does not risk scratching the floor), but it is stable. Our ally in this area is the fashion for Scandinavian design on the one hand, and Polish post-war design on the other.
These two aesthetics are connected, among others, by the tendency to use widely spaced legs in furniture, thanks to which both large tables and small tables become less overturning. It is important that it has a water-resistant top - laminated or covered with a varnish of increased resistance. In the case of traditional furniture, an oilcloth hidden under the tablecloth may be the solution.
In order for a senior's apartment - usually not too large - to not become cluttered, it is worth choosing chairs carefully. The ones used most often, incl. with everyday meals, they should, above all, be comfortable and easy to keep incleanliness (with stain-resistant upholstery, and even better - with a cover or pillow that can be washed in a washing machine).
Others, used occasionally, must, in turn, be easy and convenient to store. They can be folded or better stackable (ie designed to be inserted into each other and, for example, a set of 6 chairs to be stored vertically); the latter are generally more comfortable than popular folding chairs.