Universal Design and
Aging in Place
A Home Built Around Your Needs
MorningStar Homes works hard to provide comfortable, practical homes for homeowners with disabilities or for those who want the ability to “age in place” in their dream home. Collectively, this movement goes by many names, including Aging in Place and Universal Design. MorningStar Homes has made it a mission to become as knowledgeable as we can about this area and are proud to say that we have begun to incorporate many new ideas into our homes to address these needs.
Working in collaboration with Barbara Lile, our interior designer and CAPS-designated specialist (formerly Certified Aging in Place Specialist), we identify and address any specific client needs for Aging in Place or Universal Design. Most Universal design features, however, are just practical designs for all of life’s unknown future needs. This fact makes Universal Design good for everyone to consider when building a new home.
If you have a disability or are planning to retire in your new home, we would love to go over all the small ways you can make your home more livable for longer.
Common Design Features:
- Zero-threshold showers
- Proper door sizes and toilet heights
- Wider hallways
- Levers on door knobs and plumbing faucets
- Elevator shafts built into floor plan design in order to accommodate a future elevator
- Vertical lift platforms for small height increases, such as garage entry steps
- Reinforced shower walls for future grab bars
- Reinforced stairwells for future chair lifts