The Patz McMillan Team

Design make-overs are all the rage on television and in print, but few have tackled one of the most important reasons we love our homes. Whether it's a condominium, a house or apartment, your home is an expression of your sense of personal independence.

When you redecorate or renovate your home for any life-enhancing reason, add "preservation of individual independence" to your list for long-lasting impact. Currently, magazines and TV home improvement shows -- the major home improvement inspirations -- ignore the potential for imbedding universal design principles in every project.

Six in 10 Canadian homeowners are planning to renovate within the next two years and 41 per cent will do so within the next 12 months, according to a recent survey from RBC Financial Group. One third of the renovators say they will spend C$10,000 or more on the project even though almost half expect to carry out the majority of the renovations themselves. With these considerable investments of time and money, it is surprising that the majority of homeowners will not automatically include universal design features that would increase their long-term use of the property and their overall comfort.

"That renovation spending has almost doubled in seven years from C$20 billion to C$38.5 billion speaks volumes about how much Canadians are willing to spend on their homes to keep them either running well or looking good," said RBC's Chris Barber, senior manager of Home Equity Financing in reference to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation August 2004 Renovation Forecast. "Whether the reason for renovating is about basic maintenance, increasing resale value or just keeping up with the Joneses, homeowners need to plan ahead and consider all the costs involved before undertaking a new project."

Although the most popular home improvement is adding new floors and repainting, here are a few independence-enhancing design and decorating ideas that can be easily incorporated into a home improvement project or built into a new house or condominium:

• Non-skid flooring in wet-floor areas: kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, entrance halls;
• Lever-handled taps on sinks and tubs in bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room;
• Lever-handled hardware on front and back doors;
• Handrails on stairways;
• Good lighting on stairways, in upper hall and on porches;
• Wider door ways and no steps between rooms;
• Easy-access kitchen drawers, lower shelving, pivoting corner shelves and vertical pantries or cupboards;
• Recessed toe space at the bottom of kitchen and bathroom base cabinets;
• Built-in ovens and cook top with heat-resistant counter top;
• Exhaust fan, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in kitchen and key areas;
• Main-floor bedroom with ensuite;
• Walk-in bathtub or shower in a main-floor bathroom and grab bars and tilting mirrors in all bathrooms;
• Push pad or rocker type light switches throughout the house;
• Built-in drop-down ironing board in the laundry room;
• Repaired or replaced upper-floor windows that open easily and could double as a fire exit.

The axiom that states "We are all temporarily able" makes a great case for universal design. This school of interior and exterior planning stresses design that makes life easier and safer for everyone regardless of their age or physical strength. Universal design gives particular freedom to Canadians living with disabilities.