Aging-in-Place and Accessible Kitchen Design

A kitchen designed for aging in place is one you can keep using safely as strength, balance, reach and eyesight change, or after an injury, or when a parent moves in. The approach is usually called universal design: choices that work for a tall adult, a child, someone carrying a heavy pot and someone using a walker or wheelchair. Most of them cost little when they are planned into a remodel and a great deal when they are retrofitted.

What is required and what is voluntary

Two cautions. First, a home used for a licensed purpose, such as an adult family home or family home child care, or housing built with public funding, may come under other requirements. Those were not verified for this guide. If either applies to you, confirm the rules with the City of Vancouver Permit Center and the licensing agency before design starts. Second, voluntary does not mean exempt from the rest of the code. Electrical, plumbing, ventilation and structural rules apply to an accessible kitchen exactly as they do to any other.

The dimensions on this page come from the National Kitchen & Bath Association's Kitchen Planning Guidelines with Access Standards, which draw on ICC A117.1-2009. They are recommendations for a private home, not legal minimums.

Clearances and floor space

Space to move is the feature you cannot add later without moving cabinets, so settle it first.

An island often decides whether these numbers can be met. A peninsula, or no island at all, can be the more usable plan in a modest room. The kitchen islands page shows how to test the fit, and kitchen layouts compares the shapes.

Counters and work surfaces

One counter height suits one body. Aim for at least two.

• A seated work surface. A section at table height (30 inches) with open knee space below lets someone prepare food sitting down. The NKBA's knee space figure at that height is 24 inches wide by 18 inches deep per person.
• Standard-height runs for the main work areas, kept continuous between sink and cooktop so a heavy pot can slide instead of being carried.
• Rounded edges. The guidelines recommend clipped or round corners instead of sharp ones on all counters (Guideline 26). This is cheap insurance against a fall.
• Contrast. A countertop edge that differs in color from the floor and cabinets is easier to see for anyone with reduced vision. Matte finishes cut glare.
• Landing space beside every appliance, so hot or heavy things are set down immediately.

An open knee space under a sink or cooktop is possible, but exposed pipes and the underside of a cooktop get hot. If you want it, it has to be designed with protective panels and the right appliance. A removable base cabinet front is a common way to prepare for it without committing now.

Storage you can reach

The most useful storage sits between knee height and shoulder height. Put the things used every day there.

• Use deep drawers in base cabinets in place of doors and fixed shelves. Nobody should have to kneel to find a pan.
• Choose full-extension, soft-close slides that open with little force.
• Bring upper storage down: pull-down shelf mechanisms, a shelf between counter and upper cabinets, or a tall pantry with roll-outs.
• Keep a section of counter-level storage for heavy small appliances so they never need lifting.

The guide to kitchen storage and pantries compares these options in detail.

Appliance placement

Fuel choice has a safety angle as well as a cooking one. Compare the options in gas, electric or induction.

Sinks and faucets

A single-lever or touch-activated faucet works with a closed fist or the back of a hand. A pull-down sprayer fills pots on the counter. A shallower sink reduces reaching, and a sink near the cooktop shortens the distance a full pot travels. Ask your plumber about a temperature-limiting valve if scalding is a concern. More on fixtures is in sinks, faucets and plumbing.

Lighting and controls

Eyes need more light as they age, and they recover more slowly from glare. Plan for both.

• Even ambient light, with no dark corners.
• Under-cabinet task lighting on every work surface. The NKBA guideline is that every work surface should be well illuminated by task lighting.
• Diffused or shielded fixtures in place of bare points of light over glossy counters.
• Rocker switches and dimmers, placed where they can be reached without leaning over a counter.
• Low-level night lighting along the route to the kitchen.

New lighting in a remodel also has to meet the Washington State Energy Code, which requires permanently installed fixtures to use high-efficacy sources (WSEC-R R404.1). The kitchen lighting page explains the layers and the code.

Flooring and hardware

Flooring. Choose a surface that is firm, level and not slippery when wet, with a matte finish. Remove thresholds and height changes between the kitchen and adjoining rooms, since a small lip is enough to catch a toe or a walker. Resilient floors are kinder to joints and to dropped dishes than tile. Avoid loose rugs. Options are compared in kitchen flooring.

Hardware. D-shaped pulls can be opened with a hooked finger or a closed hand. Small round knobs cannot. Use lever handles on doors, and consider touch-latch or powered opening for the cabinets used most.

Plan now, add later

If no one in the house needs these features today, build in the parts that are hard to change and leave room for the rest:

1. Set aisle and doorway widths to the figures above.
2. Run flooring level through the kitchen and under removable cabinets.
3. Add wood blocking inside walls where a rail or support may be wanted.
4. Put in the wiring and switch locations for lighting you may add.
5. Choose a base cabinet or two that can be removed to create knee space.

JDI Construction designs and builds as one team, so these decisions are worked through in the 3D layout before cabinets are ordered. Tell us at the first meeting who uses the kitchen now and who may use it in ten years. Read about kitchen remodeling in Vancouver, or continue to where to start with a kitchen remodel.