Aging‑in‑place Home Renovation

If you're planning to stay in your current home as you grow older, often called aging in place, you'll need to consider what it's like to move around the house as a 70-, 80- or 90-year old, for example, and what you can do to make things easier on yourself in the years to come.

Stairs, chunky transition strips, and showers with steep ledges might be second-nature now, but down the line, they'll be more challenging to navigate.

Whether you're planning a renovation now and want it to last for the long haul, making some simple changes and swaps throughout your home, or helping a parent or grandparent, you might be wondering where to begin with aging-in-place modifications. And HGTV's Cole and Cheslea DeBoer, construction and design pros, and hosts of Down Home Fab, have some advice.

Meet the DeBoers

Cole and Chelsea DeBoer, based in South Dakota, are the husband-and-wife hosts of Down Home Fab where they renovate homes for clients. They own a home decor store and construction business called Down Home By DeBoers in Tea, South Dakota, a suburb of Sioux Falls. In season three, episode three of their show, they renovated an home with accessible features for a veteran with limited mobility.

"Every time we go into a project, I'm like, 'How can we make this easier for people now?" Chelsea says. "And then it's also going to be easier for them long-term."

Chelsea and Cole note that there are a lot of small details to factor in for one room in particular, the kitchen, and it's one they highly recommend prioritizing if you're thinking about aging-in-place upgrades.

The First Room You Should Update for Aging in Place

"I would say when you think about transforming a space for the long-term, think of the areas you spend the most time in," Cole says. "We're in the kitchen probably more than anywhere else."

Here are some kitchen upgrades you can prioritize for better aging in place and day-to-day ease.

Keep walkways clear and wide. "Go wider than you think you'd want to just because you'll never regret that," Chelsea says. "You never know what's going to happen down the road in kitchen."

Make hardware changes. Although widening walkways might require some demo (or replacing your kitchen island), there's one easy no-demo swap everyone can make. Chelsea recommends using elongated pulls on cabinets and drawers; they're are easier to grip than small round knobs—as are lever-style knobs for interior doors.

Go for drawers rather than cabinets. "In your kitchen, if you have cabinets and they're deep set, it can be really hard to reach the back," Chelsea says. "Having drawers that just pull out is something that I think people don't necessarily think about."

Make sure your appliances are up-to-date. It's not necessarily easy or fun to move a heavy appliance (or coordinate appliance repair) at any age, but the older you get, the harder this will become, Cole notes. Make sure your kitchen appliances last you for the long haul.

Other Aging-in-Place Upgrades to Make

Once you've tackled the kitchen, move on to the bathroom, then the bedroom, the DeBoers recommend. Here are some other aging-in-place details they recommend factoring in if you plan to stay in your home for decades to come.

Don't pick the trendiest sofa. Low-profile furniture looks cool, but it might not be the most practical choice.

"I'm 37, and it's hard for me sometimes to get up and down," Cole adds. "So think of a good furniture height that works for you."

Consider flooring carefully. "If you're going to change your flooring out, make sure it makes sense for your life, whether you have a bunch of young kids, if it's constantly a high-traffic area, if you have a lot of people over, or, say, you're using a walker," Cole says. "You want that floor that's going to get beat up all the time to last."

Stay away from anything that gets too slippery, he adds.

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