When you create a wheelchair accessible home, you create a place for everyone. You make your home a haven for anyone and everyone, no matter the disability. You also create a valuable piece of property. 

When you think about wheelchair accessible home ideas, a ramp to the front door may immediately come to mind. However, you can do so much more than nail a ramp to your front door to make your home functional for wheelchairs as well as beautiful. 

Keep reading to learn the five best wheelchair accessible home ideas that will make your home more homey and marketable. 

1. Create a Grand Entrance

Curb appeal matters in the world of real estate. Homes with excellent curb appeal can sell for as much as seven percent more than average homes.

When you create a wheelchair accessible home, consider the first thing an individual will see. The front entrance stares buyers and guests in the face. It’s the first impression your home gives. 

Paint your door and install a wide front pathway made of flat, non-slippery concrete, allowing wheelchair-bound guests to navigate with ease. 

Eliminate any front steps to your front door. Rather create a gentle slope using wheelchair ramps that gradually move up to your front door. 

2. Handle With Care

To create an ADA-compliant home, swap out your old door knobs for lever handles. Individuals without full use of hands and arms can work the levers more easily as well as guests in wheelchairs. 

Levers alone will create a beautiful and yet accessible home design. 

3. Open It Up

Try to keep your disabled house design as open as possible. The Americans for Disabilities Act requires an entry to be at least 32 inches wide when you open the door fully. However, often designers recommend more with 36 to 42-inch openings. 

This wider design allows individuals who pilot their own wheelchairs to move with ease and avoid splitting knuckles open on the door jambs. 

4. Mind the Knees

As you consider house design, think about the height and depth of a wheelchair. For a disabled individual to maneuver sinks and countertops, you need to have your plumber install the pipes tightly against the back wall. You should also have countertops at 30 inches instead of 36-inches. 

Apply these same measurements to the office, laundry room, and any other room with cabinets and countertops. 

When you install a fridge, install a side-by-side fridge and freezer. Wheelchair users can then open the door and get what they need with ease. 

Create a low microwave cutout. Create a design so the bottom of the microwave is between 15 and 37 inches from the floor. 

Install a dining room table that has plenty of knee room and chairs you can move easily. 

All of these tweaks will create wheelchair accessible house plans that make your home a pleasure for all to visit and increase its value. 

5. Ramp It Up

You cannot have a wheel-chair compliant home and have stairs. So focus on removing small steps and replacing them with ramps. You can install beautiful, gradual-incline hardwood ramps with custom handrails to create a luxurious and beautiful look that meets code. 

Beautiful Wheelchair Accessible Home

A disability does not require an ugly home. You can create an aesthetically pleasing, wheelchair accessible home with just a few of these small tweaks. 

Are you considering selling your home? Contact us. We’d love to help you walk through the selling or buying process.