Making your kitchen easier to use (view report contents)
Getting Started
The following symbols will crop up regularly throughout this booklet. They mark quick helpful hints when planning your kitchen.
Hints for people with wheelchairs
Hints for people with limited or painful grip and reach
Hints for people with visual impairment
Hints for everyone
A well-designed kitchen makes life easier not just for older and disabled people, but for everyone who uses it.
Perhaps, you have an older or disabled person living with you. If so, one part of your home in which changing needs become all too apparent is the kitchen. Weaker muscles, stiffer joints and poorer eyesight can mean that such tasks as carrying dishes, reaching into cupboards and reading cooker controls are anything but routine. But there's plenty you can do to make life in the kitchen easier, whatever your age or disability and without having to move home.
You may be thinking about having a completely new kitchen or just making a few alterations. Whatever it is you decide to do, this booklet will help you make your kitchen easier to use. We tell you about kitchen units, worktops, appliances and equipment. We suggest some low cost gadgets which will help you with day-to-day chores. The booklet also has information on grants and organisations that can help.
Before you buy
- Decide who the kitchen is for. Do you want to plan it solely around whoever it is who's disabled? Or, will you take the needs of other family members into account?
- Plan for the future. Is your condition likely to get worse? If so, plan for it now to avoid having to spend more later.
- Think about how you use the kitchen. Will you use it just for cooking and washing up? Will you eat there? Will you do the laundry in it? Will it be used for things like reading the paper or listening to the radio?
- Work out your budget. A new kitchen can cost a great deal. Stick to what you can afford.
- You may be able to get help with some of the costs (see Money matters).
- List any problems you're having now in order of how much difficulty they cause. This will help you decide on priorities if you can't afford to change everything you want to.
- Get expert advice. See Getting advice for information organisations who can help.
Planning guidelines
Even if you're going to use a professional designer to plan your kitchen, it's a good idea to do an initial layout yourself. You'll get an idea of what may and may not be possible. Remember to mark doors, windows, radiators and other things that can't be moved without some expense.
Has continuous surfaces between hob, sink and oven. B&Q Draycott
The aim is to make your kitchen easy to use. It must be designed so that you don't have to move or carry things more than is necessary and so that everything you need is at hand. Think about how you work in the kitchen. More detailed advice on the siting and height of units and appliances is given in this booklet. But, as a general rule of thumb, a layout with an uninterrupted work sequence, in which food storage, preparation, cooking and serving areas are linked, is the most efficient.
You can buy individual bits and pieces to make your kitchen easier. If you want something more elaborate, a Specialist kitchens designer may be the answer.
Remember, people are different. Use this report to pick out the ideas that may help you.
Report Contents
Getting
Started
Topping
up the units
What’s
cooking?
Eat,
drink and be comfy
Water
power
Keeping
cool
Let
there be light
From
floor to ceiling
Money
matters
Useful
gadgets
Getting
advice
Helpful
organisations
Major
mail-order companies
Manufacturers
What
B&Q can do for you
