Home Improvement Tips to Help You Age in Place

January 05, 2010

Baby Boomers--the post-World War II generation, 76 million strong--have always been a force to be reckoned with. With 4,000 retiring every day, Baby Boomers are having a profound impact on the home improvement industry because many of them are looking to remodeling pros to help them age in place.

Booming Home Improvement Niche

According to AARP, 84 percent of Americans aged 50 and older hope to stay in their homes as they grow older. As a result, retrofitting homes to help Americans live comfortably as they age has become an increasingly significant segment of the home improvement industry. In fact, many remodeling professionals are becoming certified, aging-in-place specialists.

Improvement Ideas

You can hire such a specialist to assess your home and help you determine what improvements to make to help you stay in your home as you grow older. Some of these home improvements might include making your home wheelchair friendly by widening doorways and remodeling bathrooms to make bathing and other daily needs easier. Improved lighting might be necessary, as well as lowering light switches and swapping out hard to open door handles and faucets with level handles. Sometimes steps are painted a bright color to make them more visible.

A Universally Designed Home

Aging in place has become such a trend in recent years that universal design, or design that is accessible to people with disabilities, is its own field of study. While it hasn't caught on in the mainstream yet, as Baby Boomers grow older, you're likely to see much more of it.