Any kitchen designer worth their weight always starts the initial planning meeting trying to determine what the client enjoys doing in their kitchen. Does one family member do the majority of the cooking or is it a shared family activity? Are family meals gourmet or quickly prepared? Do you eat in the kitchen, and if so do you prefer an island, bar or table? Is the kitchen the family gathering place for homework, projects and “hanging out”?

Accessible Kitchen Designers Take Preference into Account
Nowhere is this more critical than with accessible kitchen designs. Although designers have many guidelines to work with, from ADA compliance requirements to Universal Design schematics, these should not replace the critical question…what do you love and want to be able to do in your kitchen?

About a year ago, I began working with a wonderful, dynamic couple that had lived and traveled around the world and were now focused on renovating their outdated kitchen to match the rest of their beautiful home. Barbara and John always shared a passion for cooking and eating fine food, and were not going to let the fact that Barbara is a wheelchair user take away these pleasures.

Creating Accessibility
We determined that 25” was the perfect work surface height for Barbara to be able to comfortably stir and chop. That pretty much meant the principal workstation could not sit on top of a cabinet, so we decided on a center island. The only challenge was that is also where the family enjoys gathering for light meals. Our solution was to create a dual height island maintaining a comfortable eating height while at the same time accommodating the custom 25” workstation.

Our next challenge was to figure out how Barbara could get her wheelchair under the cook-top to continue to prepare her beloved omelets and hearty homemade soups. An adjustable height cook-top seemed the perfect solution. Rigged with a relatively simple lift mechanism, the cook-top can go up and down to allow Barbara to wheel her chair underneath and have access to all the burners. We finished it off by installing a safety hinge that immediately stops the lift mechanism should it ever get too low and touch Barbara’s legs.

Charming Accessible Details
Finally, it was the dozens of little details that ended up making the kitchen work. We selected some really chunky and fun cabinet and drawer handles that are easy for Barbara to manipulate. We shopped around until we found the perfect sink that was large enough for a soup pot but shallow enough so Barbara has easy access. The door to the Lazy-Suzan cabinet for pots and pans was designed to fold away inside the cabinet, making it easy for Barbara to maneuver around and gain easy access to the contents.

Barbara and John are enjoying what they love, cooking and eating gourmet meals. What they wanted to be able to do in their kitchen dictated the design and layout, not standardized guidelines and ADA compliance requirements. And that is simply why the kitchen works!

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Contemplating renovations on your home? If so, see Thinking Bigger: Making an Accessible Home Out of a Small House.

Before you let contractors remodel your home, read Accessible Home Remodeling? Check the Contract Carefully.