While our family prepares for the festive activities of the holiday season, my husband has just undergone knee surgery that will require the use of crutches for the next several weeks.  The thoughts of his limited mobility and the effect on all of us, left me thinking about one aspect of housing that so many of us tend to overlook when buying a home.  How well equipped is our home to aid his recovery?

In our case, the master bedroom and most living areas are downstairs.  Fortunately in Rutherford County, there appears to be an ample supply of homes with at least one bedroom located on the first floor.  We often associate downstairs bedrooms with “older” homeowners, but the reality is that residents of any age will benefit from this feature.  Chances are that many of us will be temporarily inconvenienced at an early age with difficulty climbing stairs. 

But the downstairs bedroom issue looms even larger when we consider caring for aging parents.  You might find it beneficial if building a custom home, or even looking for the perfect resale, to choose a design with more than one bedroom located on the first floor.  Ideally this option would provide you with greater flexibility in the future if one of more members of the household has difficulty with navigating stairs.  However, you will find fewer choices when looking for a plan with two or more bedrooms on the main level.  Lot sizes and construction costs make it difficult and more expensive to build.

Another thought worth considering, is the future adaptability of your home to meet certain requirements of the American Disabilities Act.  Basically, by following some of the ADA’s guidelines, you could make your home more accessible and convenient for future living.  It should not add significantly to the cost of your home to think ahead and oversize most doorways to accommodate a future wheelchair.  With a little more foresight, you might even oversize some areas of your bathroom and reinforce that walls to allow for future installation of grab bars and other support.

So far, we’ve focused only on the bedroom issues.  But with my husband on crutches for the next six weeks, our challenges are even greater.  Both our home offices and game room are located on the second floor.  On a temporary basis he’ll have to work from the downstairs kitchen and won’t be able to watch football or movies on the big screen.  I’m betting that he’ll in a few days that he’ll learn to climb stairs on crutches, but even that represents somewhat of a safety concern.

Most of us struggle just to keep up with today, but sometimes it’s good to think and plan ahead.  For the moment at least, we would be better suited to a home with all bedrooms on the first floor.  How about you?

Originally posted December 21, 2008