When homeowners think about accessibility, they often imagine major renovations undertaken because someone in the household has developed a mobility limitation. Doorways are widened, ramps are installed, bathrooms are modified and other changes are made in response to an immediate need.
There is another way to approach the subject.
Many of the features that make a home easier for someone with limited mobility also make the home more comfortable and practical for everyone else. A no-step entrance is helpful to someone using a wheelchair, but it is also convenient when carrying groceries, pushing a stroller or moving furniture. Lever-style door handles are easier for someone with limited hand strength, but they are equally useful when your hands are full. Better lighting, safer flooring and an intelligently designed bathroom can benefit people at virtually every stage of life.
This is the principle behind universal design: creating environments that can be used by people with different ages and abilities and that can adapt as those needs change. CMHC describes universal design as a forward-looking approach that can help homes respond to changing circumstances while reducing the need for expensive renovations later.
For homeowners, that creates an opportunity to think about accessibility differently. Instead of waiting until a change in circumstances makes a renovation necessary, accessibility can become one of the considerations incorporated into ordinary renovation, purchasing and long-term property planning.
A Home Has to Work Through Different Stages of Life
The way we use a home changes considerably over time. A young couple may eventually have children. Children grow into teenagers and young adults. Parents or grandparents may join the household. Someone may temporarily experience an injury or reduced mobility, and homeowners who expect to move eventually may instead decide that they would prefer to remain in their community as they age.
The physical house, however, does not automatically change with the people living in it.
A home with bedrooms only on the second floor, narrow doorways, several steps at every entrance and bathrooms that cannot easily be modified may work perfectly well for its occupants today while becoming considerably more difficult to use later.
This does not mean every house needs to be completely accessible from the beginning. It means homeowners planning significant renovations should consider whether the decisions they are making today preserve options for tomorrow.
That is where adaptability becomes particularly valuable.
Think About Flexibility Before Removing It
One of the recommendations in the original version of this article was to keep floor plans flexible, and I think that advice deserves considerably more explanation.
Open-concept renovations can be attractive, but removing rooms or substantially changing a floor plan can sometimes eliminate useful future options. A main-floor office or den, for example, might eventually serve as a bedroom for an older family member or someone temporarily unable to use stairs. An adjacent powder room might potentially be modified in the future, while a flexible family room could provide additional living space for a multigenerational household.
The objective is not to design your house around circumstances that may never occur. It is to recognize when a renovation decision permanently removes flexibility that might otherwise have been retained at little additional cost.
This is particularly worth considering during major renovations because walls, electrical systems, plumbing and flooring are already being altered. Incorporating future adaptability while the work is underway may be much easier than reconstructing the same areas several years later.
Professional Insight
Accessibility planning does not necessarily mean building today for a limitation you may have tomorrow. Sometimes it simply means avoiding design decisions today that make tomorrow’s adaptation unnecessarily difficult or expensive.
Start With How People Move Through the Home
A useful way to evaluate accessibility is to imagine the path someone follows from the street or driveway through the home.
Can they reach an entrance without navigating difficult steps? Is the entrance itself easy to use? Are doorways and hallways sufficiently generous? Can someone move comfortably between the kitchen, bathroom, living areas and bedroom? Are there abrupt changes in floor level or other obstacles along the way?
These questions matter for wheelchair and walker users, but circulation affects everyone.
CMHC’s universal-design guidance emphasizes entrances that are easy to navigate and interior pathways with sufficient space for mobility devices. Even relatively modest changes can help. Swing-away or offset hinges may provide additional doorway clearance without rebuilding the opening, while thoughtful furniture placement can create clearer paths through living spaces. CMHC also recommends reducing obstacles and arranging furniture to provide clear paths of travel.
Where a major renovation is already planned, homeowners may want to consider whether wider doorways, more generous circulation areas or a no-step entrance can reasonably be incorporated into the design.
Entrances Deserve Particular Attention
The entrance can determine whether someone can independently use the rest of the home.
Steps that seem insignificant to an able-bodied person can become substantial barriers for someone using a walker or wheelchair or experiencing reduced balance. A properly designed ramp or no-step entrance can improve accessibility considerably, although exterior changes may involve grading, drainage, space limitations, permits and applicable building requirements.
Accessibility does not always require a prominent ramp at the front of the house. Depending upon the property, a more practical solution might be developed through a garage, side entrance or another appropriately designed access point.
The important consideration is whether at least one practical route into the home can accommodate changing mobility requirements.
Bathrooms Often Become the Critical Room
Bathrooms combine several accessibility challenges within a relatively small area: water, slippery surfaces, changes in position, limited manoeuvring space and the need to enter and exit tubs or showers.
Some improvements can be relatively straightforward. Grab bars can provide additional stability around toilets and bathing areas, while appropriate non-slip surfaces can reduce risk. Lever-style fixtures can be easier to operate for people with reduced hand strength, and an appropriately designed shower can eliminate the high edge of a conventional bathtub.
More substantial renovations provide an opportunity to think further ahead. A low-threshold or appropriately designed accessible shower, adequate manoeuvring space and wall construction capable of supporting future grab bars can make later adaptations easier.
The objective is not necessarily to make the bathroom look institutional. Good accessibility can be incorporated into attractive residential design.
Kitchens Should Work for the Person Using Them
Kitchen accessibility involves more than lowering countertops.
Think about reach, movement and how everyday tasks are performed. Controls located where they can be reached without stretching across a hot cooking surface, accessible storage, drawers instead of difficult-to-reach lower cabinets and work areas that can accommodate different users can improve usability.
The same thinking applies to appliances. Side-by-side front-loading laundry equipment may be easier to access than stacked machines for some users. Microwave placement, refrigerator configuration and the location of commonly used items can all affect how comfortably someone can use the space.
Many of these choices do not make a kitchen appear “accessible.” They simply make it easier to use.
That is one of the strengths of universal design.
Small Hardware Changes Can Make a Surprisingly Large Difference
Not every accessibility improvement requires construction.
Traditional round doorknobs require gripping and twisting, which can become difficult for someone with arthritis or reduced hand strength. Lever handles generally require less dexterity and are easier to operate in many everyday situations. CMHC identifies lever-style handles and similar modifications among relatively inexpensive accessibility improvements.
The same principle applies to faucets, cabinet hardware and light switches. Larger handles and rocker-style switches can be easier to operate for people with limited dexterity while remaining completely conventional in appearance.
These are particularly sensible changes to consider when hardware is being replaced anyway. If a homeowner is renovating a kitchen, changing doors or updating electrical devices, choosing a more universally usable design may add little or no meaningful cost to the project.
Flooring Affects Safety and Mobility
Flooring choices can have a substantial effect on how easily people move through a home.
Loose rugs can create tripping hazards. Thick or difficult-to-traverse surfaces may make movement more challenging for someone using a walker or wheelchair, while abrupt transitions between flooring materials can create additional obstacles.
Homeowners should consider stability, slip resistance, ease of movement and transitions between rooms when selecting flooring. The appropriate material will depend upon the space and household, but accessibility should form part of the decision alongside appearance, durability and maintenance.
Lighting can also help identify changes in level and improve navigation, particularly for people experiencing changes in vision.
Lighting Is an Accessibility Feature Too
Accessibility is often discussed almost entirely in terms of mobility, but vision also changes as people age.
Good lighting can make stairs, entrances, hallways, work surfaces and bathrooms safer and easier to use. Switch placement should be convenient, controls should be easy to operate and glare should be considered when selecting fixtures and positioning lighting.
Motion-activated exterior lighting can also improve safety around walkways, driveways and entrances without requiring someone to locate a switch in the dark.
Smart-home technology provides additional options. Voice or automated controls for lighting, temperature and other household systems may assist someone with limited mobility or dexterity while also providing convenience for other occupants.
Technology is therefore becoming another component of adaptable housing.
Accessibility Does Not Have to Look Institutional
Some homeowners resist accessibility improvements because they are concerned that grab bars, ramps, wide doorways or other modifications will make their home look institutional or negatively affect resale appeal.
That concern deserves consideration, but accessibility and attractive design are not mutually exclusive.
Modern grab bars can be incorporated into bathroom design, lever hardware is common in contemporary homes, wider doorways can make spaces feel more generous, and no-step entrances can sometimes be integrated almost invisibly into landscaping and grading.
CMHC notes that universal design can be practical and marketable because it allows housing to respond to changing needs over time.
Good design does not announce, “This house has been modified for someone with a disability.” Ideally, the features simply make the home easier for more people to use.
Consider Accessibility When Buying a Home
Accessibility is also worth considering during the property search, particularly for buyers hoping to remain in the home for many years.
A buyer does not necessarily need to find a fully accessible property. It may be more useful to identify one that is reasonably adaptable.
Is there a practical way to create a no-step entrance? Could a main-floor room become a bedroom? Is there a bathroom on the same level? Could doorways reasonably be widened? Does the lot provide enough space for an accessible entrance or ramp if one became necessary? Could a bathroom be renovated without major structural reconstruction?
Those characteristics may have little importance to the buyer today but become extremely valuable if circumstances change.
A property that can adapt may allow the owner to remain in a familiar home and community longer rather than being forced to move because the physical design no longer works for them.
Think About Resale Without Designing Only for Resale
Accessibility improvements can also affect marketability, although homeowners should be cautious about assuming that every modification automatically increases resale value.
Highly specialized modifications designed for one person’s particular needs may appeal to a relatively small group of purchasers. More universal improvements—better lighting, safer bathrooms, lever handles, generous doorways, practical main-floor living options and well-designed entrances—can have much broader usefulness.
That suggests a sensible distinction when planning renovations.
Where possible, homeowners may want to favour improvements that solve the immediate accessibility requirement while maintaining broad functionality and visual appeal. That can help the property serve the current household without unnecessarily limiting its future market.
Accessibility and resale therefore do not have to be opposing objectives.
Multigenerational Housing Makes Flexibility Even More Valuable
The original article began with multigenerational families, and I think that context is worth preserving.
A home occupied by several generations needs to accommodate people at very different stages of life. Young children, working adults and older parents may have different requirements for privacy, accessibility, bedrooms, bathrooms and common areas.
Flexible spaces can help a house evolve with those needs. A main-floor room might serve first as an office, later as a bedroom for a parent and eventually as a den again. A bathroom designed with sufficient space and appropriate wall reinforcement can function conventionally for years while remaining capable of future adaptation.
This is where accessibility becomes less about responding to disability and more about designing housing that remains useful as households change.
Some Accessibility Improvements Require Professional Advice
Simple changes such as replacing hardware or reorganizing furniture may require little more than thoughtful planning. More substantial work involving ramps, structural alterations, bathrooms, plumbing, electrical systems or changes to entrances may require contractors, designers, engineers, permits or other professional involvement depending upon the project and municipality.
Where a modification is being designed for someone with a specific disability or mobility requirement, advice from an occupational therapist or accessibility professional may also be valuable. Generic accessibility guidelines cannot account for every person’s needs.
The goal should be to create a solution that works for the actual occupant while also considering safety, building requirements, long-term adaptability and the property itself.
Planning Ahead Can Preserve Choices
The most valuable aspect of accessibility planning may be the choices it preserves.
A homeowner who waits until mobility has already changed may suddenly need substantial renovations completed quickly. Doorways that could have been widened during an earlier renovation now need to be reconstructed. A bathroom that was recently remodelled may need to be altered again. A beautiful new floor plan may have eliminated the only practical main-floor bedroom.
Planning ahead does not mean predicting exactly what the future will bring.
It means recognizing that people’s needs change and allowing the house enough flexibility to change with them.
That can make future adaptations easier, reduce unnecessary renovation costs and, most importantly, help homeowners remain in a property and community that continue to work for them.
Professional Insight
When evaluating a renovation, I think there is value in asking one additional question: Will this change make the home more adaptable or less adaptable in the future? You may still choose the same design, but considering that question before construction begins can reveal opportunities that are inexpensive to preserve today and costly to recreate later.
Final Thoughts
Making a home accessible does not have to begin with a wheelchair ramp or a major renovation.
It can begin with the way we think about the property.
Homes serve people through different stages of life, and those people’s abilities, family arrangements and priorities will inevitably change. A well-designed home does not need to anticipate every possible circumstance, but it can preserve enough flexibility to respond when circumstances do change.
Sometimes that means wider circulation areas or a no-step entrance. Sometimes it means a bathroom that can be adapted later, retaining a main-floor room that could become a bedroom, selecting easier-to-use hardware or simply avoiding flooring and furniture arrangements that create unnecessary obstacles.
Individually, many of these decisions seem relatively small. Collectively, they can determine whether a home remains comfortable, safe and practical for its occupants over many years.
For someone renovating today, buying a long-term home or considering multigenerational living, accessibility therefore deserves to be considered alongside design, functionality, cost and resale.
The objective is not necessarily to create a home specifically for older people or people with disabilities.
It is to create a home that continues to work well for more people, through more stages of life.
Guidance for Smarter Real Estate Decisions.
Written by Rodney Harvey, Broker of Record at Konfidis, Brokerage providing advisory-focused commercial, industrial, investment, and real estate brokerage services across Oshawa, Durham Region, and Ontario.
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