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lighting

How To Make Your Home Disability Friendly

Ensuring that your home is accessible means that loved ones with impaired movements or disabilities can navigate more freely. Whether your improvements are for a temporary injury or ongoing illness, inclusive designs in the home offer a simple solution to accessibility. 

Below you will find inclusive design principles to follow when it comes to making your home disability-friendly. 

Start With The Outside 

This is a great place to start as it means you can welcome guests or family members with access to the home at no difficulty to them. You will need to create ample space in order to allow access for wheelchairs and cars, and adding a ramp with a gentle gradient is ideal.

When it comes to installing a ramp, ensure there are handrails for ease of use (especially in cold weather conditions. 

Making Doorways Accessible

Once any ramps, railings or stairlifts have been installed, you will need to ensure that your door frames are wide enough to let wheelchairs or scooters through. Standard wheelchairs are 25 inches wide, so for comfortable access your doors should be roughly 35 inches wide. If your doorways are too narrow, you may need to cost up the price of a renovation. 

Removing doorsteps and uneven flooring is also a great idea for wheelchair users, as they can become obstructions.  

Choosing The Right Flooring 

Just as uneven flooring can cause issues for wheelchair users, having incorrect flooring can also cause problems to arise. Some of the best options for flooring in an accessible home include:

  • Hardwood flooring: a great option for durable and classy flooring
  • Vinyl flooring: Also durable, vinyl flooring is water resistant and easy to install 
  • Ceramic tiles: These are perfect for kitchens and bathrooms and are easy to clean

How To Make Your Bathroom Accessible 

Not every bathroom can be made accessible, so it might be worth consulting with a builder who can help you further. If you think you can create a more accessible bathroom, consider the following:

  • Making space for turning so that a wheelchair can spin 360 degrees 
  • Railings around the toilet, bath and showe rto ensure safe movements around the bathroom
  • Lowering the wash basin to ensure it can be used by those in wheelchairs

Making Your Kitchen Accessible

One of the most important rooms in the house is the kitchen, so making sure it’s accessible is important. This will include enough space to ensure ease of turning, lower work surfaces and sockets within arms reach. 

It’s also a great idea to shop for kitchen utensils that can help with cooking, such as electronic tin openers and easy cutlery.

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lighting

How To Style Scandinavian Lighting

If there’s one interior design trend that’s not going anywhere, it’s scandi living. Defined by its sophistication, minimalist design and simple decor, Scandinavian interiors can completely transform your living space. 

The style began gaining popularity throughout the 1950s, when traditional decor was swapped for minimal and modern trends. Slowly, the need for functional furniture and designs overtook decadence, and sleek furniture was a must. 

The trend not only looks fresh, but it suits every season (especially autumn and winter). One of the key aspects of scandi living is to make your space look cosy and inviting, and one of the best ways to do this is by adding the perfect lighting. 

Finding the perfect Scandinavian Lighting

If you have been lured by the appeal of scandi living, then you will need to achieve the perfect lighting in order to achieve the ideal look. To do this, you will need to do a few things that encapsulate the trend. These include:

Lighting sections of the room instead of flooding it with light 


Although a large Scandinavian ceiling light or similar LED pendant lights can be great, it shouldn’t be so bright that it floods your room with light. Ensure it’s dimmable, and choose to light sections or corners of your room that add functionality such as a reading corner table lamp. You can also utilise wall lamps and shelf lighting for added depth.

Stick to the scandi colours and theme

When it comes to bulb tones and fixture colours, opt for warmer options that can truly add depth. Great combinations include wood designs and brushed copper, or grey tones with black. Whichever combination you choose, ensure it’s minimal.

Make your lighting an accessory 

Practical lighting doesn’t have to be boring. Ensuring that your lighting is an accessory can be fun, and you truly have so many possibilities of styles with this trend. So why not transform your room with a stunning floor light or a Scandinavian pendant light?

For added ambience, add a dimmer

Installing a dimmer is an instant way to change the mood in your room, and can help with creating a fika ambience when you need it the most.