7 Universal Design Bathroom Upgrades

Make a bathroom more inclusive with simple design decisions

ADA compliance is a big deal in commercial construction, but more of an add-on in residential. If the particular homeowner needs it, Universal Design is 'added' into the process. But some designers and builders build Universal Design into everything they do.

Those who do it well have found that there are some fairly simple ways to make rooms work better for all who use it, and customers usually like it whether they need it or not. Yet.

Kitchens and bathrooms are two particularly important rooms for accessibility/inclusiveness because important work gets done in those rooms. They are also slippery rooms with a lot of hard surfaces, so they are inherently more dangerous.

We looked at kitchens earlier this year and will begin bathrooms today, focusing on design choices that can make bathrooms easier on youngsters, oldsters, and in-between-ers.

With some help from peeps who tweet, I've put together a short list of inclusive design elements. This is by no means an exhaustive list. For a lot more on accessible design, see the sources at the bottom of this page.

Universal Design Bathroom upgrade #1: Decorative grab bars in tub/shower

As I said, bathrooms are slippery and tubs, sinks, toilets, and tile are hard. The two make bathrooms potentially dangerous for most people who enter.