5 Useful Furnishing Tips To Make Your Home Senior Citizen Friendly
The low local birth rates and longer life expectancies of Singaporeans have resulted in a population that’s steadily aging. Together with the recent introduction of 3Gen flatswhich are designed for multi-generation families to stay under one roof, it’s becoming more important for Singaporeans to think about how they can make adjustments in their lives and homes, to accommodate relatives who are in their golden years.
The team at FurnitureSingapore.net have expertise and experience with furniture and furnishings for the Singaporean home, and we’d like to share 5 useful furnishing tips that will make your home senior citizen friendly.
1) Avoid Fragile Furniture
Avoid furnishing your home with fragile, delicate, or flimsy furniture like glass top dining tables, flimsy folding plastic chairs, etc. A mature individual might push down on these items when they’re trying to stand up, and furniture which are not sturdy enough to support their weight might break and cause the senior citizen to fall.
Ideally, you would want to purchase rigid and solidly built furniture like solid wood dining tables and chairs. You should also consider coffee tables and desks with a sturdy construction.
2) Furniture With Support
Senior citizens need a little more assistance when they’re trying to get up from their seats or when they’re lying down. It’s important to keep this in mind when you’re purchasing furniture like chairs, sofas and beds.
For chairs, it would be best to get an armchair so that an older person can use the arms for support when they’re trying to stand up or sit down. We strongly advise against stools; they provide zero support and would cause an older person to fall if they doze off while in their seats.
Bed frames generally don’t come with any support on the sides, so you might want to consider attaching bed rails. Your elderly relative can grip the rails to seat themselves up; these rails also prevent them from falling out of the bed.
3) Avoid Furniture That’s Mobile
It’s best to stay away from furniture that’s mobile, for example, chairs with wheels or chairs that can rotate, mobile pedestals, rotatable bar stools, etc. All these furniture do not provide firm and fixed support that an elderly individual needs when they’re interacting with the item. Most preferably, you should consider furniture that stays in a fixed position and won’t roll away when someone pushes down on it. This will greatly minimise the chances of your senior relative falling over when they’re trying to get up.
4) Get The Proper Storage Furniture
If you’re getting chest of drawers and cupboards for your elderly relatives, you’ll want to consider the following points.
Are the drawers easy to pull open?
Are the compartments in the cupboard too high or too low?
Are the doors of the wardrobe too heavy?
If your storage furniture comes with sliding doors, will the sliding doors get derailed easily?
Are there too many compartments in the cupboard/wardrobe that will cause your elderly relative to forget where he/she kept her stuff?
It’s important to get the right storage furniture for your senior relatives, especially the wardrobe and cupboard which they will be using everyday.
5) Stay Away From Furniture That’s Overly Soft And Cushy
If you’re getting cushioned seating furniture for senior citizens, you should avoid furniture that’s too soft and cushy, for example bean bag chairs. Seating furniture which are too soft provide inadequate back support for the elderly and might aggravate any existing back problems they have. You should choose sofas and armchairs which are firm yet comfortable.
Another reason your furniture might provide inadequate support is if you’ve purchased second hand furniture which are worn through repeated use. The little money that you save purchasing a used cushioned seating furniture is not worth the physical discomfort they’ll cause to your elderly relatives.
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