With multigenerational households on the rise, home builders and renovators should focus on making sure new homes are accessible and space is designed for seniors to move safely, whether in a wheelchair or with assistance from others. As home builders and renovators make new homes accessible to seniors through design, all generations can live together in the same home without having to sacrifice accommodations for our senior community.
Families intent on having the ultimate luxury multigenerational lifestyle home should splurge on in-law suites or flexible floor plans to make life more comfortable.
Room-by-Room Guide
Multigenerational living has become much more commonplace as larger households seek to accommodate the need to stay in close contact with each other. Building or remodelling a home that’s functional and comfortable for the whole family, in other words a home ‘for the ages’, requires deliberate thought and an experienced custom home builder can provide insight into unlocking the key elements and features that can promote livability, independence and flexibility.
But one place to begin is with your home’s flexible spaces: if you have a living room that could serve as a bedroom, and it already has a door in it, go ahead and opportunistically build a bedroom and make it formal – just in case family members have aspirations to live together down the road. Private access to a bedroom can also help to provide privacy and you might implement a knock-before-entering policy for respect and to ensure that everyone is aware when they may be interrupted.
Universal Design Principles
Multigenerational living under one roof has gained traction because it’s more economical and helps preserve family ties. People can fulfil their own needs in a communal household with private rooms and semi-private spaces where everyone who shares a roof has an area for privacy and independence.
Home renovation projects can reap great benefits from universal design principles. This is especially important to enable intergenerational living arrangements that allow for residing with older individuals who might be frail or have physical limitations such as arthritis. Making home living accessible for all requires installing elements that allow for completion of tasks easier at lower physical cost – examples include touch faucets, expanded door openings for wheelchairs, or grab bars for the bathroom, to name but a few.
Be mindful to select energy-efficient appliances, fixtures and solar panels.
Mobility-Friendly Interiors
Multigenerational living has become popular in recent years in a way that it has never been before for a good reason. It provides families many blessings: It saves money and allows shared responsibilities; It strengthens family ties; It adds extra security to daily needs or emergencies; and so on.
When designing multigenerational homes, the goal should be to enhance accessibility and mobility so that every member of the family can live comfortably. This means that doorways should be wide and flooring should not be slippery – grab bars could help to make things easier.
Another central aspect to making a multigenerational home work is allowing each generation to have adequate privacy to maintain their individuality, which can be created by having rooms or areas for each generation. For example, one could create a room called a basement flat or home office.
Smart Home Technology
A smart home is a network of inter-connected devices that can be controlled remotely, such as a security system, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, thermostat and more. Apps and digital assistants allow humans to remotely manage them, often with voice-based controls or by using smart home technology to set schedules for specific times of the day. People can also get notifications and alerts from connected devices in their smart home.
Multigenerational homes can be beautifully laid out to keep privacy requirements high, while still fostering family connections. We have open great room floor plans to create cohesive shared spaces for family, while still affording private discretion with separate bedrooms and even living spaces. Through our customizable floorplans, you can customize your home to your needs; home offices, extra bedrooms or any other service can easily be added on.
Storage Solutions
Others are not comfortable enough sharing the same space but have opted for luxury multigenerational homes as a way of reconciling their different lifestyles. In some cases, this approach takes the form of a second home, such as a vacation home in Costa Rica or a custom estate with a shared layout designed for permanent living.
This is where smart storage spaces come in handy – good storage can keep things from piling up in a busy household, and changing paper records to digital documents can enable smart storage in bar areas, for example, to add an upscale personality to family dining rooms or in home offices to keep records organized for family members. Generational harmony in multigenerational custom homes can be achieved by designing shared spaces with harmony in mind to be sure quality of life is enhanced for everyone who calls the home their own.