2012-04-23, 04:35 AM
Is your uncle an architect or something related, or are you going to study that?
If not, consult a professional. You can work with them until their design matches your dreams, or you can just take the important "engineering" bits from their design and use your imagination over that.
Some things off the top of my head:
- If this is going to be your grandparents' home too, make sure they can keep living in it even if or when their mobility becomes restricted. This means: make it possible to live for years in the house without ever going upstairs or down into the basement (if you have one). All hallways and doorways to be wide enough for wheelchairs. Don't forget details such as the island in the kitchen, if you have one: leave enough room around it for a wheelchair.
- Also, I don't know if this is done where you live, but around here it's customary to keep old people at home even when they get to the point where they need assistance doing the most basic things. Instead of sending them to a nursing home, we bring a live-in nurse in the house. If that's a possibility with you, you might want to have an extra small bedroom and bath on the ground floor, in addition to the master bedroom and bath your grandparents will be using.
- At the other extreme, make the house fit for children to live in. This means, for example, at least one of the bathrooms should have a relatively low sink or a built-in step for them to reach the regular sink. Have light switches relatively low on the wall. Have a handheld showerhead in the bath, you won't believe how much easier it is to wash a small child's hair with that without getting soap in their eyes. Read guides on childproofing, and make sure the house is childproof-ready (for example, rails on the stairs within the parameters). Also, don't use carpeting or furniture that is sensitive to dirt or rough handling...
- You don't want to waste energy cooling or heating rooms that are not in use. I don't know whether the most efficient way to do this would be a sophisticated central-air system, or individual units for each room. Consult a professional.
OK, that's enough rambling from me for now. Good luck and have fun.
If not, consult a professional. You can work with them until their design matches your dreams, or you can just take the important "engineering" bits from their design and use your imagination over that.
Some things off the top of my head:
- If this is going to be your grandparents' home too, make sure they can keep living in it even if or when their mobility becomes restricted. This means: make it possible to live for years in the house without ever going upstairs or down into the basement (if you have one). All hallways and doorways to be wide enough for wheelchairs. Don't forget details such as the island in the kitchen, if you have one: leave enough room around it for a wheelchair.
- Also, I don't know if this is done where you live, but around here it's customary to keep old people at home even when they get to the point where they need assistance doing the most basic things. Instead of sending them to a nursing home, we bring a live-in nurse in the house. If that's a possibility with you, you might want to have an extra small bedroom and bath on the ground floor, in addition to the master bedroom and bath your grandparents will be using.
- At the other extreme, make the house fit for children to live in. This means, for example, at least one of the bathrooms should have a relatively low sink or a built-in step for them to reach the regular sink. Have light switches relatively low on the wall. Have a handheld showerhead in the bath, you won't believe how much easier it is to wash a small child's hair with that without getting soap in their eyes. Read guides on childproofing, and make sure the house is childproof-ready (for example, rails on the stairs within the parameters). Also, don't use carpeting or furniture that is sensitive to dirt or rough handling...
- You don't want to waste energy cooling or heating rooms that are not in use. I don't know whether the most efficient way to do this would be a sophisticated central-air system, or individual units for each room. Consult a professional.
OK, that's enough rambling from me for now. Good luck and have fun.