Hey hey hey, everybody! In the last blog post, we covered A LOT of information to future-proof your bathroom. 

3 Tips to Plan a Bathroom Remodel

Let’s review the three steps you need to take to future-proof your favorite room in the house:

1) Identify the User

Who is using the bathroom and what are they doing in there?

In the last blog post, I gave the example of my grandparents and what they did in their bathrooms.

My main point is that we’re all different people who do different things in the bathroom, not just toileting and bathing.

For instance, some women apply makeup in the bathroom. I prefer to cake it on in my vanity in our walk-in closet (better lighting for me!).

To each their own! Everyone doesn’t use the bathroom exactly the same way.

2) Consult with An Occupational Therapist

Talk with an occupational therapist or home safety consultant. This step is ESSENTIAL to future-proofing your bathroom!

Do you want the job done right or not? Your bathroom is an investment in living at home for a lifetime. Trust me, I know! I’ve worked with so many people who weren’t able to live in their own homes for the simple fact that they could not use their bathroom at all!

Can you imagine not being able to live in your home because you couldn’t access the bathroom or get in the shower or on and off the toilet or brush your teeth at the sink? I could go on forever! The situation is mind-boggling!

In all honesty, your bathroom should be the number one priority in all plans ever! Occupational therapists make sure that your bathroom plans will serve you for the long term and will cater to your unique needs. 

3) More Space

Devote more space to your bathroom! Expand expand expand! Get rid of the hallway closet and make your bathroom bigger, people!

We, Americans, need to make our bathroom doorways bigger and we definitely need that 5’x5’ turning radius between the toilet, shower, and sink! If you want to always live in your home, this MUST happen!

Don’t tell me that you’ve lived in your house for 40 years and you’ll be able to manage. When you say that, all I hear is denial to the inevitability that your needs are going to change.

Okay, review completed. Now, let’s talk about what we did for my dear Granny and Grandpa.

Limited Funds

As I mentioned in the last blog post, Granny and Grandpa had a fixed income.

Although I desperately wanted to combine their teeny tiny bathrooms into one large bathroom to share, we didn’t have the money to do that.

Without a doubt, this is the situation for a majority of people in these United States.

Renovation is costly!

At the time, I wish I would’ve known more about financial resources for home modifications, or changes in the home. Then we totally would’ve gotten Granny and Grandpa the bathroom they deserved!

For your inspiration, check out this link to financial resources in Kansas and Missouri.

For financial reasons, we had to focus on function only, not aesthetics. This experience with my grandparents motivated me to help you plan for a beautiful bathroom that doesn’t look so . . . hospital or nursing home-like.

I’m telling you what we did below because it’s helpful for emergent use. But it’s much better to make changes to your bathroom with accessibility and universal design concepts in mind at the forefront.

Bathroom Set Up

So with limited funds in mind, we looked at Granny’s bathroom. (Just for the record, I do wish I had pictures of Granny’s bathroom! Please use your imaginations.)

Granny had a tub shower, a toilet, and a long vanity where everything was within two feet of each other. I mean, it was all so confined and tight. Like you turned and bam! There’s the tub shower. Bam! There’s the toilet.

No room at all!

Tub Transfer Bench

To make sure Granny wouldn’t fall getting in and out of the tub, we put in a tub shower bench for her to sit on and scoot her booty across.

Standing on one leg to balance while putting the other leg into the tub is a pretty risky move when you’re 92 years old. Most falls at home happen when you step out of the tub shower (or regular shower), so we wanted to eliminate that from even becoming a possibility. 

Sidenote: Some people tell me that they hate tub shower benches because water gets on the bathroom floor.

Here’s an easy way to remedy your wet and wild bathroom: before you start your shower, take the bottom of the shower curtain and put it on the tub bench seat. This should make the shower curtain curve in a way so that the water hits the shower curtain and flows back inside of the tub.

Easy and effective! Check out my friend, Lindsay, set up her shower curtain here.

(FYI: I’m an Amazon Associate. If you choose to buy any of the products listed, I receive a little commission at no added cost to you!)

Clamp On Grab Bar

We also put a clamp on grab bar on the tub ledge. They’re useful for keeping your balance while getting in and out of the tub.

Now, not everyone has space in their teeny tiny bathroom for this, but in Granny’s bathroom, it worked well. Mostly because she was so petite and liked having the clamp on grab bar to hold onto when she reached for her shower things.

Grab Bars

We also installed two other grab bars in the tub shower for her to hold onto if she wanted to stand up and clean her bottom. Although, she typically stayed seated and leaned side to side to get her undercarriage.

I absolutely love grab bars because they help you feel safe and secure when moving around in the bathroom. Granny appreciated them, too!

Grab bars= the seat belt of the bathroom!

Non Slip Flooring

To keep Granny’s feet from slipping on the tub floor, we put in a suction-cup mat. After my experience with them, I totally would’ve done something else like applied a non slip coating or non slip strips.

I HATE suction-cup mats because if you step on them just right they slide right out from underneath you. You have to step directly on top of them, not accidentally push them forward with your feet.

They’re a fall risk in themselves!

The only reason why it worked in Granny’s tub shower is that the tub transfer bench legs sat on top of the mat, so Granny’s body weight held it in place if she stood up. 

Shower Head with Hose

Lastly, we put in a shower head with a hose. And boy, did Granny love that thing!

We didn’t have the money to buy a shower head with a hose AND a grab bar mount.

So I bought a u-shaped hook from the hardware store and screwed it into the wall right next to the tub bench for Granny to place the showerhead. That way the handheld showerhead didn’t spray water everywhere and Granny could easily reach it when she was sitting down.

We don’t want people struggling to get the showerhead in a slippery environment, people! Always put your things easily within reach!

Granny’s Thoughts

Granny LOVED her new shower set up! Was it the fanciest and most luxurious? Absolutely not! But she felt so much safer taking her nightly showers.

She could independently bathe herself and not worry about falling in the tub shower.

Granny exclaimed, “I’m not breaking my hip in there now!”

Grandpa’s Bathroom

Grandpa had a similar reaction to his new bathroom set up. His bathroom was even smaller than Granny’s with a shower stall, toilet, and wall-mounted sink.

We put in a shower chair, a handheld showerhead, and several grab bars. One grab bar replaced a towel rack that he’d been holding onto for balance. This was extremely dangerous because towel racks are NOT designed to support people’s weight the way grab bars are.

Replacing the towel rack with the grab bar allowed him to put towels on it and hold on for balance.

We also put a grab bar vertically at the shower entry for Grandpa to hold onto while he got in and out of the shower. The last grab bar was installed horizontally under the water control.

Grandpa told me that he felt safer with the grab bars and shower chair!

He often felt dizzy, like he was going to lose his balance and fall, especially when he closed his eyes while rinsing his hair. Sitting down while showering meant he could close his eyes and feel confident that he wasn’t going to end up on the shower floor.

Lastly, we put a 3-n-1 commode (without the bucket) over Grandpa’s toilet. This made it so Grandpa could push against the armrests to stand up and sit down on the toilet. He didn’t have to struggle with something no one should have to struggle with!

Conclusion

You guys, as a caregiver, I felt pretty damn good that my grandparents felt so much safer using their bathrooms. It was important to me to help them keep their privacy and dignity intact.

We all deserve the opportunity to continue taking care of ourselves no matter our age or ability. Our needs may change throughout our lives AND we can change our homes to fit those needs.

We have the power to do that!

Now I want to know, what are you thinking about doing to make your bathroom work better for you? What have you done already? Tell us in the comment section below!

(Hey, did you know we have an awesome online course for people who have a hard time wiping after using the toilet? It’s an awkward topic that you can learn how to solve in the comfort and privacy of your own home! Learn more about the course HERE!)