In August of 2020, we started to work on an age in place condo project for a dear friends of ours. For me, I held this project near and dear to my heart. You see, our client had recently lost her husband and was going to downsize. We had worked with this family before in assisting them with furniture. The move was not only a downsizing project, but also a move from the country to the city. So many emotions and decisions to be made. Our son has played hockey and football with our clients' grandson so this was like a family project for me.

When the family asked if I would assist with this project, I happily accepted. While our renovation calendar was full, there was no way I was going to let anyone else look after this.

As Is

If you have followed our journey, we always like to share what the 'As Is' looked like.

BEFORE: Kitchen with dated floor tile, appliances, awkward peninsula, and floor transition (tripping hazard).

BEFORE: Same tile as kitchen floor, inexpensive laminate flooring, and dated opening above the fireplace.

BEFORE: Primary Ensuite with brass and more dated tile

https://youtu.be/qJ6_i1_ujPo

Our walkthrough prior to demolition.

The Plan

When walking through the condo, it was evident that the entire until was going to get some kind of love. Here are the major items we address:

Change out all flooring to be one consistent flooring (rated for wet areas as well).
Redesign the kitchen
New appliances.
Interior walls, baseboards, casings, and doors received all new paint.
All new tile and countertops in both bathrooms.

The Kitchen

As we all know, the kitchen is the heart of the home. This space was going to get some major love. The one major part of the kitchen that my client did not like was the angle of the cabinets/counter peninsula. For this age in place condo project, we utilized some wonderful accessories from Rev-A-Shelf to assist us with this.

Here are a few of the goodies we used.

Wall Pull Down

Rev-A-Shelf's Wall Pull Down System utilizes the vertical height of taller cabinets yet makes it easy to access items.

The Cloud Blind Corner

The Cloud' is a wonderful addition to utilize the dead space in a corner of a kitchen. For this kitchen, we used one for each corner.

Base Cabinet Pull Out

We utilized this Rev A Shelf pull out on the right side of the range to allow easy access for trays, cookie sheets, and larger items.

The After

We started this age in place condo project on September 24, 2020 and completed it on November 17, 2020. Since Covid has played such a huge part in our lives, we did not get back to take final photos until last week. It was really nice to be back and see the condo, see our client and get in a visit and check in to see how things are.

My photographer was not available so I went with my trusty iPhone. The day we chose to have final photos taken, it happened to be a very dreary day. I normally don't take photos with the interior lights on but unfortunately, I had to have them on to get some half-decent shots.

Kitchen redesign with Age in Place features

Living Room

Primary Ensuite

Click on each photo to read more.

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Age In Place

There were a number of age in place items that we incorporated into this unit.

One consistent flooring throughout the entire unit.
Kitchen wall cabinet pull downs
Corner kidney pull outs
Spice pull out
Tray pull out
Microwave drawer
Cabinet pulls on all cabinet doors in the kitchen
Lever hardware for interior doors
New bathroom hardware with levers
One consistent wall colour
Comfort height toilets

While many people do not like the term, 'age in place', we call it that so that we can live in our homes for the longest length of time. I know I'm in my early 50's and renovations that we carry out in our home are with the focus on aging in place. I would love to stay in our home for as long as we can. Aging in place does not need to be just for the 70+ age group! I also know that if I could build my own age in place villa, I would be incorporating many elements that would allow myself and my husband to live in the home for many, many years.

As I mentioned earlier, we completed this project in 2020 and it took us quite some time to get back to get some photos. I look forward to getting many more photos of our other completed projects to share with you.

Shop the Organizers

While many of the organizers that I'm listing below are not exactly offered to the general public (as a designer, we have access to many more options), I have rounded up some of my favourite kitchen accessories from Rev A Shelf that you could add to your kitchen.

The items below contain affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, are most appreciated and make this blog possible.

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Age In Place Condo | How we transformed this condo

As Is

The Plan