February 13, 2017 |

Memories of home: Living room

Flooring

Carpeting must be chosen carefully to provide some contrast but not too much. The carpeting is a neutral tone-on-tone scalloped leaf pattern that hides dirt but is subtle enough to not cause visual perception problems.

Smooth transition

The transition from living room to porch uses a completely flush threshold—nothing sticking up to cause a visual barrier or pose a trip hazard. Carpenter says the threshold was designed to remove any actual or perceived barriers to make it as easy as possible for residents to go outside.

Porch

Residents can easily move from a seating area indoors to a seating area outdoors, one that isn’t completely walled in. “It’s so important to allow memory care residents to have access to the outdoors,” Carpenter says. “If you can get it directly off of their living space, it’s so much more likely that they’ll go out there than if they have to go down an elevator or wait for staff to take them downstairs and go outside to a garden space. Even on raised floors, you need to provide some sort of outdoor space for memory care.” Higher-than-normal railings, about four feet tall, and no footholds offer residents protection from injury or harm.

Finishing touches

A raised container gardening center offers the opportunity for horticultural therapy at a height that’s safe and reachable for residents. Wooden seating invites residents to come out and have a seat. The ceiling fan offers a breeze to make sitting outside more pleasant. The wall sconce affords extra time to sit outside at night.

Read more: Memories of home

Images courtesy of Alise O’Brien Photography

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.