Do either of you have any medical condition now that may require a wheelchair in the future? If not, I would not worry about it. The vast majority of people live their lives out without needing wheelchairs.

Sort of like planning for "what if I'm blind when I'm old?"

Not to mention, you're in your 30s, do you really think you'll live in the same house, with the same kitchen, for 50 or more years?

Naween:

I'd peruse the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for ideas that could be incorporated easily without substantially affecting the resale value of your home.

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 12:35

Hi All,
1) Yes, we ABSOLUTELY wish to live in our home until we die. End of discussion, period.
We have spent the last few years really envisioning and considering how we live, and how we wish to live. We do not wish to have children, or 'fur babies', and will be willing this residence into a library/halfway house for teens escaping abusive relationships. So designing for accessibility (which includes being blind, deaf, etc) is important.
2) Our tastes don't change. We love french country, 'Castle-esque' looks. Nothing in our house is 'new' or 'modern'. We both aren't particularly fond of change (not even paint colors!), and after moving over a dozen times, we are tired of it. We don't replace appliances until they break - yes I still have a big old tube TV in my living room!
One more house, and then i get to stay there until i die in it!

3) As for medical issues - plantar fasciitis, DH has bad knees, and hip replacements run in my family. As well, shoudl I ever break my leg skiing or something, Id appreciate the extra manouvering room.
4) I read a fair bit of the ADA, and the Canadian Guidelines as well. I've just struggled to find a good comparison of wheelchair+drawers vs wheelchair+hightoekick.

This may be one of those cases where there is no substitute for seeing the various options first hand and talking to people actually using the designs. The seemingly smallest of inconveniences in design are magnified when mobility is limited. ADA compliant and ADA optimal could be far apart.

livewire's suggestion is brilliant. BRILLIANT!!!!!

"An accessible kitchen must meet certain criteria. First of all, the toe kicks must be at 8" rather than 4" so that your footrest or feet will not encroach on your access to the cabinets."

If you are in a wheelchair, your feet and knees tend to get in the way ... having the doors open far enough off the floor to clear your feet means you can open cabinet doors without whapping your feet. Toekicks are higher and deeper so you can get closer to the counters - see picture.

I think the suggestion of using the toekick area for recessed drawers, maybe with a push-to-open latch is brilliant.

That said ... I know quite a few people who can stand up and use a kitchen or bathroom, they use a wheelchair because they can't walk very far. And engineering of wheelchairs is proceeding rapidly from the common style. And in our "dream house" design, it's ADA-compliant in some respects, in that it will be easy for impaired mobility access, but it's not going full-on as if custom built for a paraplegic.

Toe-kick design:

Not only are you losing some space due to the toe kick, (drawers there is a great idea), but remember you are also losing some height down from the top: Universal Access counters are lower than 36".

The other think that you may want to consider is that it's a rare kitchen cabinet that is going to last 50 years. My parents' kitchen is 45 years old, all original except some of the appliances, and they took very good care of everything. The cabinets that get the most use are starting to go, and I think the buyer of the house will have to replace the kitchen.

It's also doubtful that appliances will be the same in 50 years. You may want to plan the Layout very carefully to be amenable to Universal Design and incorporate Universal Design principles into some aspects of the kitchen, but to keep in mind that, while you may be living in the same house in 50 years, you may not be living with the exact same kitchen, because kitchens and especially the appliances that go in them just don't last than long.

Appliances barely even last 10 years anymore. It's the most rapidly changing part of a kitchen, and it's what makes one easiest to date to a certain era.

The only certainty about home design is that it will change. Medical advances (Think cochlear implants and corneal transplants) and appliance advances (think the advent of the MW) dictate that in 20 years, you may not even recognize "the ADA kitchen of the future". Your best bet is to plan for a roomy space, with generous aisles, and, in 25 years, plan to renovate. Materials DO have a certain lifespan, and most that you would choose would be tired by that point.