From time to time, you see 'disabled kitchens' advertised. I wouldn't buy one, the reason being who wants a kitchen that's disabled ?? What have they done ?.... taken the appliances out, .... taken the worktops off, that would certainly disable a kitchen !
How about "kitchens for less able bodied people" .... A much better description ! !
We've recently carried out some work for a couple where the husband has MS, he knows it's not going to get better but he's a great bloke who just wants to be able to work better and easier in his existing kitchen and we were able to make a significant difference to his ability to use areas of the kitchen that were causing problems. The key factor for them was to keep the kitchen looking like a standard kitchen so as not to affect resale value when they move house ..... Fair point !!
People with disabilities are generally people who just want to do what they can to be as 'normal' as possible and will often try harder to achieve this. Look at the spectacular success of the recent Paralympics !!
We've looked in the past at design specific products for equipping kitchens for less able bodied people to use them but have you seen the cost !! , some of the items are astronomically priced. We're talking thousands of pounds. Folk with disabilities are not rolling in money and even with grants available, sometimes it's still a struggle and I feel that there's a lot that can be done for sensible costs.
There is much that can be done in any kitchen to make accessability and everyday use much easier using readily available components and internal fitments ( even if you're not necessarily using them in quite the way intended, my speciality, by the way ) and this was the approach we took with the kitchen in question. All you need is the ability to think laterally, listen to the problems being encountered and come up with solutions. It's not rocket science a lot of the time but you need to have the desire to help which is where a lot ( but not all ) of kitchen companies fall down. They simply don't want to get involved because it involves thinking outside the box.
This is where you hit the all too familiar statement " I'm sorry, if it's not in the brochure, you can't have it "...... I'm sorry too, not acceptable, find a different brochure, you muppet !
People who are disabled in some way often need to take a different approach to everyday tasks and from personal experience rising to that challenge can be very rewarding for both parties.
I'm not saying that every problem can be solved easily and simply but we are more than happy to tackle any challenge that may be set because it's great to make that difference to someones life.
I'm a great believer in "Roman engineering", ask anyone who knows me ! Solutions to problems don't have to over expensive, over technical and over priced. Throwing large amounts of money at a problem doesn't always make it go away.
Subscribe to the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid ! A well known acronym for choosing simple effective answers to seemingly complicated problems.
If you know people in this position, we'd love to talk to them. We're totally confident we can make a difference.
Jules.
OK!, I know this has nothing to do with Eco principles but I felt it had to be said.
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