Designers can also assure safety in your home

Posted January 15, 2010 10:00 pm

By Deborah Donovan

Adele Lampert of Page One Interiors in Barrington says this bath shows the safe way to design access to a tub. Instead of stepping into the tub, you sit on the deck and rotate your legs into the tub. Courtesy of Paul Schlissman

Take a look the next time you visit a gorgeous master bathroom.

Wouldn't it be easier to get in and out of that large tub if there were a step or two?

Wrong, says Adele Lampert of Page One Interiors, Inc. in Barrington.

"The safe way to get into a tub is to sit on the deck and rotate," she said in an e-mail. "This eliminates one wet, slippery foothold."

While we often think of interior design as creating pretty rooms, there can also be underlying safety issues.

Educated, experienced designers like Lampert can spot them and find solutions for homeowners.

She is an award-winning member of the American Society of Interior Designers, a professional group that requires education for membership and experience and testing for advancement.

"We're not trying to exclude anyone," said Joan Kaufman of Naperville, president of the Illinois Chapter of the ASID. "It depends on the complexity of the project.

"If you want paint colors, that's a decorator. If you're remodeling, you need new lighting and all kinds of details, and you need a higher level of expertise. All designers are good. Everyone has their niche."

Here are other safety tips that designers know - and they all assure us these can be done attractively.

Bath

•Be sure the tiles on your floor are nonslip, says Lampert, and put smaller pieces - even mosaics - by the tub. Tiles are rated for slipperiness, but generally shiny is not good.

•Consider safety bars and hand rails. Remember they have gotten much more attractive.

•Low-level LED lighting in areas such as cabinet toe-kicks as well as along stairs can make nights much safer, says Joan Kaufman of Interior Planning & Design, Inc. of Naperville. They can be operated with a switch or photocell, she said.

•Tub and shower faucets should have anti-scald valves, said Barbara Ellen Polster of Barbara Ellen Home Interiors in Roselle.

•If you have room, Polster said, a door that opens outward from the bathroom could prevent someone who falls from being trapped in the bathroom.

Kitchen

•Sometimes shiny countertops can reflect light in a way that makes chopping dangerous, says Polster. Round those corners on the countertops to avoid sharp ones, she said, and make sure that people can put hot pots down close to the cooktop to minimize the danger of burns.

•Do not install your microwave above the cooktop.

•Especially in a home with children, knobs to operate a cooktop are safer on the top than on the front, said Edyta Czajkowska of Edyta & Co. Interior Design of Des Plaines.

•In her galley kitchen, Czajkowska avoided having anything jut out into the path of travel where someone could knock into it.

•Even though outlets in the kitchen must have ground fault circuit interrupters, they should still be kept away from plumbing and water.

Bedroom

•Be sure any window treatments are made of flame retardant fabric and do not have cords that can be dangerous to young children, said Kaufman, who pointed out blinds can come with remote controls these days.

•If you daughter wants shag carpeting, remember that it can hide little things that could be very painful when stepped on, said Polster. She prefers low pile and says "get rid of scatter rugs."

General

•If you have stairs where a homeowner might be carrying things like groceries into the house, Kaufman says life becomes much easier if there is a deeper tread where the person walks a step or two before continuing upward.

•Kaufman also likes motion-activated lighting at every entry.

•A simple safety tip is to install lighting fixtures with more than one bulb in traffic areas, then if one bulb burns out you still have light, said Poster.

•Avoid thresholds and level changes between rooms. These can be tripping hazards, said Polster.

When choosing tile for the floor, be sure it is non-slip, especially in the bathroom and kitchen. These are porcelain from Daltile. Courtesy of Daltile

Kitchen design should be clean without anything jutting into the walkway, says Edyta Czajkowska of Edyta & Co. Interior Design, Des Plaines. Courtesy of Edyta & Co. Interior Design

It is safer to have control knobs on the top rather than on the front of a range, said Edyta Czajkowska of Edyta & Co. Interior Design in Des Plaines. Courtesy of Edyta & Co. Interior Design

Porcelain tiles are very popular these days because they are attractive and strong. These from Daltile are nonslip. Courtesy of Daltile

Source information •Daltile Natural Stone Showroom, 1601 Pratt Blvd., Elk Grove Village, (847) 593-9008. Customers view selections, then purchase through dealers, contractors and home centers such Lowe's and Home Depot. •Edyta Czajkowska, Edyta & Co. Interior Design, edytaandco.com, (773) 988-1896. •Adele Lampert, Page One Interiors, Barrington, interiorspageone.com, (847) 951-9159. •Joan Kaufman, Interior Planning & Design, Inc., interiorplanning.com, (630) 848-2119. •Barbara Ellen Polster, Barbara Ellen Home Interiors, Roselle, (630) 632-2412.

Article Categories
Gardening Home & Garden Home and Garden Lifestyle