Eleanor Graves helps people who are aging in place to feel more at home in their homes.
While it’s not her sole focus as an interior designer, Graves often works with older clients to not only refurbish their homes but also to make them more accessible in the face of challenges they may encounter as they age.
Through her interior design firm, Refuge Design Workshop, Graves works on kitchens, offices, storage spaces and more. Initially, though, she did not intend to become an interior designer.
“I found my way to interior design after deciding that academia was not going to be a good fit for me. I was an English teacher for a while, running a classroom and writing syllabuses,” Graves recalls. “I made a switch because I felt like it was going to be a little bit more hands-on and service-oriented. I really liked the intellectual challenge of figuring out a house and how to make it beautiful, and working with others on that process is truly satisfying. It feels like a complete art form.”
Graves still puts her background in education to good use, though. She recently launched an online educational program, Rightsizing With Design, which is meant to introduce people to interior design principles that they can use to organize and decorate their homes to maximize each room.
“My whole goal was more education-oriented,” she explains. “I wanted people to know that there was a way of design thinking that can help them understand how their home works and what was required of them as homeowners and be someone who can walk them through that process.”
Graves walked us through a recent project of hers, the “Pool Mudroom,” which was meant to make a couple’s new home better fit their living situation.
Their new, larger home had many vacant spaces, and the Pool Mudroom was one such space that was repurposed into a changing room for the pool they were installing.
Part of a Whole
The Pool Mudroom storage space may seem like a small build, but it’s actually rather complex.
Graves notes that laymen with little experience in construction or interior design often underestimate how much work and precise engineering can go into something as seemingly simple as a shelving unit.
“All of these components are going to have to be purchased somewhere, at some building supply store, and put together and painted. People often don’t have an appreciation for that,” Graves explains. “It doesn’t just get bought fully assembled and stuck to the wall. We often talk about the build environment, and there’s a level of communication you have to have with a contractor or designer when approaching them for a project.”
Hidden Accessibility
Making sure that builds are easily navigable for people who are aging in place often involves implementing clever design elements that many may not think twice about. Having storage space low to the ground is an easy way to make a space more accessible, as it means that a homeowner doesn’t have to stand on a chair or a stepladder to store and retrieve items.
Something important for a space near a pool, where people are often changing in and out of wet swimsuits, is the flooring.
Tiles that are too smooth and don’t have enough friction can lead to potential injuries if someone walks in with wet feet, so a more textured wooden floor was used.
“I’m always trying to get people to use sustainable and renewable materials, so especially when it comes to flooring, I try to get people to use wood,” Graves notes. “A lot of people would prefer vinyl because it’s cheaper, but if I can convince a client not to go with vinyl, that’s a hill I’m willing to die on.”