Remodel the home for an injured veteran

Whenever you think about the country’s armed forces, it’s likely you’ll feel a great sense of pride and patriotism at what they are asked to do all over the world. Our men and women in uniform make an enormous contribution to helping others, and manypay the ultimate price to help keep you safe.

There are many, too, who come back from theatres of conflict with life-changing injuries, and it’s important to understand the issues they face when they returnand to help where possible.

Veterans really have seen it all, and you can bet they don’t want sympathy, but they do want support when they reintegrate into civilian life. If you are in that position, then adapting your home so that day-to-day living is made as easy as possible is going to be high up the agenda.

Tips for remodelling your home 

If you need to use a wheelchair, then the chances are that doorways in many modern homes are not wide enough for you to get through easily, if at all. The first objective when you’re remodelling is to widen doorways for every space you want to access.

It depends on your home, but if you take out the frame and cut back the plasterboard, it will make it easier to go from one room to another. You can always get another frame put in for the wider entrance.

Access ramps are also ideal to move you from one floor to another so remove steps or stairs where it’s feasible and use aluminium or concrete for the ramps, as they’re more durable and will last longer.

Get your worktops lowered so that they’re easy to reach. It’s frustrating when you have to stretch for something, such as an item on the stove, so bringing everything within easy reach means you can more easily prepare food and get to other items you need. Put a microwave on lowered worktops rather than locating it above your stove and try a separate fridge and freezer instead of one where the freezer’s on top. Removing wall cabinets is another option. Instead,store everythingin cupboards if they can accommodate it.

Allow plenty of space in your bathroom so that you can manoeuvre comfortably. Install grab rails for the bath and toilet, movelight switches toa lower level (you can do this throughout the home as well), and fit a lever handle for the door, not a knob – again, you can do this for all your doors.

Control your light

You’ll probably want to create many light spaces in your home yet stillbe able to control how much light comes in at various times without the need to operate drapes or blinds. Look into installing window shutters that are easy to control in terms of allowing natural light in or shutting it out when you want. They come in lots of different styles and materials and can make a real difference to how your home feels.

Make it yours

Homes are individual, and as a veteran, you’ll want to be comfortable and able to easily move around. Make your homeas comfortable as possible – remember you can do a lot of remodelling without incurring huge costs.