design ideas?

[Sh0rty]

I am short and my bf is tall. I have my house totally modified so I can do everything, this includes the kitchen. The kitchen is the biggest problem, I want to be able to get in and cook and do dishes etc which is why everything is lowered but watching him bend down to do the dishes makes me wonder if there are any design ideas that people have done to make a house work for both people? A lot of houses I see on the market that are wheelchair accessable all have able body kitchens with nothing lowered, no cut outs etc. I guess it would be a good excuse to get out of doing dishes.

[SCI-Nurse]

How about getting him a rolling stool that he can use to do things in the kitchen like the dishes?

http://www.simpleabilities.com/images/items/120101546lg.jpg

(KLD)

[Tiger Racing]

I am short and my bf is tall. I have my house totally modified so I can do everything, this includes the kitchen. The kitchen is the biggest problem, I want to be able to get in and cook and do dishes etc which is why everything is lowered but watching him bend down to do the dishes makes me wonder if there are any design ideas that people have done to make a house work for both people?
Same problem here. My husband is almost 6' tall. He currently does about 99% of the cooking and all of clean up in the kitchen because our kitchen is extremely tough for me to work in and I hate cooking anyway. We are in the process of a renovating a new home and decided to redo the entire kitchen. I need to start taking some responsibility in the kitchen again so we are making it as accessible as possible.

Most of the counters will be at a standard height, but one or two areas will be a bit lower. The sink will be a bit on the low side and have doors that cover the opening underneath when closed, but open and roll back for when I do the dishes. The dishwasher will be built in higher than average and we bought a built in oven (http://www.frigidaire.com/products/cooking/built-in_ovens/single_electric/prod_GLEB27S7C.asp) that has a door that opens to the side so that I can get closer to it without reaching over a hot door. We are also installing a height adjustable cooktop (http://www.ad-as.com/kb/approach_cook.htm). All of the cabinets have pull out shelves to make it easier to reach stuff at the back without falling into the cabinet reaching in. On paper, it all sounds good. We'll see how well it turns out when it's done.

C.

[Foolish Old]

http://www.geappliances.com/design_center/universal_design/

http://www.barrierfree.org/counters_new.php

[WheelieMike]

We just finished remodeling our home and our kitchen sink has the underneath cabinet recessed about 4 - 6 inches. This helps me with get closer to the sink. I can get even closer if I open the doors. However, if you don't want to do the dishes, don't tell your significant other about this.

[Sh0rty]

We just finished remodeling our home and our kitchen sink has the underneath cabinet recessed about 4 - 6 inches. This helps me with get closer to the sink. I can get even closer if I open the doors. However, if you don't want to do the dishes, don't tell your significant other about this.


In my kitchen now I have it that I can roll under to do the dishes. Are you saying that you did not lower the height of your counters any? Cus mine are lower than they would be in a standard house.

[JenJen]

Sh0rty,
I'm pretty happy with my kitchen design. My SO is 6'5, my son 6' and most of my friends are tall too.

The only counter in the kitchen that has not been lowered is the piece over the dishwasher. ABs can stand there and work. I can roll under one side of my sink, the other side is enclosed and all the plumbing, garbage disposal, soap and junk live there. My upper cabinets are lowered too and all base cabinets have pull-out trays.

My microwave is low too so that I don't pull hot stuff out over my head. My cooktop is at the lower level too and I have a wall-mounted, side-opening oven that ROCKS! The last step is the gas-powered shelf inserts that will lower the contents of the uppers down to my reach. They're expensive so I'm still saving up for them.

I have chairs on casters and anyone who cooks in my kitchen sits down. It's a little empathy training every time they cook. :)

[Tiger Racing]

I have a wall-mounted, side-opening oven that ROCKS!
What brand is it?

C.

[JenJen]

What brand is it?

C. Frigidaire is the only company in the US that makes one http://http://www.frigidaire.com/products/cooking/built-in_ovens/single_electric/prod_GLEB27S7C.asp

There are 2 models each in black or white. Mine is electric but it is available for gas too.

Here's a link to the shelf pulldowns too... http://www.amazon.com/Pull-Down-Shelf-Wall-24-Cabinets/dp/B0009EP2S2 There are better examples but I'm lazy this morning. sorry. If anyone finds these cheap, Please let me know!

[Tiger Racing]

Frigidaire is the only company in the US that makes one
Almost. Gaggenau (http://www.gaggenau-usa.com/US_en/Ovens/Ovens-Overview/Product-Detail.do?protocol=*~EB+290%2F291+-+single+convection+oven&contentId=967879) makes one too, but it costs about 3 times as much as the Frigidaire. We just bought the same model Frigidaire that you have. I haven't done much cooking in the past few years, but I used to do a lot of baking. Do you bake? How do you like this oven for that?

C.