My husband, Ali, and I bought a 2,100 square foot, rambler-style home in Bellevue, Washington, a few years ago. It is the perfect size for us and sits on a flat piece of property in a good school district. The house was built in 1963, though, and needed work. Most of the floors were covered in carpet — my manual wheelchair’s nemesis. The kitchen was falling apart. When I opened a drawer, wood pieces would sprinkle down all over the utensils in the drawer below it. And the washer and dryer were in the garage. Rolling down a ramp with a basket of dirty laundry on my lap and then back up it with the clean clothes, which I sometimes dropped, was super annoying.

We’ve been bringing our home into the 21st century and making it more accessible in phases. Ali, who has renovated homes before, has been doing a lot of the work — and we’ve hired specialists as needed.

Laundry

Before
We had a top-load washer and dryer, which was difficult for me to remove clothes from, in the garage.

After
Call me weird, but I like doing laundry. I listen to a podcast while I fold and put away clothes. It’s relaxing — especially now that the laundry area is inside our house. We have a front-load washer and dryer on pedestals — which put the washer and dryer at the perfect height for me. The pedestals have a storage drawer where we keep detergent and dryer sheets.

We had custom cabinetry made with a space that I can roll under to fold and iron on. With a pipe and connectors from Home Depot, my husband built a ceiling-mounted hanging rod. I use a pole with a hook that we bought for $13 on Amazon to hang clothes that need to be air dried.

Kitchen

Before
A lot of the cabinets were inaccessible to me. To wash dishes, I’d have to pull up sideways next to the sink and twist my upper body. It was hard for me to prep food on the high countertop.

After
Ali and I wanted an open concept floor plan, so we took down walls and had part of the ceiling raised to make the kitchen, living and dining areas one open room. We demolished the previous kitchen and had custom cabinetry made, adding more lower cabinets. Drawers make it easier for me to access dishes, pots, and pans. We had stainless steel guards, which can be easily replaced, put on the bottom of the cabinets to protect
them from my wheelchair dings.

We left the areas under the sink and stove open so I can roll under them. Our Monogram electric oven has a French door, which allows me to get food in and out of it easily and safely. The kitchen island has a lower floating countertop where I prep food.