Wheelchair Friendly Kitchens

From the layout to benchtops with space underneath and moving shelves, there are various ways to design a wheelchair-friendly kitchen.

Traditional kitchens tend to have surfaces, benchtops, cabinets and even appliances that can make it difficult to use for someone with disabilities. So, it’s important to understand and consider each aspect and how it can be adjusted to suit those with disabilities.

At Renovation Capital, we have been designing beautiful, functional kitchens since 1997. We know all the ins and outs of kitchen design and truly take the time to understand each clients’ specific needs and requirements.

The Renovation Capital team can turn any kitchen space into an area that is disabled-friendly yet stylish so that you can thrive in the heart of your home!

Usually, benchtops and surfaces sit at a height of just under a meter. This height typically accommodates the average, able-bodied user, but not those in wheelchairs. This height can prove especially difficult and challenging for disabled users. To have a disabled-friendly kitchen, the benchtops should rest much lower.

What’s more, they should also have space underneath the benchtops instead of cabinets. This ensures that wheelchair users can move around easily. The space under the benchtops will let them get much closer to the work surface than they could if there were closed cabinets underneath.

Modern kitchen benchtops can also be height-adjustable if there are users who have different needs in the household.

In many kitchens, you will find overhead cabinets placed on the walls above the benchtops. While this is a standard kitchen design, it’s impossible for wheelchair users to access these cabinets.

When designing a wheelchair-friendly kitchen, it’s important to position cabinets so that they are reachable for disabled persons. They shouldn’t have to strain themselves to reach the cabinets. So, it’s important to either make the cabinets height-adjustable. Or, you could design the kitchen so that the cabinets are lower down and easily within reach of wheelchair users.

Something that will also be quite useful in a disabled-friendly kitchen is to have touch-release drawers and doors. This makes it much easier to open cabinet doors. 

For kitchen sinks, it’s important that there is empty space underneath the sink for legroom. Sinks should also have an adequate height, width and depth for wheelchair users. The great thing about disabled-friendly sinks is that many adjustable countertops come with built-in sinks. So, you can also adjust the height of the sink to suit your preferences as well.

It is also important to remember that faucet and tap controls should be easily reachable as well. For faucet handles, lever type or touch control devices are much better than knob type handles.