Aging in Place Renovation: A Calgary Designer's Home

Even though aging in place isn't front of mind for me in the immediate term, it's a conversation my husband and I have been having since we bought our home 15 years ago.

We were lucky. We knew exactly which neighborhood we wanted to grow old in, and we had a clear picture of the kind of home that would carry us through every stage of life. So when we found our bungalow, we saw it for what it could be: a home that would quietly evolve with us.

The decisions we made then, and the renovations we're making now, aren't dramatic. They're the kind of small, considered design choices that disappear into a beautiful home. Then the day comes when you need them, and they turn out to be invisible, lifesaving infrastructure.

If you're somewhere in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and starting to think about your home as a long-term investment in your own future, here's what we've done in our own home and what I walk through with clients when we plan an aging-in-place renovation here in Calgary.

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Start with the bones: pick a layout that works at every age

All of our living spaces (kitchen, primary bedroom, bathroom, laundry, main living areas) sit on one level. Stairs are one of the most common causes of serious falls in older adults, and long before that becomes a real risk, they become a daily barrier on a bad knee, after a hip surgery, or when you're recovering from anything at all.

"Our most important aging-in-place decision came before any renovation: choosing a bungalow."

If you're house-hunting with the long view in mind, look at the floor plan, not the finishes. A single-level layout (or a home where everything you need to live could fit on one level) is far easier to age into than a beautiful three-storey townhouse.

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Widen the path

• When we renovated a few years back, we widened our entries and hallways. It looks like an aesthetic choice: the home feels more open and generous, the kind of space you actually want to come home to. But it's also a choice with a quiet purpose.

• Standard residential hallways are often 36 inches across. A walker, a wheelchair, or even just two people moving through with arms full of groceries need more, ideally 42 inches or wider. Wider doorways (32 to 36 inches of clear opening) keep every room usable for decades. You don't notice the difference day to day. You notice it the moment you need it.

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Lose the lips, level the floors

• This is the change I get the most questions about, and the one I'm proudest of: we removed every flooring transition on our main level. The hardwood and the tile sit at exactly the same height, with no thresholds, strips, or lips between them. Designers call it a zero-threshold floor.

• Visually, it's stunning. The floor reads as a single, continuous, intentional surface, and the rooms flow into one another in a way that feels modern and calm. Functionally, those tiny lips between rooms are one of the most common trip hazards in a home, and they're murder on wheels of any kind, from a vacuum to a wheelchair to a rolling office chair.

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Bring laundry to the main floor

• We moved our laundry up from the basement. This is a quality-of-life upgrade we benefit from now (no more hauling baskets up and down stairs), and a non-negotiable for the future.

• If stairs ever become difficult, having laundry on the same floor as your bedroom is the difference between independence and needing help with the most basic daily tasks.

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Choose furniture that can move

Our kitchen island isn't fixed in place. Today, it functions as an extra workstation, a buffet when we have people over, and a hangout spot for the grandkids. But it's movable, meaning if either of us ever needs a wheelchair, walker, or scooter, we have a clear, generous path through the kitchen with no demolition required.

That principle, choosing furniture and fixtures that can adapt, is one of my favorite tools to give clients.

A movable island, a freestanding vanity, a modular sofa: they buy you flexibility for decades. (An island like ours usually comes up during a kitchen renovation anyway, so if that's on your horizon, I walk through budget and timeline in this Calgary kitchen guide.)

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The next chapter: a basement built for whatever comes

The last project on our list is the basement. It used to be a rental suite, and we're reimagining it for the next stage of our life. In the short term, that means space for grandkids when they visit, and space for my design studio.

But we're designing it with one eye on the future, too. If we ever need a live-in caregiver, or an adult child needs to move home, or we want to host extended family, the basement is being built as a calm, self-contained living space, a layout that could comfortably support someone living with us full-time.

You don't have to manage it alone

One thing I tell every client: you don't have to project-manage this on your own. If you've ever felt buried by renovation decisions, that's the part a good designer takes off your plate. As a Calgary interior designer who specializes in aging-in-place, I plan the entire renovation with you and can connect you with occupational therapists and contractors in the city who specialize in accessibility work.

Good design and safe construction belong in the same plan from the start, not bolted together after the fact.

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The freedom to stay

• Here's what I want every client to hear: this kind of design gives your future self a head start. It gives you the freedom to stay in the home you love, on your terms, for as long as you want.

• The choices that make a home easier to age into are almost always the same choices that make it more beautiful and more comfortable today. Wider hallways feel more elegant. Level floors look more luxurious. A main-floor laundry is a daily luxury.

  
  

You don't have to renovate everything at once. You don't have to install grab bars in your 50s. You just have to design with a little more foresight than the average homeowner, and the home you love now will love you back later.

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Ready to Plan Your Renovation?

Whether you’re starting from scratch or finally ready for that renovation in Calgary you’ve been putting off, the best time to start planning is now.

I’d love to help you build a vision, navigate the selections, and create a place that works beautifully for your life.

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