COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE FOR SENIOR LIVING

Home Design Guide

2

Introduction

THE COMFORTS OF HOME

At Sunrise Senior Living, each community is a unique home. From beautifully decorated spaces to layouts designed for the needs of older people, we create comfortable, convenient living environments. It’s one of the many things that make Sunrise the best choice in senior living.

Sunrise has created this design guide to help you create inviting, personal spaces within your own home. Our team of interior design experts have addressed a variety of design needs, such as:

• Planning a smooth move

• Combining safety and comfort

• Design solutions for ageing eyes

• Create familiar spaces for memory support

• Making your space unique

Look for Sunrise design tips as you explore this guide.

Every Sunrise community is packed with great ideas that you could use in your own home.

We asked Sunrise experts Andrea Owensby (Senior Director of Design) and Adam Keens (UK Director of Facilities) to share some tips.

Look out for them throughout this guide.

3

Add a touch of greenery. As well as adding visual interest, potted plants can help to keep the air fresh and provide an absorbing hobby. If you’d prefer low-maintenance houseplants, there are lots of options, such as aloe vera, cactus, spider plant and ivy.

Do … Get the exact size and layout of your new home. Plan to bring only those items that will fit comfortably.

… Create a must-have list tailored to favourite daily activities. For example, avid readers may want to include bookshelves.

… Get creative. Recreate the look of a previous home with fewer pieces, such as a two-seat sofa instead of a full three-piece suite.

At Sunrise, we do everything we can to ease each resident’s transition to their new home. Moving to a care home may be the right decision, but it can also be stressful. It takes time to meet new neighbours, get used to sleeping in a new bedroom and understand the daily routine of the community.

We encourage our residents to express their personal taste and style by bringing their own furniture and decorating their new suite – right down to the paint colour.

TIPS FOR DOWNSIZING

Over time, we all accumulate furniture, clothing and a variety of personal items. Moving provides a good opportunity to identify what’s important to keep, what can be offered to friends and family and what can be donated to charity.

PL ANNING A

Smooth Move

Sunrise Tips

4

Display items imaginatively. Choosing odd numbers of items adds visual interest to any display. Also, play with displaying practical items alongside ornamental pieces. For instance, a kettle could be grouped with a tea caddy and a bowl that holds items of sentimental value.

Don’t … Make packing decisions alone. Enlist someone who’s less emotionally attached to items that might not fit or be useful in a smaller home.

… Leave loved ones out of the process. Let the person moving into their new home make as many decisions as possible.

… Waste money on new accessories. Family photos, art and other mementos make a new home feel familiar.

Sunrise suggests this approach to furniture placement in our typical one-bedroom suite.

Sunrise Tips

5

Sunrise champions quality of life for seniors - and safety is a primary concern. Many older people face physical challenges like limited mobility, balance, sight and hearing. Keep these tips in mind when decorating a new home:

Finesse your furniture. Strategically place major pieces so they can be used for balance while moving through the room. Keep pathways clear, particularly if walkers or wheelchairs are necessary.

Improve access. Place frequently used items in waist-high cabinets and drawers. Keep phones near beds and sitting areas. Site lamps so they give you unrestricted access, and ensure switches are easy to operate. Swap dresser knobs for drawer pulls that provide an easier grip.

Prevent falls. All rugs should be non-slip and contrast in colour with the flooring beneath. Tuck electrical cords behind furniture or use cable management products, which are available in most stationers, DIY stores or computer shops.

Increase visibility. Create strong contrasts in colour between major pieces of furniture, walls, curtains and floors. During the day, allow as much natural light as possible into living areas. At night, think about illuminating the path between the bed and bathroom with motion-sensor nightlights.

Create a fall-proof bathroom. Place seating in front of the sink and in the shower for easy, comfortable use. Install non-slip strips on the shower floor and grab bars near the shower, bath and toilet.

STR ATEGIES FOR

Combining Safety and Comfort

6

Makeovers made easy Use warm neutral colours on accent walls to create interest. Draw attention to a focal wall by using a design feature such as headboard or complementary colour. Then use brighter colours on scatter cushions and throws that you can change whenever you want a new look. This is an inexpensive way to makeover a room quickly.

Be practical about furniture As well as being sturdy, furniture should also be easy to reposition. Choose items that are solid enough to provide good support when they’re leaned upon. Think carefully about safety and ease of maintenance, too: round tables instead of sharp cornered squares or rectangles, no glass tops and low-maintenance woods that require little cleaning.

Box clever Go for smaller storage boxes so that they don’t become too heavy when full. For larger items, use thinner storage boxes and stack them on top of each other to save space in cupboards or under beds.

Sunrise Tips

Sunrise Tips

Sunrise Tips

7

1 Create strong colour contrasts between major pieces of furniture, walls, curtains and floors. The same applies to different pieces of bedding - and even in the bathroom, where the toilet seat should be noticeably darker or lighter than the floor.

2 Outline windows with curtain fabrics that stand out from the walls. Add piping to couches and chairs to better define these pieces.

3 Natural light not only helps keep things visible, it helps you to settle into normal sleep cycles.

4 Keep reading areas well lit. Adhesive under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen can also help with food preparation.

5 Did you know that ageing eyes have difficulty distinguishing between blues and greens? Only use these colours as accents against a primarily red or gold palette.

6 Nightlights and motion-sensor lights - especially between the bedroom and bathroom - make for easier navigation and reduce the risk of falls.

7 Artwork and other accessories or ornaments should be bright, crisp and clear.

8 Position reflective furniture to minimise glare. Avoid glass-top tables, which reflect light and can also be difficult to see in dim rooms.

Design Solutions for Ageing Eyes

8

Be clever with light These days, you can choose all sorts of clever lighting solutions. From touch-control lamps to wall lights that leave more space on your bedside cabinet. From a textural point of view, it’s best to choose fabric shades, rather than metal or paper, as these are softer to the touch as well as diffusing light.

Make a contrast As we get older, our eyes need help to see different layers and surfaces. Contrasting colours and textures make it easy to spot the difference. Use sheets and pillows in different colours, for instance. Mix textures too - a smooth sheet and a textured duvet cover, for example - so the sense of touch helps differentiate items when vision is poor.

Sunrise Tips

Sunrise Tips

Designed to be clearer Every Sunrise community incorporates design touches that are suited to ageing eyes. Contrasting colours not only add visual interest, they are used to help people find their way around the community more easily.

Sunrise Tips

9

Touch• Textures stimulate memory;

items upholstered with touches of lace, fur and even denim can evoke particular life events.

• Tactile wall art can encourage touch and sparks conversation.

Sight• Familiar photos and meaningful

décor can spark memories and conversation.

• Busy patterns can create frustration and confusion; avoid designs with dark spots that may be misinterpreted as dirt or holes.

At Sunrise, we know that Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of memory loss affect residents within our Reminiscence Neighbourhoods differently. Our team values each resident’s individual needs. We believe the home environment can also be a tool that creates security, promotes self-esteem and engages the senses.

CREATING FAMILIAR SPACES FOR

Memory Support

10

Smell• Familiar, pleasant scents like coffee

or popcorn can serve as calming aromatherapy.

• While flame candles present a fire hazard, scented electric candles mimic the flicker of a real flame and release a pleasant aroma.

Taste• Primary colours enhance appetite.

• Cups and bowls with two handles are easier to use.

• Don’t fake it - plastic fruits, vegetables, or even berries on silk plants can be confused with real food.

Sunrise offers Reminiscence Neighbourhoods for our residents living with memory loss. These secure areas incorporate many of the sensory elements mentioned here. Reminiscence Neighbourhoods are also designed so that resident suites are located next to living and dining areas, promoting easy navigation and social interaction.

11

Carefully chosen possessions. Which things will you keep and which will you want to hand on to family or friends when you downsize? Think about keeping possessions that do more than simply look good. Vases and boxes, for instance, can be useful as well as decorative. If they’re associated with fond memories, even better!

Making Your Space Unique

Above all, Sunrise builds and designs its communities to warmly welcome each and every resident. Once safety, convenience and overall support are incorporated into the design, it’s time for the fun part: Individual style.

THAT PERSONAL TOUCH

• From quilting to figurine collections to favourite artists, the décor should reflect each resident’s tastes and interests.

• Personalised interiors also provide conversation starters for visitors.

ENCOURAGE SOCIAL INTERACTION

• Ensure plenty of guest seating.

• Group furniture in a way that encourages conversation, such as placing seating in a semicircle.

• Display interesting art, awards, photos and other personal items in a way that sparks conversation.

Sunrise Tips

12

At Sunrise, we fit a personalised ‘memory box’ outside each suite that showcases each resident’s own unique stories, talents and interests. The piece not only encourages conversation with neighbours - it also enhances our residents’ feeling of familiarity and belonging.

13

Display photos on shelves. Shelving provides an easy way to display treasured photos without having to hang frames on the wall. Clustering pictures together also helps your room to appear less cluttered.

Keep an open mind. Cupboards and drawers are great for storing things you need close at hand. Too much can make the room appear cold and impersonal. However, too much open storage space can look a little messy. Think about what could be put away - paperwork, for instance - and what you’d like on display.

Sunrise Tips

14

Sunrise believes growing older doesn’t mean that home should be any less comfortable, stylish or inviting. We encourage our residents and their families to use this guide to create homes that celebrate the past, present and future!

For more tips from the Sunrise design team, visit:

sunrise-care.co.uk

15

sunrise-care.co.uk

The Sunrise Design Team is a full-service, in-house interior design department with expertise in aesthetically pleasing, functional and safe home design for older people. With the utmost dedication to our Principles of Service and Core Values, the team creates homes that incorporate:

• Thoughtfully selected design features, finishes, furniture, fabrics, window treatments and more.

• Space planning and placement of lighting, art and accessories in a manner that best meets the needs of older people.

• Full compliance with relevant building regulations and furnishing standards.

SSLUK 06/14