When it comes to senior living, you should make your home look less like a hospital. If you asked someone to visualize any home with a senior that someone was helping take care of, they would probably think of medicine, bed pans, and unpleasant smell.
Now, if you don’t think that relates to a hospital, then what does?
Start by always keeping your home smelling nice and clean. Use disinfectants the keep your home sanitized, but not to the point where it smells like a hospital ward. Urinals and medicine should be kept in areas where they are easily accessible, but are not stored in public view.
Your visitors and guests don’t want to see or smell any of this, and your elderly loved one should be tired of these items, too. You should only bring them out when they are needed.
Here is a list of other suggestions:
Dress Your Loved One in Normal Attire – Don’t allow your loved one to get in the habit of dressing like they are in the hospital. This is not just to make your home look less like a hospital, it also helps your loved one to feel better about them self, and help build up self-esteem and courage to fight.
Use Strip Lights – Strip lights are thin strips that can be used to illuminate the hallways when it is dark, and you can also use these to illuminate the light switches where seniors are located.
Look for Home Decorating Tips – There are various ways to decorate to make your home look less like a hospital. Adding some vibrant color to give the rooms in your house the lighting they need.
Colors also add some individuality and helps your home to not have that sterile hospital feeling, although you keep your home clean.
Fresh Bouquets of Flowers – If your elderly loved one does not have any allergic reaction, flowers are a natural way to make the home smell better and of course, flowers make your home look natural. Flowers are alive and many seniors like to look, touch, and smell them.
Plants – There are many varieties of lovely indoor and outdoor plants that you can use to decorate your home. There are also beautifully designed pots to go with them, which helps give your home a unique touch.
Plants should last you a very long time as long as they are watered and you take good care of them.
You can plant flowers and plants at your home and get your elderly loved one to help with planting, pruning, and caring for them. That way, your loved one gets some exercise while doing something enjoyable.
Modernize Your Home – Even if you have an older home, it is not necessary to make everything look ancient and antique. You don’t need to buy new items, you can refurbish what you have.
If something is just not fxable, then you could replace it when you have the money. Also, try sanding, repainting, or adding varnish to bookcases and shelves. This can make them look like new.
How to Make Your Home Look Less Like a Hospital – Conclusion
As you can see in this article, the best way of how to make your home look less like a hospital is to make subtle changes. You don’t necessarily need to remodel your house or buy many expensive items.
If you remove that hospital look and smell then, you are almost there. Take the time to make your elderly loved one feel like they are in your home and not in the hospital.
