Celebrate Healthy Aging Month With These 4 Tips for Making Your Bathroom Safe for Seniors

It’s time to celebrate Healthy Aging Month in the best way possible: by making our homes safer and more comfortable for seniors.

It might surprise you that the most dangerous room in the house is not the kitchen or the garage but the bathroom — though when you consider the potential for slipping and falling, it makes sense.

Around 80% of senior citizens’ falls happen in the bathroom, with the majority of them resulting from slipping while getting into and out of showers and bathtubs.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of four tips for making your bathroom safe for seniors and those with limited mobility:

1. Install Shower Grab Bars

Your bathroom will always have water and slippery surfaces to contend with. Priority No. 1 is giving people something to grab onto to prevent catastrophic falls.

Even if you have taken steps to prevent water from collecting on the floor, installing grab bars for seniors is an absolute necessity. Furthermore, it’s important to install them in nearly all parts of the bathroom.

Grab bars are not just for the shower, either — they’re helpful around the toilet to help with sitting down and standing up. They’re also helpful for simple movements around the bathroom and prevent accidentally grabbing other objects like towel bars and vanity tops.

The beauty of shopping for grab bars today is that they now come in a wide variety of finishes and shapes — gone are the days of large, clunky grab bars that have little to do with your bathroom’s aesthetics. For example, Kingston Brass carries a large selection of modern grab bars of various lengths and diameters that add style and flair while providing invaluable safety for seniors. Preserve your bathroom’s clean lines and color choices with polished chrome, matte black, and other color options.

You’ll also find traditional grab bars in finishes like polished brass, nickel, and oil-rubbed bronze. These grab bars tend to feature more pronounced trim pieces, often with ornate designs that recall the meticulous metalwork of long ago.

No matter which style you choose, Kingston Brass grab bars are designed with an uncompromising eye for quality and beauty. They add safety and support for all ages and will add to the luxurious feel of your bath — all while serving the highest purpose possible.

2. Install a Shower Seat

As we age, it’s more likely that we’ll have problems standing and balancing. One of the most elegant solutions is adding a waterproof shower seat to your shower or bathtub, which allows seniors to sit while they bathe.

Kingston Brass offers a selection of visually stunning and highly functional bath chairs, shower benches, and shower stools that feature non-rusting metal frames.

Add the warmth of natural wood to your shower by installing a seat with a natural wood surface. Our Chaise 19″ X 16″ wall-mount folding shower seat features brushed brass and natural red oak, stained to add beauty to your shower space while providing lifetime water imperviousness. Simply fold the shower seat up against the wall when not in use.

Explore an entirely different aesthetic with our matte white solid surface bathroom stool. Made from white stone — a mixture of granite, aluminum, and resin — this single-piece shower piece is completely non-porous and can be used both in and out of the shower. It is an excellent choice for modern baths that would benefit from a striking piece of visual art.

3. Add a Hand Shower

It can be difficult to shower completely using a single-point, overhead shower system, particularly with reduced mobility. Regardless of whether you’ve added a shower seat to your bath, a hand shower will allow anyone to shower comfortably and thoroughly without having to “walk” around the shower.

Kingston Brass has curated the most elegant selection of hand showers on the market. If you’re after streamlined decor, look at our selection of modern hand showers in polished chrome, brushed nickel, and matte black. Designed to take up less visual space while providing a range of showerhead patterns, these hand showers are the perfect addition to any modern bath.

Likewise, our traditional hand showers bring timeless charm and stunning slide bars to your bath. Choose the perfect water flow, from massage spray modes to a traditional shower pattern. Matte black, brushed/antique/polished brass, Naples bronze, and polished chrome are just some of the spectacular finishes available to add a warm touch to your bath.

Alternatively, you can add one of our slide bars to your shower to allow seniors to adjust the height of the hand shower position. Options like the Claremont 24” slide bar in brushed brass even include a soap dish for convenience.

If you already have a hand shower that isn’t able to reach all parts of the shower, consider installing a longer hand shower hose. You’ll find Kingston Brass’ selection includes all of our popular finishes to match your existing choice.

4. Choose Ergonomic Faucets

Older bathroom faucets tend to be less intuitive and more difficult to operate, particularly for seniors with arthritis in their hands. Though they may look simple enough to use, the combination of reduced arm strength and hand mobility can make them difficult for the elderly to use.

Kingston Brass’ bathroom faucet selections include the latest technology coupled with time-honored aesthetics, making them exceptionally easy to use with the added benefit of adding value and beauty to your bath.

Our 4” centerset bathroom faucets come in a huge range of different styles and include our most popular finishes like bronze, black, nickel, and brass. Many have clear hot and cold markings to make it obvious which side is which — perfect for those with a reduced vision since it’s easy to mistake a cold for a scalding hot.

If you love the look of a widespread bathroom faucet, you can preserve that look while making your sink easier to use for seniors. Options like our Fauceture 8 in. in oil-rubbed bronze feature easy-to-use levers and clear hot and cold markings. It also includes a matching drain.

Age-Proof Your Bath With Kingston Brass

Kingston Brass has all the hardware needed to make your bath both safe for seniors and beautiful. Since 1998, we have provided quality products for the plumbing industry — let us help you keep loved ones safe without sacrificing that hard-earned beauty.