How to improve the design and look of a care home

Why should you care about the design and look of a care home?

Well, the design of buildings and spaces such as care homes is proven to be linked to quality of life. So, to improve residents’ quality of life, you must also improve the design of the space. This is critical as residents will spend the majority of their days within the confined space, so you must do everything in your power to ensure they feel comfortable, relaxed and safe, which improving the design can do.

1. Make sure it smells nice

A seemingly unusual, but very important tip. One of the first things you notice when entering a place, is how it smells. The same applies to care homes. You do not want it to have an “old people smell”. Ideally, you want everyone who enters (i.e., all residents, visitors and staff), to be met with a pleasant and refreshing odour, as opposed to faint smells of urine. There are numerous ways to make your home smell amazing, which of course, can also be applied to care homes. Tips and tricks include:

• Using deodorising disks – you can hand-make them using natural ingredients: baking soda and essential oils. They are great as they soak up any foul-smelling odours in the building. So, place them in the rooms of residents, reception desks and all around the care home.
• Candles – candles are an obvious and great choice when it comes to making a place smell better. The great advantage of them is that there are thousands of different scents and options to choose from! However, caution must be placed if you decide to use them in the care home as they of course pose a fire risk. So, if you do choose to use them, be very careful and do not place them near residents.
• Flowers – another great pick of course. Unlike candles, flowers come with virtually no safety hazard and can be placed in most places within the home. Although, it is better to be safe than sorry after all. So, while it is unlikely that flowers pose a risk to residents, make sure none of the residents are allergic to a specific type of flower before placing it in the home.

2. Furniture

Aesthetically, furniture can make or break the design of a space. So, if you want the care home to be better designed, ensure the quality of the furniture is superb. So, everything from sofas, rugs to mattresses should be thoughtfully considered to meet the needs, wants and preferences of residents. So, if certain residents suffer with back pain, pressure ulcers or sores, for example, you should consider buying specialist pressure care in the form of mattresses, cushion and protectors. The importance here is ensuring that the residents’ needs are placed at the forefront always.

3.Natural light

The connection between natural light and wellbeing is uncontested. To improve the design of a care home there should be as much natural light as possible.