Interior designer Cynthia Soda worked with the team at HGTV's Holmes Family Rescue to fix a previous poorly done reno and turn a house into a beautiful and functional home for a couple and their wheelchair-bound son
A few years ago, when Iwan and Ivona decided to start a family, they sold their small downtown condo and bought a fixer-upper in the suburbs. They hired a contractor to start some renovations, which were poorly done, but before they could have them fixed, Ivona became pregnant. Three months after their son Noah was born, he was diagnosed with cancer, which left him left unable to use his legs. The earlier renovations had left chipped and broken tiles and uneven floors, which make it difficult for Noah, who is now five, to get around the main floor in his wheelchair.
Challenge #1: The floors
The biggest challenge was to provide a seamless experience for Noah in his wheelchair. That meant replacing all the floors.
"I wanted a flooring that would suit the whole main level from front to back, for it to be attractive, tough and durable, and be a smooth transition for Noah's wheelchair," explains Cynthia Soda, owner and principal designer of Soda Pop Design Inc..
Soda chose Gemtec's Hardwood Masterpiece white oak DaVinci from Twelve Oaks, an engineered hardwood floor that is waterproof, child- and pet-friendly, has a durable wood core and comes with a lifetime residential warranty.
"It looks and feels like wide-plank solid wood but the core is a dense rubber with a laminated back and a fused veneer top, so there is no way water can get in," she says. This is an important detail because the wheels of Noah's wheelchair are often wet coming inside from out of the rain.
Challenge #2: The kitchen
The smallish kitchen needed to be updated and, as mentioned, the tile floor was a mess and a danger for Noah in his wheelchair. A lot of thought was given to choosing materials that were durable to withstand knocks and bangs from the wheelchair, and ensuring the overall design would be barrier-free to allow Noah to participate in kitchen activities.
"The client had mentioned to me they would sit Noah on the counter when he wanted to help cook. I thought about what they wanted to do and how to keep him safe, and went with a countertop and Invisacook by Ciot," explains Soda.
"The technology is safe, cold to the touch and takes up no space. It actually looks like there is no cooktop on the counter because the Invisicook is installed underneath the countertop. Plus, the benefit of the induction cooktop is that it doesn't get hot so he could sit anywhere on the countertop and not get burned if it's off, plus it saves space."
Other kitchen adjustments included continuing the tile finishes on the back of the island to reach the floor, dropping one end of the counter to desk height so Noah could food prep or do homework, and installing appliances such as a pull-out microwave drawer at an accessible level.
Challenge #3: Noah's bathroom
The main floor bathroom is also the family's primary bathroom, so the aim was to make it accessible but not look like a hospital setting.
Renovated to accommodate Noah's needs, there were a lot of little details to consider, including working with a critical clearance zone of a five-foot turning radius for the wheelchair, enough room to accommodate the length of the grab bar located at the right of the toilet, and three-feet of clearance to get in and out of the shower. It was those critical clearances that determined the size of the overall space.
"Other factors we had to think about was how high the countertop should be, what would be the slope required when Noah washed his hands in the sink, and even a tilted mirror so he could see himself," says Soda.
And since he uses a different wheelchair for when he showers, the roll-in shower was designed with a half wall to hide the wheelchair when not in use.
"For this family, not having the equipment visible all the time was thoughtful and considered his needs, but it also didn't have to be seen all the time."