One of the latest trends in real estate is the quest of various buyers for homes designed along barrier free lines. This concept in real estate first became popularized within cities where the arts communities in particular sought out vacated lofts as living spaces, but over time the concept has been embraced by a larger amount of people, for a variety of reasons, with estate agents in Canada dealing in downtown real estate in Toronto, Canada to country cottages seeing this sort of design. In fact, barrier free homes have been called the architectural plan of the future. In this article, we will take a look at some of the benefits inherent in barrier free living.
Defining barrier free
Barrier free living is a fairly simple concept to grasp. In essence, it is the excluding as broad a number of obstacles within a home design as possible. Examples of common home obstacles, which are incorporated into the design, include walls, staircases, and doors. Of course, many of these obstacles have been necessary in the past, either for aesthetic reasons or for structural reasons. Agents with a real estate license in Ontario are still showing mostly houses with more small rooms to fill the square footage, rather than few open spaces. But, changes in technology and in perception have now made the elimination of many of these obstacles possible.
The benefits of obstacle free living
- Access for a broad range of people. Every living space may be home or play host to a very wide range of people. Minimizing the number of walls, stairways, and doors will mean that those with physical handicaps, the elderly, and pregnant women will be able to more easily move about within the home. If you're looking at Scarborough homes for sale, for example, that you plan to stay in through retirement, this may be a factor that you choose to consider.
- More room. The fact that there are fewer walls and other types of blockages within lofts is what led them to be so popular among the bohemian communities in many cities. Higher roofs and less confinement gives a feeing to the living space that is more conducive to free thinking and letting one's imagination run freely. There is also a lot more room for storage and supplies. You don't have to be an artist to appreciate this openness. Those running a Chinese language service from their home could also see the benefit of a more freeing design.
- Less to worry about when it comes to decorating. Let's face it; whenever you have a lot of walls within a home, you have to make more choices in terms of decorating. Most wall space will have pictures on it just so it does not look so bare. This can lead to extra expense as well as time spent decorating, coming up with ideas, even cleaning, and the less walls, the simpler your decor can be.
- Fewer accidents. Any homeowner with children knows that barriers (in particular, stairs) can be accidents just waiting to happen. Minimize the risk of injury by eliminating the staircase!
Barriers may have been necessary in houses for years, but today's designs and concepts mean that features such as walls and stairways may no longer need to be a part of the living experience. Barrier free living has been hailed as the way of the future, and certainly it opens up several options for a broader range of people when it comes to easier living.
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