Not much room to wheel
Before we rearranged our living room, there wasn’t a whole lot of space for Namine to get her wheelchair through. As a matter of fact, we had to routinely move the reclining chairs just so she could get through to the kitchen and dining area. Even then, it was a tight fit. Clearly, a change was needed.
I found a web app called SmartDraw ↗ that allowed us to create a diagram of the living room, complete with measurements. Jessica and I measured the living room and furniture dimensions, then created a couple different rearrangements that would allow for a more open area.
A more open living space
In the arrangement Jessica and I settled on, the seating and entertainment center positions were flipped. We moved everything, including Namine’s school table and the piano. The school nook is in the same place — by the living room window — but even the bookshelf is moved.
All this moving allowed for something that doesn’t happen very often: a complete and total cleaning. We ended up vacuuming and dusting literally everything in the living room! (And let me tell you, it took a few days for our allergies to settle down again. ?)
The end result is a much more open living room, allowing Namine to wheel unimpeded through to the kitchen or the bathroom. We also consolidated the school area a bit, putting my computer and monitors on the desk. There is still enough room there for Namine to spread her books out and do schoolwork there.
One further note on that, though. Since I am working from home during Wisconsin’s lockdown ↗, I am seated in the school nook at my computer. But Namine still has a desk which sits on the floor, where she is content to work.
A reorganized bedroom
It’s been a couple years since we rearranged Namine’s room. She liked how it was set up, but in keeping with how we rearranged the living room, she thought she’d like a more open space for her wheelchair.
The biggest job by far was moving the bed. We ended up taking the mattress, box spring, and frame entirely out of her room so we could move everything else to the other side of the room. Then we moved the bed back into her room and put it under her windows in the opposite corner.
Now that the largest thing in her room is moved away from the door, she has room enough to bring her wheelchair in, if she’s so inclined. As we’ve said before, there’s a limit to what we can do to make an apartment accessible, but we’re very happy with what we’ve been able to do these past couple weekends.
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