Uncommon, Innovative, Functional Home Improvements That Help Seniors Age Safely in Their Own Homes Also Make Life Easier for Everyone in the Household

Publisher and consulting company ExtraOrdinary Homes is on a mission to help seniors avoid having to live in retirement, assisted living or their grown kids' homes. Its new book, ExtraOrdinary Home Ideas for Living Independently: Over 150 Affordable, Innovative Features That Seniors and the Disabled Will Love!, is chock-full of uncommon, clever home improvements that enable seniors to safely remain in their own homes as they grow older (i.e., age in place). The functional features the book describes enable independent living because they compensate for many of the physical changes that typically accompany the aging process. However, these features don’t just benefit seniors. They also make life easier for everyone else in the household, including young adults and busy families.

ExtraOrdinary Homes started collecting these hard-to-find feature ideas in 1998 via thousands of sources, and now offers consulting, publications and presentations that help homeowners quickly and easily learn about them. Today there are few — if any — other sources of as many hundreds of functional built-ins that specifically add convenience, function, comfort and safety to homes.

Some of the dozens of built-in features ExtraOrdinary Homes recommends to seniors are:

1. Rollaway storage — with lockable wheels when it’s in use — housed in a stall built into a lower cabinet, island, closet or under a sink. Or that’s rolled to where its contents will be used from under a built-in table, desk or countertop.

2. For hanging table linens, dowels in a cabinet or the pantry to minimize creases and maximize accessibility.

3. Closets whose lights turn on automatically as their doors open, the way a refrigerator's does.

4. Detachable garbage bins mounted inside closets or cabinet doors. (No more freestanding garbage cans that use precious floor space and can be a hassle to move or work around!)

5. A bedside light switch that controls the front porch light for startling a potential late-night intruder or alerting a visitor who has rung the doorbell that someone is on their way.

ExtraOrdinary Homes' president and founder, Carol Abrahamson, commented, "As our bodies change with age, our homes need to change, too. It’s a welcome bonus that these features also make everyone else’s lives in a household easier, and not just those of the seniors. Most of these features can be installed by any contractor or handy homeowner using commonly-available materials. And best of all, many are low cost to add to a remodeling or building project. Homeowners love how they increase ease of living and quality of life as well as their homes’ resale appeal and value.”

A free special report with more of these uncommon but powerful home improvement ideas will be mailed to anyone who sends $5.00 shipping and handling to Fabulous Home Improvements to Help Seniors Live Independently, c/o ExtraOrdinary Homes, 2675 West Highway 89A, #1241, Sedona, AZ 86336.

Background Research: A 2003 AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) survey revealed 82% of American adults want to remain in their own homes as long as possible as they age. Few want to move into a retirement home or in with their grown kids. Another pertinent study is the National Association of Homebuilders survey which reports one-fourth of the 30 million homes remodeled every year get at least one improvement prompted by the aging of an adult in the household.

About ExtraOrdinary Homes: ExtraOrdinary Homes is the only known company in America to specialize in functional convenience built-ins that make ordinary homes extraordinary. As a national consulting, publishing and presentation business, it informs homeowners who are planning remodeling or home building projects — and their advisors (i.e., real estate agents, builders, architects and other home design professionals) — about these innovative, uncommon, affordable features. Two areas of the Company’s specialization are features that enable independent living for seniors and the disabled, and convenience features for busy families. Based in Sedona, Arizona, the Company's products and services promote more than 1,000 practical, high-WOW!-factor built-ins that can add convenience, function, comfort and safety to every home — no matter what its size, style, décor, price or age. These features change people's lives and dramatically enhance ease of living, quality of life, and a home's resale appeal and value. They are often uncommon and therefore difficult to learn about, and ExtraOrdinary Homes saves its clients hundreds of hours and dollars researching them one-at-a-time. The Company also helps real estate, home design and building professionals increase sales and profits via these exciting features. For more information, call 800-979-3224 or visit http://www.extraordinaryhomes.com.