In a modern world, a kitchen is not just a place to create meals, it is a place where families come together to create memories, where friends catch up over drinks, and where the chef serves delicious food.

However, some typical kitchen designs could create challenges for people with a range of mobility restrictions or disabilities. Here at MKM We can measure, design, and supply stylish kitchens, which are adapted to your specific needs including disabled accessibility. If you or your family member have physical or sensory impaired disability, or requirement please read on to see how MKM can help create your dream kitchen with an inclusive approach to everybodys differing needs and requirements.
Whether you are having a completely new kitchen installation or making a few changes to your current kitchen – we have compiled a list of features which will help to make your kitchen more accessible.

Low Cabinets and Appliances: A kitchen with low-height cabinets and appliances becomes instantly more accessible, consider these for wheel-chair users or those with limited mobility. You can discuss your kitchen layout with one of our design specialists in branch to have a low-height kitchen features. This will provide wheelchair users access to their cabinets and appliances so they can cook with ease.

We are able to design your kitchen to include ovens with smart technology, for example our Caple Sense Premium oven comes with clear LED touch control to make the oven much more user-friendly. This oven also comes with Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning you can control the oven from your phone for ease of use. We also have pull-out heatproof shelves ready to install, as well as, under counter integrated fridges and freezers. You can view our appliances here.

 

 

Accessible Handles and Knobs: With modern kitchens, whether you choose a Modern or traditional style all of our kitchens come with an expansive choice of handles, knobs and Inline handless solutions to choose from. However, to make your kitchen accessible for all users, we would recommend you discuss your needs with our showroom specailists and to consider a typical handle over the handless styles as these are not as accessible for people with mobility or sensory impairment disabilities.
We would recommend choosing from our beautiful range of ‘D’ handles. They are simply more tangible, and easier to grasp. These handles come in a range of colours to suit any kitchen.

 

 

Adjustable Work Tops: Having adjustable work tops for families with a limited mobility or disabled person could be considered a vital element to making the kitchen a more practical and user friendly space. Not only does this allow for a wheelchair user to cook and prepare meals with more ease, but it also allows for dining areas to suit the needs of all family members, so mealtime can be enjoyed by everyone. Our rise and fall worktops can be either electrically controlled or manually controlled. Adjustable work tops are the perfect addition to your accessible kitchen to combine functionality and style.

 

 

Storage Solutions: Having a variety of storage solutions is a significant feature to ensure your kitchen is organised and accessible.
A clear floor space is important to make the kitchen area useable for wheelchair users. The main occupier of floor space in most people’s kitchen, tends to be waste bins. Our range of waste bins stores can contain multiple compartments for your recycling requirements and fit in a variety of cabinet sizes. This way you can have a stylish waste disposal cupboard, out of view and out of the way.

We also have a stylish range of pull-out units, our more popular styles include the Base Pull Out Unit, and the Corner Unit. Our customers often use these storage solutions for pots, pans, and ingredients. These units help bring storage cupboard items including pots, pans, food etc out to the kitchen user - making accessing kitchen items much easier for immobile users by reducing unnecessary reaching. As well is this, we have drawer organisers for cutlery trays and other kitchenware items.

 

 

Lighting: Any kitchen benefits from good task lighting but this can be considered even more important when designing an accessible kitchen to be functional for disabled users as well as stylish. We recommend having various lighting options as part of your kitchen as standard, but there are some extra options for families with disabilities to make their kitchen more accessible. Our aim is to help you have a well-lit kitchen to enhance safety while also being in a comfortable atmosphere.
Kitchens can easily seem quite dull if you do not have the appropriate light features. Task lights are a fantastic way to add more lighting in the kitchen. We have many innovative options like; Illuminated LED Glass shelves, Drawer Lights, and more. A favourite to add to an accessible kitchen are the LED Plinth Light, to illuminate around the full stretch of the kitchen units, along the floor. These lights create a guide around the kitchen and can help disabled users to find their way around the kitchen.

 

 

You can visit your local MKM branch to chat to our friendly design specialists and discover how you can transform your traditional kitchen, to an accessible one. For details about your local MKM branch, click here.