Furnishing Your Care Home: How to Get Started

Care homes should be comfortable and inviting environments that help their residents feel at home from the very first moment. However, there is more to furnishing a care home than there is to furnishing a regular home.

Both of them need to be comfortable and inviting. But the residents of care homes have more complex needs.

People with disabilities, people with limited mobility, people living with dementia, or people who are bed-bound have different needs than their able-bodied counterparts. The furniture of a care home has to answer to these needs, in addition to being comfortable and inviting. Read on to find out how to choose the right furniture for your care home.

Consider the Room Layout before Anything Else

When furnishing any space (and especially care homes), selecting the furniture is just one step of the process. You also have to be extra careful with its placement.

Consider how much space the residents will need. Will they use a wheelchair? What about a walking aid? Can hoists be comfortably used in the layout?

The thing most your residents crave the most is independence. A well-planned room layout will give them just that: the opportunity to get around on their own, without the help of caretakers.

Take Individual Needs into Account

A care home is a space for communal living. But each of your residents has different needs and each of them has to be able to create their own little world within the group living environment. This is why the furniture of your care home needs to take into account individual needs to.

For instance, if you have residents with severely limited mobility who spend most of their time in bed, profiling beds will make a world of difference. Similarly, choosing a pressure relief mattress – it will help prevent pressure sores and greatly improve residents’ quality of life.

For people living with dementia, consider a layout that facilitates social interactions. Studies have shown that people with dementia who live in care homes spend less than 50% of their time engaged in social activities. As for the furniture, go with neutral tones and contrasting patterns and avoid bright colors to reduce the risk of confusion. Opt for easy-open storage spaces with contrasting rails and great compartmentalisation to help your residents with dementia easily find everything they own.

People with low mobility are typically prone to falls and slips, so install additional support items like hoists and rails in their rooms. This will make both their lives and those of your team much easier.

Always Put Safety First

Safety is a vital part of running any type of care facility. In turn, furniture plays an important part in ensuring the safety of your residents. This is why you should always buy your furniture from a specialist supplier, who understands the needs of your residents. A specialist supplier can create pieces that are designed to ensure the safety of people with a wide range of conditions, from dementia to low mobility.

Furniture for seniors should come with some adaptations, like rounded corners or non-slip feet to reduce injury risks. You can also add padding to some of your furniture pieces to reduce that risk even further.

Consider Hygiene Requirements

Group living environments can easily become hotbeds for bacteria. This is why cleanliness and infection control are crucial. They are also things you should factor in when choosing your care home furniture.

First off, all the furniture surfaces in your care home should be easy to clean. This means fewer ridges and non-porous surfaces. For soft furniture pieces, opt for removable covers that can be easily removed and washed – these surfaces tend to be the prime spots for bacterial growth.

Maximise Value for Money When You Shop for Care Home Furniture

Care homes typically operate with strict budgets. This is why when you buy new furniture you want to make sure you maximise its value.

You may be tempted to buy cheap furniture and save money. But think about the long run. Cheap furniture breaks down easily and you will have to change it very soon. Plus, if it exposes your residents and your staff to accidents, the lawsuits will be far more costly than buying good care home furniture from the very beginning.

For all your care home furniture needs, you can confidently contact NHC Group. With a history of 20 years of helping care homes with everything they need, from furniture to medical supplies and protective equipment, NHC Group can offer you all the furniture your care home needs, at excellent prices and with package deals and bulk discounts.