If you’re shorter than 5’3”, then you’re typically considered “short”. Any lower than 5’, and life can get a whole lot more challenging. Whether it is while driving, retrieving items from the top shelf at the supermarket, or even at home, there can always be an issue related to your height waiting to jump out at you.

While the environment outside of your home can’t always be controlled, you can take action by changing your living space. In this article, we will go over three home remodeling ideas that shorter individuals will appreciate.

Lower Your Kitchen Counters

This is first on the list, and for many folks, it is the most important. We spend a great deal of our waking time in and around the kitchen. Whether you are frying up some eggs, chopping shallots, or just pouring a glass of orange juice, it is important that your kitchen is adapted to your height or the height of those that live with you. That is why lowering your counters might be beneficial and may help to make it easier for you to go about your culinary tasks.

By doing so, however, you may need to consider other changes that will need to be made—such as the height of appliances (stoves, dishwashers, etc.) and seeking out plumbing services if the piping connected to the sink would need to be altered as well.

Keep in mind, though, that not everyone is as short as you, and so you shouldn’t lower the counters more than two or three inches. By lowering it that much, using the space will be more comfortable for you while still making it practical to be used by taller individuals. Any lower could also make it hard to sell your home in the future as taller buyers might need to remodel the kitchen to adjust to their comfortability.

Replace Higher Shelving & Cupboards

If you’re short, then you know that retrieving items that are stored higher up is a huge obstacle. You might even keep a stool in your kitchen to help you get things but that might not always be enough. Perhaps you even find yourself getting up onto the counters to help you with such tasks. If so, then it’s time to get rid of higher shelving and find other storage options.

Instead of cupboards in your kitchen, make use of your wall space by having lower shelves installed along any usable wall space in your kitchen/dining area. The same could be done in your closets, storage rooms, and bathrooms.

Install Steps in Necessary Areas

If lowering your kitchen counters or replacing shelving seems like too much of a remodel, then you might want to consider installing steps or raised platforms around your home. This is especially ideal if only one or two people are short and the rest of the household is taller. These steps should be about four to six inches tall and the same measures for width as well. These steps can be installed around the kitchen and bathroom areas at the base of the lower cupboards. Doing this will give shorter individuals the increased height that they need without being too much in the way of taller individuals.

Remodels are always tough, and when you throw lowering and raising levels into the process it gets even more complicated. However, with some planning and hard work remodeling for the benefit of shorter people is a definite possibility.