Tips for building a slightly more accessible bathroom (specifically showers) that comes at literally NO HARM to able-bodied people
Sincerly someone who's tired of nearly eating shit everytime they watch a house/travel
Please note: this is specific to my experiences with bathrooms as an amputee, other people may have different experiences
1. Rough Bottomed Bathtub/Floor
It's such a small thing, but a rough bottomed bathtub really is better for grip than stick on grips, especially those stupid grip mats which have been THE CAUSE of my nearly eating shit. The suction cups for the grips can and often do slide around on a smooth bottomed bathtub. Even just slightly roughed up tiles or smaller tiles would help in a bathroom with tiled floor for everyone involved. When my able-bodied friend and I went to Iceland, one of the hostel bathrooms had floor tiles so smooth, my friend nearly slipped and hurt herself on them.
2. Drill a Grip Bar into the Wall
That right I said DRILL, not those shitty suction on bars, those SUCK. I honestly don't know why this isn't fucking standard for bathrooms, it's even an advantage to able-bodied people to have a bar to hold onto or grab in case you slip in the bathtub. A bar in the wall to stabilize you is such a simple, safe thing to add.
You know those faucets that's like a twisty turny little elephant trunk handles? Those are best for the shower, they offer an easy grip and since most of them only need to be pushed down to stop the water they're better for, like, not having to twist the knob as hard as you can to stop the water pressure. Idk, but I have these stupid doorknob shaped faucets at my house that are difficult to grab, often slip out of my wet hands, and overall just don't work well.
4. Medium Level Soap/Shampoo Nook
Almost every house I've been to with a special nook for soap has the nook placed high so a person standing can see it. Cool, that doesn't work if you're sitting on a fucking chair, or if you're short, or even if you're a fucking kid. I can't reach the high up soap nook without standing up on my chair which is dangerous for me! The nook doesn't need to be at your knees of anything, but I think about waist height for the average person should be reasonable for everyone to reach the soap/shampoo at most heights.
5. Shower Heads on a Hose
These are honestly the best shower heads to work with, you can keep them up high on their perch or take them down to reach your harder to reach places, or just focus on certain areas. They're also nice for people who are taller than the average shower hose height.
6. I shouldn't have to fucking say this but Drill your Shower Rod into the fucking wall
This is what ispired me to make this post rn, don't use a fucking tension rod for the shower curtain. If someone slips getting out of the tub and grabs the shower curtain by instinct, it's better that the shower curtain maybe rip a little from your weight than the whole fucking rod and curtain to come toppling down together adding more danger to the situation. Also I'm too damn short to put your fucking curtain rod back in it's place Rochelle.
7. Put the Towel Rod next to where you exit the Shower
This one also should be obvious but I had a house I watched with a beautiful and actually fairly accessible remodeled bathroom with the towel rod BEHIND the swinging glass shower door. I had to awkwardly hobble around the door holding it to grab the towel so I could sit down to dry myself off.
These are just some basic tips that most houses can do (whether you're remodeling a bathroom or you know someone building a fucking house) and something ALL hotels/motel/travel stay places SHOULD do to make their bathrooms more accessible at the very least. Anything more would be consider adding a built in chair so one can sit while they shower but I understand this can be expensive, however shower chairs are relatively cheap and honestly disabled or not, it's just nice to sometimes sit while you're in the shower. This however is an acception to places with communal bathrooms (like hostels) you MUST have an accessible bathroom! Again these are based on my own experiences as an amputee who needs a shower stool so safely take a shower.