How to Make Your Home More Accessible for Holiday Guests

With Christmas and the New Year just around the corner, chances are you’re scrambling to prepare your home for holiday guests.

Maybe that means preparing your guest rooms, or cleaning out your basement, or buying enough food to feed 20 people.

But if you have a guest who has a mobility issue, things become a bit more complicated. Your job as a host is to make your home not just welcoming, but accessible.

And one of the ways you can do that is through a stair lift installation.

Renting a stair lift for the holidays

We realize that at this point, you might be thinking, “I want my guests to feel welcome, but a stair lift installation seems like a major project.”

That’s where a stair glide – also known as a stair lift – rental comes into play. Instead of making a permanent alteration to your home, you’ll just have a stair lift for a few weeks.

It’s the perfect solution not only for people expecting visitors with mobility issues, but also for older relatives/visitors who might struggle with using the stairs.

Stairlift rentals can also help in situations where you or a loved one are at your home recovering from an operation or a debilitating injury. Neither the injury or the effects of the surgery will be with you for good, so renting a stair lift for the short term might be more convenient and cost-effective than a permanent stair lift installation.

Other ways to make your home more accessible

While a stair glide installation will help guests with mobility issues access your upstairs and downstairs, there are other things you can do to help guests with mobility issues:

• Put away your throw rugs and other low-lying obstructions. You may even need to remove end tables and other small furniture pieces to give guests more room. Most wheelchairs need at least a five-foot radius to navigate comfortably.
• Remove a couple of chairs at your dining table.
• Install temporary grab bars in the bathroom.
• Make sure electrical cords or cables aren’t in the way.
• If you have guests who’ll be staying overnight, consider investing in a shower seat and removable shower head.
• In addition to renting a stair lift, you may want to rent a wheelchair ramp if there are steps leading to the entrance of your home.

Do you need a stair glide installation? Marx Medical can help.

Whether you need a stair lift for the holidays or need a more long-term accessibility solution, turn to Marx Medical Equipment.

We rent and sell stairlifts from Savaria and Merits, including the Savaria K2 straight stairlift, which features the most compact folded depth on the market, letting you keep your stairs clear when the lift isn’t in use.

With a 350-pound capacity and an adjustable arm width, this chair is ideal for a broad range of comfort needs. Safety features include obstruction sensors, overspeed governor and retractable seat belts.

The Merits Aviator Pilot Stair Lift is your best choice for straight stairs in the home. With its compact design, it is out of the way when not in use, yet ready to carry up to 350 lbs. whenever you need it.

No matter how long you need a stair lift, trust our experts to find a solution that keeps you and your loved ones safe.