Julie Helen: ‘We need to build more accessible homes’

I’m reporting from my laundry room today. Yes, it sounds ridiculously posh to call it that, but it is not just a run-of-the-mill utility room. 

When we were designing a wheelchair accessible house, one of my biggest conundrums was how to manage the washing; the preparing and separating of it, making sure I could reach and manage the machines; to the folding and putting away of the freshly clean clothes. I’ll be honest, ironing was not a massive consideration, it’s an activity saved for weddings, funerals, christenings and maybe a really important job interview I really want to impress at. Beyond that the tumble dryer is my hero for all other eventualities.

I’m a great woman for doing laundry in a burst, I can do three loads in a day but then they can remain unsorted for 7-10 business days and I’ll fish things out as I need them. 

It’s definitely not the perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, but it did help me to learn what I needed in the setup we have now. Our utility room lives next to our bedroom and is an extension of our wardrobe which is why it is called the laundry room. All our clothes live there. We have hanging space and shelves. Then we have washing machine, dryer, counter space and a sink. 

When it was drawn on plans, people told me it looked enormous and I still could do with more storage space. Clothes pile up and I never seem to get to the end of any laundry basket.#

The best thing is that it is all contained- so if I need to entertain, I can close the door and leave the mountain until I have time and energy to tackle it. I also love the way it is near our bedroom, part of the master bedroom really, so nobody is going to need to be in there unless they are invited, nobody would ever have a reason to walk through it so it’s like my secret hidden space. 

David doesn’t even have much reason to be in the laundry room because he likes to get ready in the bedroom so it’s truly my domain. It’s quickly becoming a favourite spot because when I’m in there, I can always do something useful but at my own pace and in my own way.

Between the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room, it can often take me the whole day to get things sorted. I kind of love those days, in my own castle, where I don’t have to feel rushed. 

The more time I am spending in my domestic goddess era, the more I realise that the biggest enemy of having a disability like mine is having to rush. 

Having ample time to do anything makes it possible to do almost everything by myself.

I’m lucky that at the moment, our lives are set up in a way that I am time rich so I plan to have my laundry room system nailed by the time we get to September and I find myself racing around again. I feel very fortunate and ridiculously excited by the normal mundane running of a household. I feel grateful that I have people in my life that always believed I could live a great, ordinary life and I’m also acutely aware that many disabled people don’t currently have the same opportunity due to the lack of accessible accommodation.

We need to build more accessible houses and homes because the level of fulfilment it brings is off the charts and I intend to enjoy it to the max for the rest of my days.