Aging In Place: 5 Changes To Make to Your Home That Won’t Break The Bank

​​Would it work to link your lights to a smart speaker, I asked, so that you can say, for example, “Alexa bedroom on.”

​“Unfortunately, many people get to a point where they don’t remember as well, so recalling the specific commands may be an issue,” Hager responded.

​3. Elevate for ease

​When it comes to furniture — think couches, chairs, even beds – there comes a time when getting out becomes more difficult than getting in. When you’re sitting down on a couch, for example, gravity helps. But trying to get up, not so much. One way to make it easier is to raise the furniture by adding risers to couches, chairs or beds. Many of these are on the market, starting around $15. Just make sure you buy sturdy ones for the task you need them to do. Even better, hire an occupational therapist for an at-home consultation to help you figure out how much you should be elevating your pieces.

​Look at your laundry room with similar eyes.

​“When you start to have trouble with your equilibrium, taking clothes in and out of the washer and dryer can become an issue. If you put the machines on a pedestal, you can sit in front and take the clothes out of one and put them into the other,” Hager said. This only works with top-loading washers, however.

​“If you have a front loader, keep that on the ground and just elevate the dryer. But if and when you need to replace that washer, a front loader on a pedestal is a perfect solution,” he said.

​4. Declutter the design

​Here’s a tip that isn’t going to cost you anything — in fact, do it right, and you may be able to pad your budget for the other fixes you’re trying to make. One of the most important things to do to a home you’re looking to age in is to create clear pathways to move. That means eliminating the stuff that’s sitting in them now. If you have extra side tables, coffee tables, bookshelves, pieces of furniture or other things simply taking up space, get rid of them. It may not be easy, particularly if you amassed collections of things that have value to you, but it may be profitable.

​When it comes to furniture that’s in good shape, consider selling it via Kaiyo, a secondhand furniture marketplace. Go to the website, tell them what you have and if it's a brand or item they’re interested in. They’ll pick it up and give you your cut when it sells. If you have items that are in decent shape, you can arrange for pickup by Purple Heart or Green Drop. You can also try to sell them via a local Facebook group or give them away via freecycle.org or your nearest buy nothing group, which is a network of groups that pass stuff on rather than buying things. These groups are on Facebook.

​5. Take on the tub

​Finally, if you have a budget to devote to retooling your space, the place to spend it first is in your bathroom. More accidents happen in the bathroom than in any other place — in the home or out, Hager said. If you have a few hundred dollars, spend them on grab bars (not suction grab bars, Hager cautions) that you have professionally installed. You need one in front of the toilet, another next to the toilet, one to support you as you get into the shower and another one or two in the shower itself. An occupational therapist can help with the placement of these.

​If you’ve got a budget of $10,000 to $15,000 or more, consider a bathroom renovation that includes ripping out the tub and replacing it with a shower with a built-in seat and, yes, those grab bars.

​“If the money keeps you in the house another 10 years, it’s worth it,” Hager said.​

Share your experience: What modifications have you made to your home to help you age in place? Tell us in the comments below.