I'll chime in on the *wide* doorways... make 'em even wider than ADA minimum (we went with 50 inches), as I hate grazing my *knuckles* lol!

that meant we had to have the doors custom-made, but it's worth it.

grab bars, at least four in the bathroom, (two in the shower, and two by the toilet.)

a pedestal sink, oh yeah! that works perfectly... you can roll right up to it.

a roll-in shower is nice, and I designed mine with a corner bench seat.

I posted some pix of my bathroom a while back:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...athroom&page=3

from the bench, I can reach the shower handles, the detachable shower-head, AND the soap-dish, and shampoo rack.

and I put non-slip decal-stuff on the floor tiles for extra protection.

the front of my house has a wide entrance ramp... we used a ratio of 1:20, because we had lots of room, but the minimum is 1:12.

ours is concrete, and tiled (for beauty and easy-cleaning) and has sandpaper strips every eight inches.

The ADA mandates that the slope of any ramp must not be more than one inch of rise for every 12 inches of run. In other words, if you need to reach a platform that is 30 inches in height, you must build the ramp to be at least 30 feet long. Measure up from the ground to find how many inches the ramp must rise.

Wood can be very hazardous when wet or icy. Install sand grit strips to enhance traction. (Aluminum or concrete can be used instead wood to build a ramp.)

http://www.mobility-advisor.com/buil...hair-ramp.html

when I designed my wheelchair-friendly dream house, I opted for SMALL, and went with two large rooms.

I put the bed diagonally in the corner, which takes up a lot more room, BUT is a lot easier to make, and to get in and out of.

I put the window latches LOW, so I can close up the house myself when a storm comes... and the door handles are all the LEVER-type, so I can open them easily.

my next project is to put castors on the legs of my heavy furniture, so it can be moved for sweeping and floor-mopping.