Reprinted with kind permission of the Motability Lifestyle magazine.

We visited Lifestyle reader Deborah Deville to experience the ultimate in kitchen accessibility.

Deborah Deville lives in a quiet crescent on the outskirts of Hertford with her husband Edward and their son, six-year old Thomas. Outside is parked Deborah's dark green Ford Mondeo - it's a Motability Scheme car. In 1998, a year after they had moved into their pleasant detached house, Deborah was involved in an accident and became a wheelchair user. But a Motability Scheme car was only the start.

Not only were all their bedrooms upstairs, but the Devilles' large back garden was a full storey lower than the ground floor. "People said to us, 'You'll have to move to a bungalow.' But we didn't want to," smiles Deborah. "The house was exactly what we'd wanted." So, for six months the family moved out while the house was completely refurbished. When it was finished, Lifestyle reader Deborah invited us along to have a look. A South-facing patio deck complete with lift down into the fully accessible garden, another lift indoors, and custom-built shower room and bathroom all make Deborah's home pleasant and easy to use, but what we were eager to see was the kitchen. Until recently, it was difficult for people with disabilities to find good, expert kitchen advice. The choices were to approach the local occupational therapist, a high street kitchen showroom where someone with no first-hand experience of disability would try to adapt standard fittings, or to a disability specialist shop where the kitchen expertise was limited. There were also the Disabled Living Foundation or Disabled Living Centres across the country (ask at your local Town Hall or library if there's one near you). However these only provide advice, not individual consultancy.

But fortunately for Deborah, her architect knew Adam Thomas at Design Matters KBB Ltd, and Adam is the new guru for accessible kitchens. When he left school at 16, Adam was apprenticed to the owner of the company, kitchen designer Richard Smithies. 18 months later Adam had a motorcycle accident and became a wheelchair user. Adam can't praise Richard highly enough for his subsequent support. "It didn't occur to Richard not to take me back on," he says. "He even designed and built a new drawing board which I could use from my wheelchair."

Adam stayed with Richard for ten years until he felt he needed a complete change and joined RADAR to work in civil rights. It was at a Direct Action Network demonstration at Richmond House in London in 1994 that he met his future wife, Agnes, chained to a bus! "Our eyes met," smiles Adam, "and that was that. Before I could ask her out she was arrested, but I tracked her down!" "And since then," jokes Richard, "it's been all hearts and roses!"

But along with the hearts and roses has gone a lot of hard work. Because of his design background, Adam became involved through RADAR with the building industry, and found that the kitchen and other domestic adaptations being done for disabled people fell far short of what they actually needed. He realised he was uniquely placed to combine disability rights experience and design expertise to help people get the kitchens they needed. Five years after leaving Design Matters Adam returned to Richard with a proposal - that they extend their service to include disabled customers. Adam did a business plan to convince Richard of the potential market, the decision was made and two years later they opened a fully accessible showroom at High Wycombe, just off junction 3 of the M40. So how does this special design service work? The Deville kitchen project was fairly typical. First Adam looked with Deborah at the architect's floor plan and showed her some of the possibilities. Then he came and did a survey. Deborah identified what the problems were in the existing layout, and Adam suggested some answers. The separate kitchen and utility room were now hard to manoeuvre around. Solution - knock the wall down. Not being able to get her knees under the sink and hob meant Deborah had to work sideways, giving her back-ache, and she couldn't easily see the contents of the washing up bowl or saucepans. Solution - fully accessible sink and hob. Deep cupboards meant Deborah couldn't reach all the contents. Solution - carousels, pulldown baskets or cupboards which slide out on sturdy runners.

But more was to come. Adam explained that he sets four criteria for a good kitchen: accessibility, safety, style and low maintenance. And because he understands the issues first-hand, he can put clients right on some typical misunderstandings - cookers for instance. "There's a big myth that pull-down doors on ovens are convenient for resting hot meat tins and casseroles on," he explains. "But if you're a wheelchair user they're incredibly dangerous. When an oven reaches 200°C, the inside of the door is also 200°C and you have to reach across with your arm inches away. Plus doors aren't intended to take heavy weights so you're exposed to the risk of burns and scalds."

The answer is a side-hinged door which lets you get close to the oven, and special anti-tip shelves with integral drip trays which are stable even when pulled forward. Sinks are another item often poorly designed - some are so shallow you couldn't wash a cup in them while others are too deep to get your knees under. He also advises wheelchair users to beware of melamine doors and drawers with nylon runners, or side-hinged cupboard doors which don't stand up to being banged by wheelchairs - choose solid wood or laminate, and steel runners.

Like many couples, the Devilles both cook, and to make it more convenient for Edward to do what Deborah calls his "chef-type weekend cooking" and her the Monday to Friday meals, Adam suggested variable height fixtures. In the event they decided against them but many customers benefit from cupboards, work-tops and sink which can be electronically raised and lowered by switch, cord-pull, remote control, or even voice activation.

At first glance Deborah's kitchen simply appears light and spacious with its pale birch-wood fitments, slim steel door handles and electric blue tiles giving a great feeling of style. But as we looked more closely we realised how convenient and safe everything is. The induction hob is only two inches thick so wheelchair access is easy, and it works by magnetism, heating the pans while the surface of the hob remains cool. As Deborah showed us its speed - a fried egg took a minute and a half from the instant she operated the touch control - she recalled their first meal. "We couldn't make out why the steak wasn't frying," she laughs, "until we remembered we had to use a magnetic frying pan." Steel strips in the work-top allow hot pans to slide straight across from the hob. Work surfaces are made from Corian which can be fused to provide continuous, easy-to-clean and non-drip work-tops. The ironing board is ingenious, multi-hinged and sliding out at exactly the right height on steel ball-bearing runners and wrapping itself out of sight afterwards. Carousels and slide-out cupboards are a boon and the beige and blue Amtico flooring is non-slip and easy to clean. As Deborah explained to us, "It takes quite a while to settle on a final plan and I changed my mind several times. You have to think through every activity - how you're going to do things and where you'll store cutlery and pots and pans. For instance we'd agreed where everything would live when I realised I had nowhere to put the plates."

The final design of a kitchen takes Adam about a week. "During that time I'm living with it in my head," he explains, "so I can adjust things. The furniture takes 6-8 weeks to be built, and preparation of the room and installation takes anything from 3 to 14 days."

Design Matters are based in High Wycombe (tel: 01628 531584 or visit their website on www.dmkbb.co.uk) but have had enquiries from all over the country and overseas, so for longer distance jobs they agree a design and then put customers in touch with reputable local installers. As for the future, Richard and Adam are keen to spread the word to occupational therapists and others who advise people with disabilities on kitchen equipment.

Conclusion Now Deborah is getting to grips with her refurbished home how does she feel about it? "I'm really glad we didn't move," she smiles. "Thomas' school is only five minutes push away and so are the local shops. Then when I need to go further I've got my lovely Mondeo - it's automatic with a right hand push-pull brake-accelerator and a left hand steering knob. And I'm very pleased with the house - especially the kitchen - it's lovely!" And as Deborah wheels happily back into the beige and blue sunlit room it's clear that this is where the heart of the house is.

Bearing The Cost

A completely refurbished kitchen' may cost anything between £6,000 and £25,000. A means-tested Disability Facilities Grant of up to £20,000 may be available to help adapt your home. A Social Services occupational therapist will make the initial assessment, Some local authorities provide an excellent service, but to get the best out of your grant, from the service and from the kitchen supplier here is some advice;

• Before you approach the Social Services or engage a private supplier make a note of everything you find difficult in your kitchen, then find out all you can about accessible kitchens. Visit a Disabled Living Centre to see and try out equipment. Call the Disabled Living Foundation, talk to several kitchen providers to get ideas, and benefit from other people's experience within your local disability support group.
• Don't assume providers or specialists know how you feel or what you need. You are unique. Always explain fully what you find difficult and what needs to be different.
• Don't abdicate responsibility at any stage - stay in control, be persistent and press for what you need -take a friend or relative to meetings for support and to exchange ideas.

Advice From The Disabled Living Foundation

The DLF can provide information on choosing and using many types of home equipment and operate a telephone help line from 10am to 4pm on: 0870 603 9177. Minicom: 0870 603 9176. Their website is at www.dlf.org.uk, Otherwise, visit or write to them at 380-384 Harrow Road, London W9 2HU, where they have two fully fitted kitchens. The DLF recommend considering the following;

• Controls requiring minimum pressure and sited at the front of appliances.
• Hob surface which allows pans to be slid rather than lifted.
• Single or double, easy-to-grip grill handles -whichever you find easier.
• Slip-resistant mats on work surfaces.
• Clamp or holder to enable jars to be opened single-handed.
• Board with spikes for holding food in place.
• Manual or powered jar and bottle-opener.
• Electric or manual, wall-mounted tin-opener.
• Packet slitter with blade for opening packets.
• Vegetable peeler with large grip handle and worktop clamp.
• Saw-knife for cutting at an angle.
• Tipper to enable safe and easy pouring of teapot or kettle.
• Wire vegetable basket which fits in saucepan and eliminates straining.
• Pan stabiliser so you can stir one-handed.
• Perching stool with adjustable height, backrest and armrests.
• Reacher pick-up stick controlled by a trigger.
• Tray with a central 'basket' handle, or bean-bag tray to rest on the lap.
• Trolley to transfer food and crockery between rooms.
• Long-handled dustpan and brush.
• Light-weight vacuum cleaner.
• Washing-up brush which can be suctioned to a surface.
• Long-handled tap turners.
• Aerosol adapters which convert to lever action.
• Conical clothes pegs for easy handling.
• Waist-level laundry basket.
• Wall-mounted, fold-down ironing board.

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