Everything including the kitchen sink

If you’re disabled, image can’t always be everything, there are pesky practicalities to consider too. But Lara Masters discovers that when it comes to kitchens, it is possible to have both style and substance

I am currently redecorating my house which is reinforcing my acute sense of aesthetics – I feel actual joy seeing old yellowing walls transformed into white and have discovered I can quite happily watch paint dry. Yet my physical limitations force me to have certain articles in my home that are skin-crawlingly ugly like a hulking grey shower-chair and an electric bed made from “wood effect” laminate.

My kitchen on the other hand looks good but is pretty inaccessible as I didn’t want every room in my home to be tainted by nasty looking furniture, so meeting Adam Thomas, a wheelchair-user destined to design stylish and accessible kitchens, was a revelation.

“In 1980, I left school at 16 and signed on. In those days, you had to take one of your first three job offers or you lost your benefit. Number three for me was with kitchen company Design Matters. I turned up in my leather jacket, on my motorbike, no portfolio, but I’d always loved art and design, so when I was asked to draw a plan in 3-D I could do a pretty good job.

“A year later, I had a road traffic accident which triggered my involvement in campaigning for civil rights. I met lots of disabled people and when I saw their homes I often thought: ‘There’s so much more you could do in your own kitchen if it was better designed.’”

In the early 1990s Adam left work to focus on campaigning and was heavily involved in helping shape our Disability Discrimination Act but, almost a decade later, he got back into the kitchen.

“At the end of the 1990s, I thought I’d combine my personal and professional experience to make accessible kitchens for disabled people at Design Matters. My designs are fine-tuned to the needs of the individual. I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t do more to cook for themselves, make tea for their friends and family, whatever, with a more appropriate kitchen. Often, storage is out of reach, ovens and hobs are dangerous, fridges and dishwashers are set at the wrong height. The right kitchen can be liberating, maximise independence and allow someone to have more control over what they eat and drink.”

To date, Adam has over 500 very swanky looking accessible kitchens under his belt (or apron) and I was surprised to learn they are often built with council funding.

“Obviously local authorities are up against it financially but a cheap unsafe kitchen that falls to pieces after a year, particularly with the heavier wear and tear from a wheelchair banging against it, is a waste of public money. Often we’re called in after someone’s had a cheap kitchen done by another company and it’s all gone wrong. I’ve seen so many chipboard kitchens that are splintering and falling apart because they just aren’t up to the job.

“That’s one of the reasons we created the Access Matters range of flexible and affordable kitchen furniture. We work with some fantastic finishes which can transform the look of anyone’s kitchen. Using the latest, cutting edge materials costs no more than the usual boring stuff – it’s convincing the grants offices that’s the problem, especially when one pen-pusher commented: ‘He can’t have this kitchen; it’s nicer than mine.’”

Seeing the photos of Adam’s creations has also given me kitchen-envy; suddenly mine looks rather inadequate and a bit pointless even with its beautifully white walls - but it’s not just Adam’s kitchens that are impressive – he’s one of those rare people who live by their principles and are pro-active.

“Access has improved hugely during my lifetime but it still gets to me that I can’t get into some of my non-disabled friends’ houses. I’m involved with the Q Well Being development of fully accessible luxury apartments in Cyprus, which includes a heated pool designed by Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson. I’m also part of the Habinteg Lifetime Homes campaign which if enforced will make a huge difference to disabled people’s lives.”

Looking at Adam’s past campaigning work and current projects, it’s clear he’s an exemplary addition to the disabled community, both with his pioneering inclusive designs and his idealism and diligence in helping raise standards to make life much better and fairer for disabled people.