My Psoriatic Arthritis Friendly Dream Kitchen

My husband and I have been busy redecorating and improving the accessibility of our home. Unfortunately, as renters, we are limited in what we can change. However, we have still been able to solve some of my accessibility issues within the home.

A kitchen work in progress

We are currently working on the kitchen. Our kitchen lacked counter and cupboard space, with the few usable cupboards out of my reach. A rolling island, two microwave carts, and a pantry later, and I have now have plenty of storage and prep space. We use the second microwave cart as a coffee bar! Oh, and did I mention that we gave it a Star Wars theme?

It wasn’t until a recent slip of a disc in my lower back that I realized there is so much more we could do to create a psoriatic arthritis-friendly kitchen. And that was when we began making a list of everything we wanted in our dream kitchen.

Cooking with less pain

I can rarely use my oven with the worst of my psoriatic arthritis pain in my lower back, sacrum, neck, and knees. Bending over to slide a casserole dish in or out is out of the question. And forget squatting as one squat has the potential to blow out my knees completely.

These physical limitations put having a wall oven to the top of my dream kitchen list. And as someone who is vertically challenged, I would prefer a built-in microwave oven next to the oven, not above.

A kitchen that promotes a healthy diet

Bad habits are hard to break, especially when your appliances or kitchen pantry make being bad easy! One item we can and plan to replace in our kitchen is the refrigerator. We currently have a traditional refrigerator with a freezer on top. What I want and need to make eating healthier easier is the freezer on the bottom.

That would keep the stuff I should be reaching for less often where it is difficult for me to grab and the good things within reach. A pantry with slide-out shelves would allow me to see what is hiding in the back. Not to mention easier to keep organized.

Clean up with ease

My husband and daughter had to take over unloading the dishwasher many years ago. But at that time, I could still load it if I sat on a stool. Fast forward to a few years ago, and after experiencing more damage to my abdominal muscles (not PsA related), my days of continuously turning from the sink to the dishwasher ended.

What I want in my next kitchen is either a pull-out drawer dishwasher or a standard one elevated on a pedestal, like the kind they have for front-loading washers and dryers. Lower cabinets that only required a nudge to open and a tap of a button to elevate them would end my useless space issues. Can you imagine not just being able to use every cupboard and cabinet, but also to see what is in them?!

What would you like to add or replace in your kitchen to make it psoriatic arthritis-friendly?