Furniture and Design for Various Levels of Care

Is all furniture created equal? Chris Black, President of Lux Design + Manufacturing, says no. Just as every care situation is unique to the resident, so should their furniture. That’s why Lux creates furniture to withstand harsh environments while maintaining aesthetics and functionality for years to come. Here are some insights provided by Chris and the Lux team to demonstrate why intentional furniture design and layout matter in different levels of care.

Durability, Aesthetics, and Functionality in Senior Living

Beechwood in Assisted and Independent Living vs. Aluminum in Memory Care

Chris notes that “Residents prefer to have a solid wood chair whenever possible.” So what material maintains a luxury aesthetic with the durability needed for Assisted/Independent Living? At Lux, we exclusively use beechwood for our wood dining chairs due to its exceptional qualities that perfectly blend form with function. 

Beechwood's remarkable flexibility allows for the creation of beautifully curved designs with supportive armrests and contoured seating to aid posture and facilitate standing up effortlessly, enhancing both the aesthetic appeal and comfort of our chairs. This durability ensures that our chairs can withstand the rigors of commercial use, making them a practical investment for any dining space.

Choosing Lux's beechwood dining chairs, means opting for durability, ease of maintenance, and customizable elegance, ensuring that your investment not only lasts but also enhances the dining experience in every way. 

Shifting focus to memory care, Chris explains that, “When you're looking at memory care – you want to have this beautiful, gorgeous feeling, like you're at home in all of these multitude of rooms with varying purposes. But at the same time, we realize that the residents and even the staff create a harsh environment for furniture to survive in.”

How does Lux maintain that “at home” feel that can withstand memory care?  Aluminum. Though aluminum may be associated with stacking chairs or a banquet hall, Lux maintains their luxury aesthetic by transforming these chairs with a wood grain style. “What we do is we reverse engineer one of our dining chairs, a wood dining room chair, and adjust all of the proportions.” This means the chair looks and feels like a wooden dining chair, but it can withstand a level of abuse that surpasses traditional wood. Whether it be Beechwood or Aluminium, Lux creates furniture using materials that evolve with the residents' care journey.

Durable Dining Tables in Memory Care

Lux continues to apply this philosophy by creating beautiful dining tables and chairs with the durability to withstand contact with wheelchairs, carts, etc., as well as features to prevent tipping “Dining tables tend to take a significant amount of abuse in memory care. So what we do is we use a polyurethane edge for our dining room tables. It has a wood grain and it can take impact after impact and after impact,” Chris explains. A simple addition of the rubber-like edge allows the tables to maintain their luxurious look years down the road.

According to Chris, furniture in senior living goes beyond durability. That’s why communities have the option to provide tables with different bases to accommodate residents with wheelchairs, with some featuring adjustable heights to cater to various needs and preferences. All tables are equipped with rounded edges to reduce injury risks, focusing on user safety in everyday interactions. This is another example of Lux furniture breaking free from conservative styles to offer a luxurious feel within communities without sacrificing durability, functionality, and safety.

Sofas Designed for Mobility and Comfort

At Lux, durability and functionality do not come at the expense of comfort. Chris explains their approach to rewriting how sofas are done in senior living. “We like sofas with higher backs – all of our sofas, from the depth to the pitch of the back, to the density of the foam, are designed and engineered with residents in mind.” Unfortunately, many sofas manufactured for senior living are made to promote mobility and durability but lose comfort. However, Lux has set out to change that with seating that allows for easy ingress and egress and firm, yet comfortable, cushions for support.

What Lux has done is create a balance by utilizing high-density foam with a special foam that allows residents to ease into the seat before comfortably meeting the high density foam. This means residents get the best of both worlds. “It's comfortable, they can get in and out of it easily enough, and it also has a lot of longevity,” Chris states. With non-slip surfaces and easy-to-grasp handles, residents can enjoy furniture with peace of mind. This is the benefit of Lux prioritizing user safety and ease of use in their furniture design.

Senior Living Friendly Fabrics

If we look closer at Lux furniture, we will see that even the fabric used in the design is selected with residents in mind. Generally, Lux selects materials that evoke warmth and comfort, ensuring tactile and visual appeal. In memory care, Chris explains that “we prefer to stick with healthcare-grade vinyls or products that are made from silicone.” This is possible with the help of some amazing new vinyls that have the appearance of being fabric. “You can't tell that they're vinyl sometimes even by touching them, the technology has come so far,” Chris adds. This hydrophobic material allows for easier cleaning for the communities. In assisted/independent living Chris recommends using Crypton fabrics or a new technology loved by Lux designers called Supreen.

"With Supreen, you get a supple fabric and you get all the benefits of a healthcare-graded fabric that is moisture resistant.” Chris notes. These fabrics also include a moisture barrier on the underside of them, so water and liquids can't penetrate through the fabric. This is compounded with the fact that Lux opts for materials that are not only durable and easy to clean but also antimicrobial and equipped with a moisture barrier to promote hygiene. This creates a fabric with everything that you need for a senior living environment.

Layout Design with Residents in Mind

Lux’s vision for creating with residents in mind carries over into their interior design by creating layouts with flexibility. This is a result of their belief that the design ethos should focus on creating environments that elevate the quality of life for seniors, striking a harmonious balance between aesthetics, safety, and functionality. “When we are doing layouts, we're often doing several layouts for the same room.” Chris remarks. Lux prioritizes client relations to best understand what the needs are going to be for any specific room. The layout and aesthetic of a room communicate a message, which is why Lux strives to capture the message of each room with their design. Chris comments that “these buildings are trying to both have that feeling of home, at the same time, we're trying to have that hospitality feeling.” With Lux, you will find that each room will lend itself to the message it needs to communicate to the residents.

Common Areas

Chris acknowledges that some common areas do a lot of heavy lifting for the community. “It has to be the theater, it has to do Sunday services, it has to do bingo, and it has to do exercise classes,” he remarks. With residents and communities in mind, Lux provides different layouts with the same furniture to meet the various needs of the space. This comes with coaching on how each layout will look and how the furniture will function. “We will often do four different layouts for the same room so that everybody understands how the product is going to work,” Chris adds. These multi-layout rooms are made possible with special furniture, such as a table with lockable casters, a flip-top mechanism, and custom bases for nesting as many tables as needed. Variety is crucial, and Lux provides the flexibility necessary for communities to fully utilize their spaces.

Bistros and Bars

In restaurants, dining is often designed to be an experience. According to Lux, senior living dining should be no different. “When it comes to dining, we like to have bistros. When we're doing remodels, we'd like to be able to break up these traditionally laid-out dining rooms – We like to break it up to have a bar area,” Chris comments. The bar concept is implemented with quality of life in mind. “Men often like that shoulder-to-shoulder feeling. So we'll have bars, we'll have TVs, you know, areas apart from the regular dining, apart from the bistro.” Chris continued. What may seem like an aesthetic choice is actually Lux’s vision to promote relationships within communities by providing an atmosphere that creates interactions and camaraderie.

With their expertise, the Lux team is able to execute these social spaces while meeting industry standards with specially made stools and bars. “We have specially designed stools that are specific – so that everybody can have the feeling of being at the bar with all of the health requirements ticked off by having an ADA-compliant stool,” Chris explains. “The benefit of working with Lux is that we can make anything. We'll be able to take a bar that we saw at a luxury hotel and reverse engineer it so that it would comply with ADA standards, have the right arm height and tick off all the boxes that senior living furniture requires.” He adds. ffuWith Lux, there is a world where luxury and industry standards intertwine to create experiences for residents that break away from the traditional design of senior living communities. Every piece of furniture is envisioned to contribute to a space where seniors feel both valued and secure, underlining Lux's commitment to enhancing senior living through thoughtful design.

From solid Beechwood chairs to sleek aluminum designs, our tailored solutions cater to every level of care. With flexible layouts and vibrant social spaces, we create communities that foster connection and belonging. Let Lux Design + Manufacturing transform your senior living environment into a place of comfort, luxury, and joy. Contact us today and let's bring your vision to life.