https://www.alisapallister.com/articles daily 0.75 2026-01-22 https://www.alisapallister.com/articles/could-carpeting-help-reduce-loneliness-in-senior-living monthly 0.5 2026-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/997b9f02-325d-4157-94f0-27b41d2f9345/combo.png Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out Left: Entrance with carpet and minimal glare. Right: Entrance with hard flooring and visible glare. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/ff78dfe3-093b-4c27-86d3-b94340e16f51/glare+and+transition.jpeg Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out This image shows a transition between carpet and hard flooring with a raised rubber strip. The height change creates a physical trip hazard. Glare on the hard flooring makes the transition harder to see clearly, while the adjacent carpet remains glare free, highlighting how different flooring materials reflect light. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/0b12d718-a9e7-44b5-9fac-239f07239aab/border.jpeg Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out This image shows a carpeted entry surrounded by a narrow strip of tile. Although contrast between materials can be useful, this small tile perimeter creates an unnecessary transition. The high-contrast carpet border can also be misread as steps or level changes, adding visual confusion at the entry. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/a8a43986-43d3-4131-bd99-9139e4e7edba/combo3.png Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out Side by side comparison of two carpeted senior living spaces. On the left, a busier, higher contrast carpet pattern. On the right, a low contrast, non directional carpet creates a calmer, more visually predictable walking surface. The comparison highlights how carpet pattern choice can influence how easily the floor plane is read and navigated. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/eb49c7c8-5a28-4b63-b59a-902ba43e2933/chaotic.jpg Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out This image illustrates two common concerns: 1. rolled carpet can buckle over time, creating uneven surfaces. 2. high-contrast, irregular patterns can make the floor plane harder to visually interpret, especially for older adults. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/3faaf6c0-bc4e-45b1-a7af-064e2ed07d54/carpet+transition+and+glare.jpg Articles - Could Carpeting Help Reduce Loneliness in Senior Living? - Make it stand out This image shows a low-profile transition between carpet and hard flooring. The color contrast helps signal a change in surface. Note the glare visible on the hard flooring, despite its matte finish. This illustrates how carpeting can help reduce glare at the walking surface. Image by author. https://www.alisapallister.com/articles/the-power-of-contrast-in-aging-friendly-design monthly 0.5 2025-12-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/bc188f4e-eabe-4b56-b60f-4b5c16dfe93d/Whitehouse+BR.png Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - The grayscale comparison in the images above highlights how much contrast was lost in this renovation. The updated bathroom reads as a single tone, making the toilet, sink, and walls harder to distinguish. This can be disorienting and unsafe for people with age-related vision changes. Image source: New York Times The grayscale comparison highlights how much contrast was lost in this renovation. The updated bathroom reads as a single tone, making the toilet, sink, and walls harder to distinguish. This can be disorienting and unsafe for people with age-related vision changes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/21048169-8f78-450d-a8cb-c2f7efdec073/hospital+bw.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out This hallway shows how contrast can unintentionally create confusion and uncertainty. The dark border on the tile floor blends with the dark baseboard, creating a tunneling effect and the illusion of a drop off. Combined with glare from the overhead lighting, the boundaries of the space can become difficult to read for older adults or anyone with reduced contrast sensitivity, low vision, or cognitive impairment. Image source: Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/4ad51f4f-9411-42f7-9439-2cf85b1585a5/good+hallway.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out Good example of strong contrast between floor and wall, as well as the dark handrail against the white wall. Image source: Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/c5aee74a-09c6-46fc-a9fe-94b03ca131cf/bathroom+bad+BW.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out Although the floor contrasts well with the wall and toilet, the toilet, grab bars, and toilet paper blend into the wall, reducing visibility and making the space harder to interpret. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/c9b3b6f3-2112-4ead-a214-079d9623f5f8/bathroom+good+BW.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out This bathroom uses strong contrast between the toilet, floor, and walls, and the grab bars contrast well with the wall. However, the coved base at the floor-to-wall transition makes it difficult to see where floor ends and wall begins. Image source: Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/b9569f0f-ad5b-475e-a8ff-ef817c853b36/furniture+3+bw.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out The sofa is almost indistinguishable from the patterned carpet, and the chairs offer little contrast with the floor. For older adults or anyone with low vision, these conditions make it harder to judge where the furniture begins and may lead to missteps or falls. Image source: Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/fe4470f8-f1dc-4301-a57c-48a49ec5534d/living+room+BW.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out The lighter sofa is easy to distinguish, but the patterned sofa competes with the carpet design and becomes difficult to see. The strong pattern on the floor can interfere with depth perception and may even be perceived as holes, uneven surfaces, or barriers. For older adults or anyone with low vision, this can diminish confident gait and make it harder to move safely through the space. Image source: Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/cc785575-d320-43ec-8934-9e2ea273f64a/STAIRS.png Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - These wooden stairs are visually appealing, but the lack of contrast makes the tread edges nearly impossible to distinguish. Shadows further blur the boundaries and weaken depth perception cues. In the grayscale version of the image, the problem becomes even clearer. The steps blend together, and even the shoe is barely visible, showing how little contrast is available for anyone with reduced contrast sensitivity or depth perception changes. Image source: Author These wooden stairs are visually appealing, but the lack of contrast makes the tread edges nearly impossible to distinguish. In the grayscale version of the image, the problem becomes even clearer. The steps blend together, and even the shoe is barely visible, showing how little contrast is available for anyone with reduced contrast sensitivity or depth perception changes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/7d124cc0-6530-4381-8558-8c4f9bb26b72/Bad+Carpet+design+color.jpeg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out The bold striping pattern creates the illusion of changes in level, and the wider dark stripe may be perceived as a step or hole. The vertical surfaces are easier to interpret, with good visual separation between the walls and doors, and between the walls and floor. Clear door visibility supports safer and more confident navigation. Image source: KFF Health News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/511286dd-1055-48ca-bc36-b61ace4ea2ff/disguised+door.jpg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out The door and door frame are painted to match the wall, which helps reduce its visibility. Extending the baseboard color across the lower edge of the door would complete the disguise. This approach is often used for doors leading to staff-only or restricted areas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/b605a217-40cc-4055-a46c-33298d72710e/gradient+card.jpeg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - Make it stand out Printing images in black and white makes it easier to use a grayscale value finder. Line up the color inside the keyholes to determine the closest match. In this example, the baseboard reads as a 3 and the wall as a 5 or 6. The main areas of the carpet fall around a 4 or 5, which means there is very little contrast between the wall and the floor. Ideally, the baseboard should be closer in value to the wall than to the carpet to create a clearer boundary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/693bacec-8b70-4714-887d-36ec1b2ed158/contrast+card.jpeg Articles - The Power of Contrast in Age-Friendly Design - The side-by-side images show how easy it is to miss low contrast in color. The grayscale version reveals only about a three-point difference between the chair and floor, which is the minimum level of contrast and can still be very hard for older adults or anyone with low vision to distinguish. Image by author. The side-by-side images show how easy it is to miss low contrast in color. The grayscale version reveals only about a three-point difference between the chair and floor, which is the minimum level of contrast and can still be very hard for older adults or anyone with low vision to distinguish. Image by author. https://www.alisapallister.com/articles/designing-better-breakrooms monthly 0.5 2025-11-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/79e8d0b2-e47d-4c71-8e9c-9e37f7863864/breakroom_7.jpeg Articles - Breakrooms in Long-Term Care: What Staff Say They Need - Make it stand out Some staff valued the massage chair, but many noted that the breakroom was too small, did not offer enough seating, and felt too depressing. More than half said they would use the space more often if it had a window. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/22fb59e3-4201-44e9-b1fa-06d1d79a90a2/breakroom_1.jpg Articles - Breakrooms in Long-Term Care: What Staff Say They Need - Make it stand out A high scoring breakroom with outdoor access, natural light, and comfortable seating, but privacy is still limited. An adjacent anteroom holds lockers and posted notices, just out of frame. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/a14b0802-5f79-4865-9b74-cbe82e0d6b30/breakroom_3.jpeg Articles - Breakrooms in Long-Term Care: What Staff Say They Need - Make it stand out Crowded storage blurs the purpose of this breakroom, making it feel like an extension of the work area rather than a place to recharge. Even with natural light and comfortable seating, the lack of privacy limits its restorative potential. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/534e5fb6-cb4c-4a68-82f3-396c94497436/breakroom_8.jpeg Articles - Breakrooms in Long-Term Care: What Staff Say They Need - Make it stand out The massage chair signals relaxation, but the utility of the environment does not. Lockers and posted signs add visual clutter and work reminders that compete with the room’s purpose. Image by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/d48dfadc-97f3-4f33-97a2-8697a54561b2/breakroom4.jpeg Articles - Breakrooms in Long-Term Care: What Staff Say They Need - Make it stand out Even during breaks, staff are met with work notices, reinforcing that the space is not fully separate from the care environment. However, this space does have natural light and views of nature. 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Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing My son's drab and impersonal dorm room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/2f6c49b1-d444-46c2-a4c7-8f6325575db4/dorm+closet.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing The more functional side of the closet, supplemented with purchased temporary storage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/6c945ed6-627c-43a2-a06a-0eb5632498b3/Loyola+Hallway.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Long, institutional corridors with flooring that produces glare, reinforcing an unwelcoming atmosphere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/bbab2632-fbab-45ef-b69d-14dabbc33302/1756943081828.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing - Above-bed shelving combines convenience with opportunity to personalize. RVC, 1990. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/8c0f0205-8784-4c1a-9bd9-c38746b0ff8e/dorm+3.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Bleak dorm room with no shelving or supplied bedside table, leaving students to find their own solutions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/5fadd82d-71f9-46b9-bdd8-ca7ce367b117/RVC+dorm+1965.gif Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Original built-in cabinetry and variety of lighting choice at Royal Victoria College (RVC), McGill University, 1965 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/5c1dc65b-7bd8-4f49-b7bd-789c742f7407/RVC+3.webp Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Thoughtful built-in cabinetry and lighting options endures for 30 years at RVC, 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/2f368d5c-32ac-4fe1-99e3-c62f2075ed38/RVC+2.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Built-in desk and cabinetry allow for personalization and storage. RVC 1990. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/abd9d192-782c-465b-a3a2-2566b493abf4/1757002397145.png Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Me moving into RVC in 1990. I clearly felt welcome in this space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/55928b23-e611-4b62-9842-c66d6ec47ded/1756945537021.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing The design of shorter, grouped hallways at RVC, circa 1990, made corridor hangouts a natural gathering place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f2794bd376412126c8e08a/c9626baf-3bd2-4fb3-885d-bd12f1184e53/RVC+1.jpg Articles - Home or Institution? Design Choices that Shape Belonging in Dorms, Care, and Transitional Housing Studying in the hallway at RVC,1990. 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