What accessible bathrooms can teach every entrepreneur

"When most people hear the word luxury, they think of exclusivity: high-end materials, bespoke finishes, and designs tailored for the few. But a quiet revolution is underway. The true measure of luxury today is accessibility: designing environments that are beautiful, functional, safe, and empowering for every body. Nowhere is this more urgent, or more overlooked, than in the bathroom. According to the CDC, the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house."

"For decades, accessibility was treated as an afterthought, bolt-on products carrying the stigma of hospitals and institutions. This reinforced the false idea that you can either have a safe bathroom or a beautiful one, but not both. Our new collection challenges that assumption. A vanity can be refined, inviting, and intuitive while also being easy to navigate with limited mobility. A grab frame can be an interior design feature as much as a safety tool."

"At Michael Graves Design, we've sought to lead a paradigm shift proving that the future of luxury is accessibility. In our second collaboration with Pottery Barn, we've introduced a collection of accessible bathroom products: a vanity with integrated grab bar, a new "grab frame" inspired by garden trellises combining architectural elegance with versatile safety support, and discreet grab bars built into a towel bar and a toilet paper holder. The collection shows how safety and style can, and must, live side by side."

The bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house, with 234,000 annual bathroom-related injuries in the U.S. and 81% caused by falls. For older adults, those falls can trigger loss of independence, costly healthcare expenses, and a diminished quality of life. Accessibility has often been an afterthought, producing bolt-on, institutional-looking products that compromise dignity or privileging aesthetics over safety. The Michael Graves Design and Pottery Barn collection integrates safety and style through a vanity with an integrated grab bar, a grab frame inspired by garden trellises, and discreet grab bars built into a towel bar and toilet paper holder. The collection demonstrates that bathrooms can be beautiful, functional, safe, and empowering for every body.

Read at Fast Company