CONTRAST IN THE KITCHEN

My kitchen was the worst for my vision impairment due to my contrast sensitivity and lack of depth perception. The kitchen is all white- the walls, cabinets, and appliances. The other color is gray – gray on the words and numbers on the microwave, the stove, and the refrigerator plus stainless-steel cookware, utensils, toaster, blender, and a stainless-steel sink. My plates and mugs were also white, and my silverware was, of course, silver.

I lost count of the number of times I spilled food or liquids on the counters or on the stove. Pouring milk into a clear glass on a white counter? Not possible without spilling the liquid. If I dropped something on the brown hardwood floor it was likely to stay there until I swept the floor and pushed everything into the dustpan.

My choices were to move or to fix it so that I could be safe in my kitchen. I was going through orientation and mobility training at SLSBVI at the perfect time because Susan, the Orientation & Mobility Specialist taught me so many ways to adapt to my vision impairment. I now have a kitchen that works for me with minimal effort and expense.

  1. Break up the white walls with colorful art or photographs. Or paint the walls.
  2. Put colorful placement mats on the counters to cut down on the glare from all the white and the overhead light. It’s easier to wipe those down if they’re not cloth placemats that will sop up the liquids and lead to more laundry.
  3. Use colorful kitchen towels, oven mitts and cutting boards.
  4. Change the lightbulbs to those that match with your desired brightness. (An Occupational Therapist at SLSBVI helped me determine the best light for my eyes.)
  5. Get colorful silverware. I found knives, forks and spoons on Amazon that use bright colors on the handles – each was color coded, which makes it easier to find in a drawer or on the counter.
  6. Change a silver toaster to one in a color you like for your kitchen.
  7. Replace silver or glass mixing bowls, white measuring cups and gray measuring spoons with colorful versions.
  8. Clear glasses with a color on the bottom work better for me than plain clear glasses.  The colors on the bottom make it easier to see and also keeps it straight for guests if they put down their glass.
  9. Put large numbers on stickers on the microwave to better see times for cooking. I bought those at SLSBVI.
  10. Put colorful tape to mark the temperatures on the stove.
  11. Keep a magnifier in the kitchen to be able to read packages, instructions, and recipes. SLSBVI has great options for high quality magnifiers with lights in several sizes.
  12. If your cabinet for dishes is right above your dishwasher, put the dishes and glasses on the counter first and then into the cabinet. It can save you from hitting your head on the cabinet doors every time you bend down and then raise up to put something away. I could not see the edges of the doors and hit my head and the left side of my face a few times. Another option is to put blue painter tape on the edges of the cabinets, so you know where the edges are.
  13. Put colorful refrigerator liners on each of the shelves. It’s best if each shelf is a different color. This helps me see the shelves individually when putting groceries away as opposed to seeing all shelves as one shelf because they are clear plastic.
  14. Put colorful photos or magnets on the fridge to break up the white and the glare.
  15. If your trash can is visible in the kitchen, make it a bright color. I thought I was tossing things in the silver trash can but since I don’t have depth perception, most of what should have been in the can ended up on my floor.
  16. Decide what plates you want and then pick placemats, napkins, glasses, and utensils to give you the contrast you need. I kept my white plates because the food is always colorful. I put them on purple placemats, use gold napkins and have colorful utensils and glasses.

Amazon has been a great resource for the kitchen items. Shopping in a store is difficult for me so enlarging them on my monitor was how I was able to sort options and prices.

Next up: Contrast in the Bathroom