From my experience with mum (20 years in a wheelchair):

Drawers are much, much easier to access than shelves. Anything above shoulder-height while sitting is the equivalent of being on high shelf beyond a standee's fingertips.

A vanity is more useful than a dresser. Remember that when using bureaus or dressers, a wheelchair must either be sideways to access or the sittee must stretch over his/her lap to reach. Shallow drawers are more convenient than deep ones (that is, 15" front to back is lots better than 18").

Mirror/s should be low (or at least have a useable section which can be comfortably seen from sitting height).

A wheel-in closet must be either wide enough to turn around or reasonably wheel-OUTable without twisting around to look backwards. Mum detested her "walk-in" and we ended up doing a major re-design. My own opinion is that unless room-sized, walk-ins are a major waste of space. Whether walk-in or wall-type, remember there is both a "reach" limitation (sit down, keep your butt and back on the seat, and swing your fist up and around -- that's absolute maximum for a comfortable arc; ) and often a balance problem. It is extremely awkward to lift a hangar of clothing from above your head to your lap, and it's worse to try to swing it from head-height sideways. Now consider that you need one hand to hold the whatever on your lap and two hands to maneuver the chair....

Don't forget flooring. Use a firm, low-pile carpet or a non-slip finish.

The reason for being in a wheelchair will greatly affect one's reach and flexibility. Not all will be able to reach to the floor or to the back of the sink, or lift an item from above head-height, or turn easily, or possibly even maneuver without help.

See link for more ideas. I haven't used this source, but it has a very good selection of sensible aids.

Here is a link that might be useful: aids for accessibility

Meldy, thank you so much for your response. Your experiences with your mother and the day to day practical problems of wheelchair use is so much more informative than trying to read guidelines and manuals. Luckily the low dresser we already have is positioned in such a way that a wheelchair user will be able to wheel up beside it to access the drawers. I'm going to remeasure next time when are at the site (we are almost 200 miles away) but I think I have the closet designed to be the same dimensions as are required for a 360 degree turn in a handicapped access bathroom. We are both, thank God, fully mobile now but we have older relatives who have had to leave their homes because they did not have an accessible bathroom on the first floor so we have been trying to plan ahead for these contingencies. I really appreciate all of your thoughtful suggestions.

IMO, day-to-day life in a wheelie is frustrating. Mum was always grateful that she wasn't confined to bed, but I saw the effort it took to do so many things.

Take that bureau: assume you want to get a sweater from a lower drawer. Let's also assume you can do this *facing* the drawer (that means you are capable of bending over your lap to reach something ankle-height but several inches away). Roll up to reach the knob, pull open. If you want something that's to the back of the drawer, roll away while pulling drawer open. Roll closer so that you can actually reach the back of the drawer. Remember that rolling either requires two hands for a straight back or forth, or one hand which will cause the chair to turn angled. Remove sweater and put it someplace (not your lap 'cause stuff slides off + you can't bend over) so that you can close the drawer -- remember that many drawers do not close smoothly with a one-handed push, so you'll have to lock the wheels and then push. Unlock to proceed with your agenda. Now you can try the same thing while sitting sideways to the drawer! It's a far more complicated process.

None of us have a crystal ball to find out which infirmities will be our lot in the future. We may never need a wheelchair; or we might become lopsided and only able to use one hand in a motorized chair. We may need a walker or we may never need any sort of aid. There's no way to know in advance.

My rough rule of thumb while designing my new house is that eveything must be wheelchair accessible, and that if it can't be reached/used while sitting down it won't be useful when in a wheelie. It's amazing how that last limitation affects the kitchen design even more than the bath. BTW, if possible, do design all sinks so that they can be open underneath... it's darned awkward to use a sink while sitting sideways.

I really do recommend to borrow or rent a wheelchair and use it for a while (stay sat -- no fair standing over the sink to brush your teeth). First person action is far more enlightening than any other's words.

People focus on wheelchair accessibility, but I think more people end up using walkers than wheelchairs, so plan for making it easy to use for someone with a walker too--the heights are different becasue people with walkers usually can't stoop or bend over easily. And drawers vs. shelves depends upon the disability. My mother had a stroke and had a hard time pulling out drawers and opening doors, so shelves that were set at heights between her hip bone and her shoulder worked best for her--you may want to do both shelves and drawers.

Thank you again, meldy. The dresser that I hope will work out sits against one wall of the dressing area and there is also a door in that same wall just to the right of the dresser. I was thinking that someone in a wheelchair could pull up next to the dresser with feet extended into the doorway and reach to the left to pull open the drawers. The drawers all have just a center pull so they will require only one hand to pull. Does this sound as if it will work?

Thank you too, carolyn. The walker problem never occurred to me and it should have since so many people I know that finally needed to use a wheelchair also used walkers for quite sometime before they became completely confined to the wheelchair. I think some of the drawers in the dresser that will probably be too high for someone in a wheelchair will work out for someone with a walker. So in the closet I will also plan for both higher and lower shelves as well as low and medium hanging.