ADJUSTING TO CHANGE\From living room to laundry room, new designs help disabled conquer\obstacles in their own homes.

Byline: Lori Moody Daily News Staff Writer

When a car crash took the use of Valorie Grear's legs last year, her three-story dream house in Woodland Hills became one of her biggest obstacles.

She could not move from floor to floor without help. She could not get to her beloved terrace garden in her wheelchair, and the only way she could get up her steep driveway was in a car.

Selling the house is not an option at the moment. So Grear, 46, and her husband, Paul Nordberg, 64, decided to make it work for them.

Now they sleep in the first-floor living room. They are adding fixtures, like a hand-held shower head in a downstairs bathroom, and are considering converting the garage to a living space to have more privacy. (She also recently had a minivan modified so she can drive it.)

"This is a house we put everything into, financially, emotionally. It's a wonderful house that we really love. It's really frustrating to stay here and not be able to function in the same way," said Grear, a theater arts professor at Pierce College in Woodland Hills who plans to return to work in the fall.

For people who are suddenly disabled and for many aging homeowners, traditional houses become inconvenient liabilities.

To meet their special needs, manufacturers and designers are increasingly responding with products and housing features that utilize a concept known as universal design.

Universal design features are as simple as lever handles (that take the place of round, twistable door knobs) and grab bars in the bathroom. Universal design also includes wider hallways and lower counters and cabinets. Kitchens can be outfitted with low counters and cabinets accessible to people in wheelchairs, and front-loading washers and dryers make the laundry room universally useful.

"Universal design is referring to working for all ages. What works at one stage of your life will work at another stage of your life," said Evelyn Cohen, a gerontological design researcher with offices in Santa Monica and San Francisco.

"There are just so many areas we don't normally think about," Cohen said. "So many people with any kind of disability feel they are being penalized by their affliction when really it's their environment that's doing that."

Demographics have prompted interest in universal design, according to the National Association of Home Builders Research Center. In 1986, people older than 65 made up 14 percent of the total population. By 2030, that number is expected to jump to 70 million, or 20 percent of the population, according to the NAHB.

There are 49 million people with physical disabilities of some kind, most of whom have impaired mobility or dexterity, the group says.

The NAHB Research Center is preparing a manual for homeowners and contractors on how to incorporate universal design when remodeling. The group also publishes an annual directory of accessible products and "Retrofitting Homes for a Lifetime," which includes a home audit, estimated costs of modifications and product information.

Some colleges are starting to incorporate the concept into their curriculum. Roberta Mauksch, an assistant professor of interior design in the Family Environmental Sciences Department at California State University, Northridge, said she often emphasizes universal design in class.

In one project, students drew up plans to convert a large room at the university into a learning laboratory for students to understand the needs of people with disabilities. Plans for the facility (which were scrapped after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake) would have made it a showcase for new products and materials and a center for people with disabilities.

"It's important for (students) to recognize the needs for all people and all places along life's continuum," Mauksch said. "All of us, at some point or another, will be less than able-bodied."

The key is persuading more people to embrace the concept of universal design, said Jim Emerman, associate executive director of the American Society on Aging in San Francisco.

"People accept 'I'm not as young as I used to be, and I should make do,' instead of demanding that their homes and products should be designed for a wider use of people," Emerman said. "If builders and manufacturers don't feel the demand, they won't do it."

He said baby boomers buying a home should consider how it will fit their needs in 30 years.

"It's a difficult thing for people to confront," Emerman said. "It's difficult for me at 45 to think about what kind of shape will I be in in 20, 30 years. I want to be independent. I don't want to think about losing my eyesight or not walking as well."

Deborah Lind of Woodland Hills had her in-laws in mind when she built a 700-square-foot addition to her home in 1989. Grab bars and a pull-down shower head were installed in the bathroom to accommodate her mother-in-law, who went from using a walker to a wheelchair. A handrail was placed in the hallway.

Lind also installed carpeting that could withstand the impact of the wheels. Light switches were lowered, and lights were hung overhead to avoid cords from traditional lamps that would get in the way.

Her mother-in-law is now deceased, but Lind still appreciates the value of universal design. She has replaced knobs with levers on her kitchen and bathroom doors. Her kitchen was expanded and is large enough to accommodate a wheelchair.

"I am thinking about it probably all the time, not necessarily ... as when I would be incapacitated, but I think about it in terms as people go through life," said Lind, 50.

For Kirk Kilgour, 48, of Van Nuys, the answer for universal access was computers. Kilgour, a former Olympic volleyball player, was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a training accident in 1976.

Kilgour, who runs his own production and consulting companies, uses his computer for screenwriting, home banking and other financial matters. He types by using a mouthpiece.

One room of his house functions as a sleeping area and office. He has rigged up the lighting, window air conditioning, stereo, TV, VCR and space heater through one easy-to-use system.

"Computers have been the great equalizer with disabilities," the self-described techno-junkie said. "Once you have a dramatic injury, the one thing you need to do is get back your life."

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Photo (1--2--Cover--Color) ...AND ACCESS FOR ALL Universal design takes the obstacles out of traditional houses for people with special needs. (3) "Computers have been the great equalizer with disabilities," says Kirk Kilgour, shown working a remote control with a mouthpiece. Paralyzed in a volleyball training accident, he now runs his own production and consulting companies. (4) Universal design in this Asko washer and dryer makes them easier to use - they both load from the front. Gus Ruelas/Daily News (5--6) Deborah Lind's add-on at her Woodland Hills home, left, was designed to accommodate her mother-in-law, and included features such as doors that easily pull closed, above. Hans Gutknecht/Daily News (7--8) Universal design innovations in the bathroom include a wheelchair-accessible shower, left, which features grab bars, a seat and a movable shower head, and a bathtub, right, that can be entered through a watertight door. (9) Valorie Grear keeps her bed in the ground-floor living room to lessen the problems of mobility in her three-story home. Phil McCarten/Daily News (10) no caption (Faucet)