Floor-to-ceiling ambience makes (w)all the difference: colors, patterns, and textures are just the beginning. (Design).

AS TODAY'S CONSUMERS ARE DEMANDING MORE HOME-LIKE senior living environments, facilities are learning that providing appropriate wallcoverings can help meet residents' expectations, address specific performance requirements, and may even contribute to staff retention.

Color is by far the most important factor in determining what wallcoverings people choose to buy. The design or pattern of the wallcovering, though important, is not as critical as the colors offered in the wallcovering products. It has been said that a good design with poor color has no chance at all to sell, while a poor design with good color may sell every day. The challenge--and the fun--comes in finding the best possible color combinations with appropriate designs. This is especially critical for senior living environments.

Many seniors now entering independent living, assisted living, and continuing care retirement communities have long been among the best consumers of wallcoverings. As many of them move from private residences into senior living properties, they expect and even demand that their new living environments be more like their former residences by including wail decor with the same types of colors and patterns they previously enjoyed in their private residences. Designers understand that wallcoverings can not only "residentialize" the interior environment, but can help surround the staff and residents with the same type of pattern and design they are used to seeing in nature and everywhere in their physical environment.

As providers market their senior living properties as aggressively as hospitality properties, the inclusion of well-designed spaces with decorative finishes often tips the scale by dramatically differentiating one property from another. Wallcoverings can provide the biggest bang for the decorative dollar because of their visual impact. For the family members often financing the care of an elderly parent, senior living environments with the "right" color, design, and texture often can be chosen for their more residential and supportive ambience.

One of the biggest issues in many senior living properties is the hiring and retention of capable employees. Interior furnishings have just as great an impact on the staff as it does on the residents. Designers can create optimal environments that improve the attitude and emotional well being of the staff as well as the residents. (1) It's not too big a leak to suggest that a community with satisfied residents can lead to a more productive and satisfied staff.

In addition to new colors and designs, wallcovering manufacturers are now developing special features specifically addressing the needs of the senior living market. Recent studies have quantified the results of how certain vinyl wallcoverings can actually improve the R-factor (insulative properties) of a wall, which will certainly lead to reduced energy costs. (2) Wallcoverings have also been shown, when compared to paints, to reduce noise levels significantly. Moreover, special coatings have been developed that provide matte, low-luster finishes that reflect far less annoying levels of light than do painted surfaces. Even problems involving incontinence and mildew have been addressed successfully by both adhesive and wallcovering manufacturers.

Wallcoverings have always offered the design community benefits in terms of aesthetics, but newer generations have many benefits that can make wallcoverings an economical choice. With residentially inspired patterns that can help deinstitutionalize senior living spaces and with elderly engineered performance features, wallcoverings can help differentiate properties, better support the needs of the aging, and make senior properties more livable and supportive than ever before.

References

(1.) Murray L. The impatient patient. Contract Magazine 1997;8(39):84.

(2.) Thermal Tests per ASTM Standard C 518 on Gypsum Board Samples. Test report from independent product testing lab issued July 2000. Available on request from York Wallcoverings.

Bill Burget is vice president, Sales, York Wallcovering in York, Pa. He can be reached at 717-846-4456.