We just dropped a full home tour on YouTube, and I wanted to give you a place to revisit the details, the design choices, and the story behind why our house looks the way it does. Watch the tour first (it's right below), then scroll down if you want the deeper breakdown. Everything we did, every wall we moved, every door we widened, was because of Ben.
Check Out Our Home
The Living Room: Where We Actually Live
This is the heart of our house. Ben spends a lot of his day in his bedroom, but he doesn't want to feel separated from us. So we installed barn doors that slide open to connect his space to ours. Most of the time, those doors stay wide open. Ben can be in his bed watching his shows, and still be a part of the conversation. We close the doors only when he wants privacy or when we're watching something he's not into.
It sounds like a small design choice, but it changed everything about how our family functions day to day.
Ben's Room
Ben's room is right off the living room, and we keep all of his equipment in here for easy access. His Hoyer lift, his wheelchair, everything he needs is within reach.
Quick pause, because people ask about this a lot. Ben has a communication device, but when he's not using it, we have a shorthand. When Ben looks to the left, that means no. When he looks to the right, that means yes. We ask him before every single video. Before we start filming, before we share anything, we check in with him. He gets to decide what we show and what we don't.
The room has three configurations depending on what Ben is doing. His default setup has him facing the living room with his tablet. The second moves his bed toward the window so we can transfer him into his shower chair. The third backs his bed against the closet wall so we can bring in the Hoyer lift and transfer him to his wheelchair.
Three setups, one room. It means Ben can be mobile, comfortable, and included, all in the same space.
The Bathroom
This bathroom used to be very 1970s. Very blue. Very small. We took space from the living room and the back room to make it bigger, and now it's fully wheelchair accessible with a roll-in shower that's seamless with the floor. We just wheel Ben right in.
Was making it this big totally necessary? Probably not. But we wanted plenty of room for Ben and for us to do what we need to do without feeling cramped.
Ari and I also talked a lot about design during this renovation. So much of accessibility ends up looking clinical, and we didn't want that. We wanted to marry accessibility with a modern home feel, so we could all genuinely enjoy being in the space together.
One more thing worth mentioning: when we widened the doors to Ben's room and the bathroom, we realized the original doors weren't centered. So we moved them over to create a straight shot from Ben's bed to the shower. It makes pushing him in and out so much easier.
Before & After
If you want to see just how dramatic the transformation was, the video above shows what this house looked like before we got our hands on it. Orange tones, tiny bathroom, closed off rooms. It's wild to see them side by side.
The Kitchen
Our kitchen is white, black, and light gray, a complete departure from the orange tones the house had before. Ari has a real eye for design, so he picked out most of the finishes. The backsplash is my favorite part. Every morning when we walk in for coffee, it just sets the tone for the day. Bright and clean.
Before the renovation, there was a desk where our coffee bar is now, and it blocked the sight line into Ben's room. We opened it all up so Ben can see us and we can see him. He likes hanging out with us when we're cooking, and we love having him there. A lot of our best conversations happen while we're grilling or making dinner, and Ben is always part of it.
Our Bedroom and the Office Closet
Our bedroom is simple. We mostly just sleep in there, and Ben's room is right next door, so we're always a little bit on alert at night.
We don't have a closet in our bedroom because we converted that space into the bathroom. So our closet is actually in the next room over, which doubles as Ari's office and the dog area. That's where Rush, our Australian cattle dog rescue, has his kennel. If you haven't met Rush yet, he's a very good boy.
The Elevator (Yes, Really)
When we were planning Ben's access to the lower level where our gym is, we originally thought we'd build a ramp. But because of the height difference, we would have needed a 30-foot ramp. An elevator ended up being cheaper, and we found a used one through a medical equipment recycler. It works beautifully, and Ben loves it.
The Gym and the Gazebo
Before NARBE House really took off, Ari and I were both deeply into fitness. We still run a small community of fitness folks, and we have a gym set up here in the house. With Ari's injuries and our focus shifting more toward building NARBE House and raising awareness for H-ABC and family focused content. Fitness has taken backseat, but it's still a daily part of our lives.
Outside, we have a gazebo we love spending time in, and the neighborhood itself is one of the best parts of being here.
Why This Neighborhood
This part is personal for Ari. When we were deciding where to settle to be closer to Ben, this neighborhood kept coming up. It's where Ari grew up staying with his grandfather as a kid (Ben was too young to remember this time). He's said many times that it's the one place on the planet that truly feels like home to him. His grandfather passed a few years ago, and there's something really full circle about being back here, doing for Ben what his grandfather did for him when he needed him most.
I'm grateful I got to know Ari's grandfather before he passed. He was a wonderful man, and I think he'd be proud of what we're building here.
How We Got Here
We didn't plan on staying. Back in 2020, I was a Traveling Respiratory Therapist, and I specifically took a job near Ben so we could visit family for a few months. But it became clear pretty quickly that Ben needed more care, and our plans changed. We knew we had to stay.
And honestly? It worked out more beautifully than we could have imagined. Ben shows his appreciation constantly. He makes it known that he's grateful, and even if he didn't, we'd still be doing this. But it helps. It really does.
We love doing this with Ben. We love that we got to build this home for him. And we love sharing it with all of you.
If you haven't watched the full tour yet, scroll back up and hit play. And if you have questions about any of the design choices, the renovation, or how we set things up for Ben, drop them in the comments on YouTube or right here on the blog.