A small house with a welcoming front porch

Standard doorways are often too narrow for a wheelchair or wide walker — a detail easy to overlook until it's suddenly relevant.

What to know

A minimum of 32-36 inches of clear doorway width is generally recommended for wheelchair accessibility — worth checking if you're planning any renovation regardless of current need.

If a full renovation isn't in the cards, prioritize widening just the bathroom doorway first — the single most consequential access point.