You don't need a remodel.
You need a clear path.

How do you prepare your home for hip replacement surgery?

Prepare your home for hip replacement by making one short, clear path from bed to bathroom to kitchen: bed on the main floor, rugs and cords gone, night lights in, a raised toilet seat, two grab bars, and daily things at waist height.

That list is condensed from MedlinePlus's "Getting your home ready" guide for knee or hip surgery (NIH, reviewed 2024). None of it needs a contractor except, usually, the grab bars. Falls are already the leading cause of injury death for adults 65 and older, according to the CDC (2026), and the weeks after a hip replacement are when your balance and reach are most limited.

Which room first? A decision flowchart

1. Is your bedroom up a flight of stairs?

   Yes Set up a bed on the main floor. MedlinePlus suggests limiting stairs to once a day.

   No Check the bed height: feet flat on the floor when you sit on the edge.

2. Is there a toilet on that same floor?

   Yes Raise the seat: seat cover, add-on raised seat or safety frame.

   No Ask your team about a commode chair beside the bed.

3. Tub, or step-in shower?

   Tub Two grab bars (in/out and sit-to-stand), a shower chair with rubber tips, non-slip mats.

   Shower One grab bar for standing, shower chair, non-slip mat. Never a towel rack.

4. Any loose rugs or cords between those rooms?

   Yes Remove the rugs, reroute cords, fix uneven doorway floors.

   No Walk it at night. If it is dark, add night lights.

5. Small or bouncy pets?

   Yes MedlinePlus suggests they stay elsewhere for the first few weeks.

   No Move to the kitchen: daily items between waist and shoulder height.

Every branch is from MedlinePlus (2024). The order is ours: route first, then bathroom, then reach.

A Sunday with a tape measure (a story we wrote)

He has a date in three weeks and a two-floor house. On Sunday his daughter walks the route with him at 10 PM, lights off, phone in hand. The hallway runner slides. A lamp cord crosses the bedroom doorway. The downstairs bathroom has no grab bar and the seat is low.

She logs each one in RoomMend in three taps: room, issue, when. Runner: This week. Cord: This week. Grab bar: This month, with a note to call a handyman. By Wednesday two are ticked done. Thirty days after each tick, RoomMend reminds them to look again, which is about when he is walking the route on his own.

RoomMend screens for this job

How to use RoomMend before surgery in 3 steps

1. Pick your home type. Apartment, one-floor or two-floor house. Your rooms appear; no account or address.
2. Walk the route once. Bedroom, hallway, bathroom, kitchen. Log each problem with a This week, This month or Someday label, and a photo marker if it helps.
3. Share the list. Send it as plain text or a room PDF to the family member or handyman doing the work. Tick each fix done; RoomMend plans a recheck in 30 days.

Honest limits

RoomMend is a notebook with good structure. It is not a home inspection, a safety certification or a fall-risk assessment, and it does not spot hazards in your photos. "Reported completed" means someone said a job was done; the app does not check. It also knows nothing about your hip precautions: your surgeon and therapist set those. This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your clinician.

Everything on this page is free in RoomMend: every walkthrough, the fix list, reminders, rechecks and room PDFs. RoomMend Plus is a one-time purchase for extras such as more homes and the whole-home binder PDF. No subscriptions.

Paper list, OT visit or RoomMend?

Your countdown, as a list

This is the same plan the calculator at the top builds, written out for a surgery four weeks away. Change the date up top and it rewrites itself.

1. 28 days before: Book help at home for the first one to two weeks after surgery.
2. 21 days before: Order a raised toilet seat or safety frame, a shower chair with rubber tips and non-slip mats.
3. 21 days before: Book someone to install two grab bars: one for the tub, one for standing up.
4. 14 days before: Practice with your walker, cane or crutches around the house.
5. 10 days before: Remove loose rugs and reroute cords on the bed-to-bathroom route.
6. 7 days before: Add night lights in hallways and dark rooms. Walk the route at night.
7. 5 days before: Move everyday food, glasses and dishes to between waist and shoulder height.
8. 3 days before: Set up the bed on the main floor, with a firm mattress at the right height.
9. 2 days before: Arrange for small or active pets to stay elsewhere for the first weeks.

One design decision we made: the home screen shows one next step, never a wall of tasks. Three weeks before surgery, one clear job a day is about what anyone can manage.