Home Safety Guide: An Easy Checklist To Make Sure Your House Is Stress-Free

It's a checklist worth looking over.
beautiful loft
beautiful loft

martha stewart

Home safety is always a concern. So we looked to the wisdom of Martha Stewart for ideas and advice on making our homes secure. Below are the rules Stewart lives by, excerpted from "Living The Good Life: A Practical Guide To Caring for Yourself and Others," a handbook for living your healthiest life after 40. The guide contains tips from doctors and specialists on nutrition, fitness, wellness, home, organizing and more, and we'll be sharing a selection of Stewart's tips for a stress-free environment.

Follow these tips from the Home Safety Council, a national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to preventing home injuries, to make your home a true safe haven.

  • Use nonskid pads under all rugs.
  • Make sure stairs are well lit, with light switches at top and bottom.
  • All railings should go from the top to the bottom of the staircase and be easy to grab, at 36 to 39 inches from floor.
  • Doors should have easy-to-grip leveraction handles instead of round knobs.
  • Furniture arrangements need wide paths for traffic, clear of cords and other trip hazards.
  • Keep a lamp or flashlight within easy reach of your bed.
  • Install smoke detectors on every level and near sleeping areas so you’ll hear them anywhere in the house; change batteries twice a year. (Battery-operated alarms can now be connected by wireless technology so you don’t have to worry about batteries going dead.)
  • Keep electrical and telephone cords out of walkways.
  • Arrange items in closets and cupboards so they are easy to reach.
  • Install night-lights for better visibility in the dark.
  • Place a slip-proof rug next to the bathtub and a rubber mat or nonskid texture strips inside the tub or shower.
  • Replace glass shower doors with nonshattering material.

Tell us: How do you keep your home safe? Share your thoughts in the comments below or tweet @HuffPostHome.

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