I'm not there myself yet either, but I have visited relatives in nursing homes and its always struck me how cold they are:

1) Sure nursing homes need to built for accessibility and cleanability, but do they have to be so industrial? Those awful linolium tiles -- couldn't they be repoaced by wood laminate or something warmer -- and ditto with the white, usually cinderblock walls.

2) .. and the lighting... UGH! Usually flourescent ceiling lights -- just the worst, coldest lighting possible. Would it be so awful to put in nicer lighting, with adjustable spots or table lamps for elders who might need more light to see.

3) Industrial furniture. These places always look like institutions with tacky, bland institutional furniture. The furniture definitely needs to be fixed.

The other feeling I always get in nursing homes is how cut off from the rest of the world they feel -- again, very institutional. Most try and bring the world in with activities and musial acts, but I usually find these things really insulting (treating people who've lived long, complex lives like children), especially when the're presented in a characterless community room (which is usually also a cafeteria).

I heard about a UK nursing home that addressed this by putting in a real working pub! They found that not only did it cheer the residents, but that their families visited more frequently and stayed longer. Additionally profits made in the pub went right back into the operating costs of the nursing home.

M