If we’re fortunate, we’ll all live into our 80s, 90s, even 100s. And in an ideal world, we’ll able to live out those years in our homes. It’s where we’ve made memories; it’s where we feel comfortable.

In some building and design circles, there’s been a focus on making homes more accessible with items like outdoor ramps that skirt stairs and grab bars in bathrooms to prevent falls.

When it comes to home furnishings, the mattress segment markets adjustable bed bases that offer benefits to sleepers of all ages. But older consumers especially appreciate the bases’ head and foot articulation, zero-gravity settings, massage features and under bed lighting. Newer smart beds that monitor sleep habits and health markers are also great for older demographics.

And there’s that subcategory of motion seating, the lift chair, which helps people get up more easily.

But outside of bedding and motion seating, there isn’t much talk about accessible furniture. And the companies that do offer furniture designed for older people or those with disabilities often focus on function over form.

Accessible furniture isn’t a sexy design topic. The industry wants first and foremost to create furnishings that look great and that are profitable. Factors like durability and sustainability are further down the list. Accessibility doesn’t even make most lists.

Michael Graves Design is an exception. For years, it has positioned itself as “the most accessible design brand, creating functional, accessible and beautiful products for every body.” The company is focused, as its website says, “on enhancing all people’s lives, regardless of age or physical ability. With a focus on activities of daily living, we create moments of joy with products that are visually appealing, full of character and purpose, and that enhance people’s lives.”

The company’s mission is personal. Firm founder Michael Graves became paralyzed after a spinal infection in 2003 and used a wheelchair in his final years. He died in 2015.

A new line

This month, the brand launched its first collection of accessible furniture for Pottery Barn, bringing the idea of accessible furnishings to a large audience of consumers.

With a focus on the bedroom, the line adapts three popular Pottery Barn collections with features like armrests and grips on bedframes and chairs that make it easier to get up. A built-in bench on bedframes offers safe storage and gives people a place to sit when getting dressed. Nightstands have extra storage for items such as CPAP machines and a built-in electrical outlet to keep cords wrangled. Dressers have grab bars to allow people to move around more easily and extra clearance at the bottom for wheelchairs. Both nightstands and dressers have large, easy-grip handles.

If you know what you’re looking for, you see those details. But at first glance, most of the modifications aren’t obvious.

Prices are in line with other Pottery Barn collections: a nightstand retails for $499; an accessory dresser chair is $599. The king-size canopy bed is $2,899.

Effectively and thoughtfully designing for specific populations requires education.

To better understand the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, the Michael Graves Design team has worked from wheelchairs and used other mobility devices themselves. The company has also done ethnographic research with those groups to inform its designs.

That’s an investment of time and money. And not every company wants to devote resources to such efforts.

But following the Graves model of adapting already popular designs has promise.

A big market

According to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., about 7% of all Americans have a disability, with, as you might expect, older folks more likely to have a disability — 46% of Americans 75 and older, and 24% of those ages 65-74. (The category includes those with hearing, vision, cognitive, walking, self-care or independent living difficulties.)

That’s millions and millions of people who could benefit from furniture design, including high-end furniture design, that better meets their need.

But they aren’t the only market: There are also millions of people who love aging or disabled family members and want to do everything they can to help them stay in their homes. What a gift if the furniture industry can make that possible.