How to Create a "Handy Tools" Display

5. The length of the base unit (12 inches) allows two sections of fencing to be installed — each with its cup hook side facing outward. Two single sections of picket fence placed next to one another need two bases for support. Since the bases are able to join two sections of fencing, four single sections of picket fencing would require three base pieces. (Image 5)

Step 5: The Supply List

For building and placing a single 3-foot-long display:

• 1 rectangular table that's large enough to hold the picket fence display and side frames
• Two 3' sections of picket fencing
• About 30 cup hooks (to be inserted near the top of the pickets or as needed by the items displayed)
• 4" x 4" wood suitable for cutting into two 12" long base pieces.
• 1" x 6" wood board suitable for cutting into eight 18" long planks for building two side frames
• Four ⅜" x 4½" stainless steel screw eyebolts
• Four ⅜" wing nuts   
• Sandpaper
• Paint, stain and/or sealant for the picket fence sections, base and end displays

For stocking the display, consider using some or all of these items (which you can learn more about by downloading Bowdoinham's "Tools for Everyday Living" guide).

• Wireless strobe doorbell
• Strobe smoke alarm
• Grab bars
• Reach tools
• A standing assist tool
• A one-touch can opener
• A ring-style can opener
• Rubber jar grips
• Hand-held jar gripper openers
  
• An undercabinet jar opener
• A one-touch jar opener
• A push-and-pull oven rack tool
• A talking clock
• LED night lights
• LED motion-sensor lights
• A hands-free lighted page magnifier and/or portable magnifier
  
• Small tools (scissors, nail clippers, tweezers, needle-nose pliers, etc.) with built-in magnifiers
  
• Prism glasses
• Pill boxes with locks
• Pill boxes with alarms
• Pill boxes for people with limited vision
• A button aid and zipper hook
• Lever-style door handles and D-shaped cabinet pulls
• Key turners
• Large-knob light switches
• A long-handled shoe horn
• Long-handled toe nail clippers
• No-tie elastic shoelaces
• Weighted writing tools
• Wearable anti-fatigue soles for shoes
• Shoes with spring-cushion technology 
• Carry handles for clipping multiple shopping bags together
  
• A vehicle transfer support handle
• A seat belt grabber handle
• A seat belt extender
• A car caddie for carrying and holding small items
  
• A swivel seat
• An amplified phone (or volume control attachment or ringer amplifier)
• Ergonomic gardening tools
• Long-handled tools, such as dusters

What Goes Where

Displaying tools on the picket fence sections keeps the tools organized and allows easy access for reaching and trying the devices even if a person is a wheelchair user or very short.

• Items hung from the picket fence include a seat belt extender, a seat belt grabber handle, weighted writing tools, long-handled toe-nail clippers, a long-handled shoe horn, a key turner, magnifiers, an LED sensor light, a push-and-pull oven rack tool and a standing assist device.

• The wooden frames are used to display items that need to be installed, such as lever-style door handles, a mounted jar opener, grab bar, smoke detector with a strobe light, vehicle transfer support handle and a battery-operated portable strobe door bell.
  
  
• The table space displays items that cannot be hung — such as the medication boxes, one-touch can opener, the talking clock, LED night lights, prism glasses, grabbers and the shoeware.

The Cost

Counting the materials needed to build the display, the table and the displayed items themselves, the cost comes to about $575. If the building materials and the table are donated or gathered from scrap, deduct about $125 from the total cost.

How The Tool Table Is Being Used

Bowdoinham’s tool table is semipermanently on display in the Bowdoinham Town Office in an 8-foot x 8-foot space that allows residents to try the devices whenever the town office is open. The display was designed to be portable, and it has traveled to Bowdoinham’s Annual Aging Well(ness) Fair and Celebrate Bowdoinham. ACOA has also shared the tool table with neighboring communities.

The Benefits and Outcomes

The Advisory Committee on Aging's three-year action plan includes objectives for housing services that support aging in place. An aspect of the plan is to make affordable home modification information and services available. The tool table display is an inexpensive way to educate people about devices that can help them adapt to the physical changes that come with age.

In addition to displaying the tools, the tool table holds copies of the AARP HomeFit Guide.

Although it wasn't an initial goal of the project, the tool table display in Bowdoinham has attracted people of all ages — including young mothers looking for a way to do things single-handedly, shoppers buying gifts for relatives, middle-aged people wanting to simplify their lives and older adults in need of devices to help them adapt to age-related changes.

Says Patricia Oh, Bowdoinham's older adults service coordinator: "Everyone, of every age, is happier when they have the tools to make life easier."

^{Published October 2015}