Q: My husband spends much of his day in a wheelchair. I need to arrange the furniture in our new house so he can get around with no trouble. The great room is the main problem. We already have a sleep sofa and two club chairs, but I don't know where to begin.

A: Breathe easier: The professional design world has been dealing with the challenge you're facing since Congress passed the historic Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) l8 years ago. The act mandates what is known as universal or accessible design in public places, and the concept has overlapped into residential design.

The happy result is that Americans who have disabilities can live as beautifully — and easily — as everyone else, with furnishings that are both functional and attractive.

Case in point: This wood-warm and spacious great room, borrowed from the pages of a book you'll want to peruse, "Universal Design for the Home," by Wendy A. Jordan (Quarry Books, www.quarrybooks.com). The room's wide traffic lanes are easily navigable for a person in a wheelchair and everyone else. In fact, you don't even notice that special concessions have been made to wheeled traffic, such as the absence of thresholds between the sitting and dining rooms as well as a turning space that's at least 5 feet in diameter.

Other subtle adjustments include light switches placed lower on the walls, electrical outlets placed higher and plenty of good lighting. In this room, much of the lighting radiates from the light-finished wood ceiling, thanks to hidden fixtures all around its perimeter. The furniture arrangement is contained on the area rug —leaving the hardwood floor uncovered — with cocktail, end and side tables conveniently positioned near each seating piece.

Warm, comfortable and inviting, this is a room that proves how universal design can be universally appealing.

A few websites on Wendy Jordan's list if you want to learn more: www.centerforuniversaldesign.org, www.aia.org (American Institute of Architects) and www.aarp.org/families/home_design/.

Q: My husband has a fixation on Salvador Dali, and I'm eager to learn if Dali ever designed any furniture. We're redecorating his home office; it would be fun to incorporate a Dali design — if such a thing exists.

A: Salvador Dali was, in his own words, "born a genius at a very young age." He spent his lifetime (1904-89) applying that genius to many media, including furniture, probably most famously, the "Lips" sofa inspired by Mae West's own, curvaceously rendered in scarlet fabric on a wooden frame.

Dali also designed tables, lamps and chairs — many of which are on the market today at prices that reflect their artistic heritage (think huge!). You will enjoy exploring websites like that of the Dali Museum in Florida, www.salvadordalimuseum.org, which collects and sells his works of art.

The good news is that you can also find more affordable pieces that were designed in homage to Dali. For example, the recently introduced 'Dali' rattan lounge chair from Ficks Reed, the 125-year-old manufacturer known for its outdoor furniture.

Dorothy Draper, the famed mid-century American interior designer, created the original that Ficks Reed produced for one of Salvador Dali's homes, according to Carleton Varney, now president and owner of Dorothy Draper's influential design firm. The reproductions are available at stores near you. Find them at www.ficksreed.com.

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Hampton Style" and associate editor of Country Decorating Ideas. To find out more about Rose Bennett Gilbert and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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