The Personal Story of the Selora Grab Bar
Here’s how the journey of our founders shaped this unique product.
At Capella Design, everything we create comes from deeply personal experiences and a shared vision to challenge the status quo. Selora, our new grab bar frame, represents more than just a product—it comes from the lived experience of our founders and a passion for creating stylish assistive products. Here’s how Selora came to life.
The Spark: Patrick’s Personal Struggles
The story of Selora began with Capella’s co-founder, Patrick Glinski. His father, a general practitioner, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and while mobility aids were recommended to help his parents age in place, they resisted. Their beautiful home, thoughtfully designed over decades, wasn’t suited to bulky, clinical-looking devices.
Patrick’s parents weren’t alone in this sentiment. After visiting homes around the world for health-related projects, Patrick found this echoed by countless families—mobility aids not only disrupted their homes but also served as constant reminders of aging and disability. This led to feelings of stigma and social isolation, as people retreated from social interactions to avoid exposing these intrusive products.
The Problem: The Stigma of Mobility Products
Research shows that falls are a leading cause of injury among older adults, but many people avoid installing grab bars due to the stigma attached to their medical appearance. Studies reveal around 50% of assistive product recommendations go unfollowed, largely because people want to avoid transforming their homes into clinical spaces. Inspired by the work of Kristof Romain Victor Vaes, who wrote extensively about stigma-free design, we aimed to create a grab bar that people would want to interact with, not avoid.
Selora is our response to that challenge: a grab bar that offers ADA-compliant support while maintaining the beauty and comfort of your home.
The Vision: A New Approach to Grab Bar Design
The journey to Selora didn’t happen overnight. The Capella team spent years gathering insights from families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to understand the barriers to adopting mobility devices like grab bars. The solution wasn’t just about creating a functional product—it was about making it beautiful, too. Selora was designed to fit seamlessly into any home, offering support without reminding users of their limitations.
Prototyping Selora: From Concept to Reality
Designing Selora wasn’t just about aesthetics. First and foremost, the grab bar had to be ADA-compliant, supporting up to 250 lbs while being incredibly sturdy and safe. The product also had to be visually appealing, blending effortlessly into any home decor.
Our team carefully selected ethically sourced woods and finishes to ensure that Selora fit naturally into a range of home styles. Drawing inspiration from everyday items already found in homes—like picture frames and railings—Selora was designed to complement existing spaces, not disrupt them.
Beyond aesthetics, we put Selora through rigorous weight testing to ensure it met the highest safety standards. This grab bar not only delivers on strength but also invites people to get close to it, touching and interacting with it, rather than pulling away as they might with a more clinical-looking device.
The Meaning Behind the Name: Selora
The name "Selora" reflects a sense of calm, comfort, and discretion—qualities that were central to the product's development. We wanted a name that evoked elegance and warmth, not something that felt clinical or imposing. We think the name Selora mirrors the soft, inviting feeling of the grab bar itself—blending seamlessly into homes and offering support without drawing unwanted attention. For us, the name is deeply tied to our mission: to create products that offer safety while preserving the dignity and beauty of home environments.
Selora’s Impact: Our Hope for the Future
As we launch Selora, our vision is for this product to not only provide essential safety but also instill pride in those who use it. We want Selora to be a grab bar that people feel proud to own—not just because it supports their mobility but because it reflects their unique style and personal identity. Whether someone needs extra support or simply wants their home to function a little better, Selora allows them to have both elegance and practicality.
We also want to give caregivers more options, because we think it’s important that the entire home reflects a cohesive design. With Selora, you no longer have to choose between function and beauty.
Ultimately, our hope is that Selora helps people feel safe while maintaining a home that looks and feels like their own. We’re excited to see how this product transforms homes and lives as we continue to reimagine home mobility products as stylish furniture and accessories.
Whether you’re new to the Capella Design community or not, we thought folks could use an update on what we’ve been up to this year. And was it ever a lot! From joining the permanent collection of a museum to winning a design award, here’s what you need to know about how Capella Design is creating distinction in the design-forward mobility product category.
- Incorporating premade food, whether that means ordering out or store bought sides and desserts
- Opting for gift bags over wrapping paper
- Sending calls or texts instead of holiday cards
- Saying no to gatherings causing caregiving strain (or that you just aren’t excited to attend!)
Put Yourself First
Prioritize your well-being this holiday season by scheduling regular self-care activities—whether that is a long walk, your favorite treat, or some uninterrupted time alone. As the saying goes, “put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others.”Remember that taking care of yourself is not selfish; it's an essential part of being an effective caregiver, so carve out time for activities that bring you joy and relaxation.
Let Your Home Help You Out
Organizing and preparing the home for a more accessible holiday season will create an environment that is both festive and conducive to caregiving responsibilities.Check out our post with tips on how to make your home more accessible for the holidays. These small changes can help you ensure a safe and comfortable space for you and your loved ones, alleviating a significant factor in caregiving stress.
Get customer attention by clean visual and video
Make it easy to buy by eliminating stumbling blocks to purchase. Don’t assume customers know which item you’re talking about in your post. Provide a link directly to the product page or just link the product to your blog so they can buy if they want. If it relevant give readers more than one way to get to the product.
Article credit: Heidi Cohen
