Planning Signage for Your Entire Facility: Front to Back
A comprehensive signage plan covers every area from the front entrance to the plant room. This guide shows how to combine resident-facing signs with low profile staff-area signs and blanking boxes to create a complete, cohesive wayfinding system.
The best care home signage systems don't happen by accident. They are planned, room by room, corridor by corridor, from the front entrance to the back door. This guide walks you through the process of auditing your entire building and selecting the right sign type for every location -- ensuring consistency, compliance, and a professional finish throughout.
Step 1: The Wayfinding Audit#
Before ordering a single sign, walk every corridor and enter every room. Note the current signage (or lack of it), the room's purpose, who uses it, and any existing wall damage from old signs. This audit gives you a complete picture of what you need and where. Group your findings into three categories: resident-facing areas, staff and service areas, and transitional zones where both groups pass through.
What to record during a wayfinding audit:
- Room name and current signage status (signed, unsigned, or poorly signed)
- Who uses the room (residents, staff, visitors, contractors)
- Corridor decision points where people must choose a direction
- Locations where old signs have been removed, leaving wall marks
- Fire exit routes and assembly point signage
- Any rooms that have recently changed purpose
Step 2: Matching Sign Types to Locations#
With your audit complete, assign the appropriate sign type to each location. Resident-facing rooms like bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, and lounges need high-visibility dementia-friendly door signs with large icons, high contrast, and optional Braille. Corridors and junctions need directional signs and projecting signs. Staff-only areas -- plant rooms, laundry, sluice, offices, kitchens -- need low profile signs. And any location where a sign has been removed should receive a blanking box until a replacement is installed.
Recommended Sign Types by Area#
Sign type recommendations for each area of your facility:
- Bedrooms: Personalised door sign + optional projecting sign for corridor visibility
- Bathrooms and toilets: Door sign + door decal for maximum visibility
- Dining room, lounge, activity rooms: Door sign + projecting sign + directional signs at nearby junctions
- Corridors and junctions: Directional signs at every decision point
- Staff offices: Low profile sign
- Plant room, laundry, sluice, kitchen: Low profile sign
- Storage and utility cupboards: Low profile sign
- Staff toilets and changing rooms: Low profile sign
- Unused sign locations: Blanking box
Step 3: Colour Consistency#
Choose one colour scheme for your entire facility and apply it everywhere. This means your door signs, projecting signs, directional signs, low profile signs, and blanking boxes should all be in the same colour. Consistency reinforces the visual language of your wayfinding system and creates a professional, unified appearance. Our range is available in eight colour options, all designed to deliver the high contrast ratios recommended by the DSDC.
Pro Tip
If your building has distinct wings or floors, you can use different colours for each area to aid orientation. For example, the ground floor might use Oak while the first floor uses Carolina Blue. This adds another layer of wayfinding information without any additional signage.
Step 4: Phased Implementation#
Most care homes don't need to sign the entire building in one order. A phased approach works well: start with resident-facing areas (the highest impact), then add directional and projecting signs (improved navigation), and finally complete the system with low profile signs for staff areas and blanking boxes for any remaining gaps. This spreads the cost while delivering incremental improvements that residents, staff, and inspectors will notice at each stage.
Our signage experts offer a free wayfinding review. Send us your floor plan and we will recommend the right sign type, quantity, and colour for every room in your building -- at no cost and with no obligation.
Recommended Products
From DSDC 1A-accredited door signs and projecting signs to low profile signs and blanking boxes, our complete range covers every area of your facility. All manufactured from premium acrylic with UV-cured print, available in 8 colour schemes.
A complete facility signage plan is not a luxury -- it is a necessity. Residents depend on it for independence. Staff depend on it for efficiency. Inspectors look for it as evidence of good management. And with low profile signs and blanking boxes completing the picture, the cost of signing every last room in your building is surprisingly modest.
Related Articles
Low Profile Signs: The Missing Piece in Care Home Wayfinding
Low profile signs provide clear identification for non-resident-facing areas. From plant rooms and laundry to offices and service corridors, they ensure every part of your facility is clearly signed -- without adding visual clutter where it isn't needed.
Back-of-House Signage: A Complete Guide for Care Homes
Back-of-house signage is often overlooked in care home planning. This guide covers which areas need signs, what information to include, and how low profile signage supports staff efficiency, compliance, and a professional environment.
The Complete Guide to Choosing the Right Sign Type
Door signs, projecting signs, door decals, directional signs, and personalised signs each serve a distinct purpose. This comprehensive guide explains all five types, provides a decision matrix, and helps you plan a complete signage strategy for your care home.