Month: May 2015

Use Glass Shelves to Open Up Space in Your Kansas City Home

One of the biggest complaints from homeowners is space. It can be hard to find ways to squeeze more of it into a home, but there are a few things you can do to work with the space that you have. One of those tricks is to utilize glass shelving. These translucent, shiny shelves are the perfect way to make the space you do have seem larger. Here are a few ways to incorporate them into your Kansas City area home.

Glass Cabinets Kitchen KCReplace Opaque Kitchen Cabinets with Glass

Kitchens tend to be among the top of the list when it comes to crowded rooms. And since most people spend a lot of their time in the kitchen, it can easily get crowded quickly. A great way to open up the space is to replace your solid kitchen cabinets with glass-front cabinets. The transparent storage space creates a greater depth to your kitchen area, and luckily, this look blends with many different decorating styles. Janssen Glass & Door can create custom glass shelves for any size cabinet you have.

Related Read: Open Up Your Kitchen with Glass Accessories

Embrace Open ShelvingGlass Shelves Custom

Another way to use glass shelves to create more open space is in an open shelving unit. These can be incorporated into almost any room in your home. They’re great in the bathroom under the mirror or above the toilet to create extra storage space for beauty products or towels. They’re also a great addition to any living space where you can hang anything from plants or decorative pieces. It’s a great way to incorporate more style into your home without adding the extra bulk that a stand-alone cabinet or block shelves can have.

Call Janssen Glass & Door today at (913) 677-5727 to create custom glass shelves that will add style and space to your Kansas City home.

New Ways to Bring Light into Your Home Using Glass & Mirrors

Want to bring more natural light into your home? Natural light can not only brighten and cheer up an otherwise drab room, but it also creates an illusion of more space. Natural light is not so easy to come by, unfortunately. Here are four ways you can use glass and mirrors to harness the power of the natural light you have to work with.

Large Mirrors Reflect more LightHang & Place Mirrors Strategically

Mirrors’ reflective properties are a great way to use whatever light you already have in your home without having to do any major work to it. To get the most of the mirrors you have, place them on the same or neighboring walls of windows. Hanging them directly across from windows will actually cause them to reflect the light directly back out those same windows. It’s geometry, really. When you place a mirror on a neighboring wall (to the left or right), the light is reflected at an angle that brightens the room.

Another way to use mirrors to your advantage is to use oversized mirrors. Oversized mirrors have the ability to reflect larger amounts of light when placed correctly (see above). Use them as a wall piece in place of art, hanging above a couch, or lying against a blank wall.

Custom Glass TableAdd Reflective Accessories

Mirrors aren’t the only reflective piece you can use to make the most of the light in your home. Anything reflective helps, such as metallic lamps and furniture accessories, or glass tabletops. These will all reflect any light and disperse it throughout your home, giving the illusion of more natural light. Custom glass tabletops are a great addition to brighten up any room in your home.

Glass DoorsInstall Glass Doors Internally & Externally

If adding more mirrors and reflective accessories and furniture doesn’t help, you might need to go a step further. Internally, you can switch out opaque wood doors throughout your first floor for glass french doors. This design element will allow light to pass between rooms, creating a more open effect inside your home.

Externally you can replace your solid entrance door with one that has glass panels. You can go even further by adding glass transom lights on top of your door, and sidelights on the sides of your entrance door. Together, these design changes can add a lot more light to the front rooms of your home.

Skylights Add Natural LightConsider Adding Skylights

Lastly, if you have rooms in your home that you just can’t seem to lighten up no matter what you try, consider adding skylights. This allows natural sunlight to flood into your home from your ceiling. These really do add the most natural light, but they are also one of the most extreme ways to get it.

Janssen Glass & Door can help your dreams of a brighter home become a reality in your Kansas City home. Call us today at (913) 677-5727 today. Janssen Glass can help you create a custom glass, door, window or mirror piece to bring more light into your life.