Your bathroom is your escape from the loud, fast-paced world. It’s where you are able to unwind and focus on yourself for a few minutes. So make the most of your bathroom by creating an inviting and relaxing space. How? Try creating the right shower with tile and we are sure the rest of your bathroom design will fall into place.

Go Traditional with Subway Tile

From all subway tiles to glass tiles, try experimenting with a look that will work for you. Installing all glazed white subway tile will create a clean, simple, and traditional look and feel. Porcelain, ceramic, and glass tile all create a classic feel.

Accent with Glass Tile

Using glass mosaic tiles can create a more unique style that can help to incorporate a color scheme. From small, transparent mosaics to larger, opaque, shimmery tiles, there is an option for every style. Glass tile is usually suitable for both walls and countertops, so you can use it throughout your bathroom for the perfect accent tile. For example, use bright inserts of glass mosaic tile to update traditional, simple glazed tile. Use it to add a border or frame your shower shelving with glass mosaic tile. Further, multicolored mosaic tile patterns can provide textural and visual interest to any area of your bathroom.

Related Read: Updating Your Bathroom Is a Safe Investment

Go Natural with Stone Tiles

For a more natural look, go for stone tiles. Marble, limestone, travertine, and slate are all great choices. Pick from an array of tile sizes and colors. Go with a beige or sand colored stone for a lighter look, or a dark gray or blue stone for a deeper, richer look. You can even choose porcelain tile that looks like stone. Both come in a large range of shapes and colors for a customized look.

Show It Off with Heavy Glass Shower Doors

Whatever tiles you choose, make sure to show it off with beautiful heavy glass shower doors from Janssen Glass. Seamless glass shower doors are less obtrusive, and allow for a more tranquil and open view of your bathroom. Less clutter is good for the mind, and helps you relax – just want you want to be able to do in your bathroom.
Call the glass shower door experts to help finish off your dream bathroom at Janssen Glass & Door. You can reach us at (913) 677-5727.

One of the biggest complaints from homeowners and business owners is the cost of heating and cooling their home or offices. It’s a necessary evil living in today’s world. So how can you cut these costs down a bit? There are lots of options depending on what you’re willing to sacrifice or do. Here at Janssen Glass & Door, we can’t speak to all the ways you can save energy, but we can help guide you in energy savings when it comes to the glass in your homes, like in windows and doors. Here’s our best energy-saving tips.

Start by Installing Energy-Efficient Windows

Your best bet at saving energy when it comes to your windows is to start at the very beginning. Make sure you install quality windows with quality glass. You want to install windows that have glass with low U-Factor, SHGC, and VT Properties. If you’re not familiar with these terms, you can read more about them on the Energy.gov website.

Also make sure you pick the right design of window – or how it operates. Certain designs of windows allow more air leakage into your home, which decreases its energy efficiency. The most energy-efficient window designs include awning, casement, and fixed. And, of course, make sure you have the windows installed correctly by a company you trust. Poor installation can make even the most energy-efficient window useless.

Shade Smarter

Once your windows are installed, make sure to be smarter about the way you shade them with window treatments. Certain types of window treatments can help decrease the amount of heat gain you experience in the warmer months. Draperies that are light colored, thick, and have a white, or bright colored inner lining are a great way to deflect much of the heat and sun’s rays, and keep them from overheating your home. Another great option are awnings. They can help reduce solar heat gain in the summer by as much as 65% on south-facing windows, and as much as 75% on west-facing windows. Choose awnings with tightly woven materials that are lighter in color. These will also reflect more sunlight.

Janssen Glass & Door has lots of experience installing glass with low U-Factor and other energy-efficient properties in homes and businesses all over the Kansas City area. Call us today at (913) 677-5727 to talk about the benefits of installing our energy-efficient glass in your business or home.

Does a room in your home feel somewhat cramped no matter how you arrange your furniture? We may have the solution for you. Mirrors! We don’t mean a magician with mirrors and smoke, though. We mean getting a custom mirror made by Janssen Glass & Door specifically for your problem area. Here’s how to use one of our custom mirrors, or another oversized mirror you find, to make a small room appear larger.

Pick the Right Mirror

Start off by using the right type of mirror. Pick a mirror that’s tall and wide enough for your needs, and that has the right reflective properties to match your home. If you’re propping this mirror up behind a piece of furniture, like an entry console, use a mirror that is about the same width as the furniture, and about twice as tall. This will make the piece look purposeful, prominent, and proportional.

You’ll also want to take the rest of the room into account when deciding on the type of reflection you want your mirror to have, and the style of its frame. You can have a simple, classic and clean mirror with no edging and a simple frame, or you could have an antiqued and muted reflecting mirror with raised edging and a painted frame.

 Related Read: New Ways to Bring Light Into Your Home Using Glass & Mirrors

Positioning Is Key

When deciding on where to place your oversized mirror for the biggest size-boosting properties, place it on the same wall, or a neighboring wall to a natural light source. This placement will allow natural light to be reflected back into your home, thereby increasing your perception of light and space in the room. If you place an oversized mirror on a wall directly across from a natural light source, the light will bounce directly off of the mirror and right back out the same window. This will leave you with the same measly light you had in the room to begin with.

To create a custom mirror piece to help bring new light and space to a room in your home, call Janssen Glass & Door today at 913-677-5727.

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.

Replace 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 Shelving

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.

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.

Hang & 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.

Add 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.

Install 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.

Consider 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.

Most people spend a considerable amount of time in their kitchen every day. It’s where you fuel your stomach and your soul. It’s a place to use all your senses while cooking a family meal, and to spend valuable time with the ones you love. But don’t let a less-than-favorable kitchen area stop you from enjoying that time to the fullest. One of homeowners’ biggest complaints about their kitchens tends to be space and light. There’s only so much you can do about the tangible amount of space, but there are several ways to work with that space to make it seem bigger and more appealing.

Glass Cabinets

A great way to open up your kitchen, and make it appear brighter, is by switching out your current solid material cabinets for glass front cabinets. There are lots of ways to make this look mesh with the style of your kitchen too. If you have more of a traditional style, try installing glass front cabinets with grids (like your windows) on one wall. For a more modern spin, try entirely glass front cabinets without a frame paired with simple hardware.

Glass Shelves

Another way to create a more roomy feel is to replace open shelving with glass shelves. Whether it’s placed inside a framed shelving structure, or stand-alone shelving, glass shelves allow you to keep your storage space, while still creating a more open, airy space which light can more easily pass through. You can even pair glass shelves with glass front cabinets for a super open effect. This does wonders for small kitchens, or kitchens that don’t get a lot of natural light because it allows you to capitalize on the small amount that you do have.

Glass Front Refrigerators

Another insanely cool feature we’ve been seeing in kitchens lately is glass front appliances, like refrigerators. While an image of frigid, and poorly lit grocery stores might come to mind, it’s much different. These refrigerators are much more modern and sophisticated. Again, it creates less of a barrier for your eyes, creating more depth to the room. While these were originally popular among the restaurant industry’s top chefs, these appliances have really gone mainstream. They also work with a large array of styles. You don’t need a super modern kitchen for it to work. Glass front refrigerators look beautiful in elegant and sophisticated kitchens, even rustic kitchens!

Call the Kansas City glass experts at Janssen Glass & Door to help you create a more open and light kitchen without having to deal with any major remodeling. You can reach us at (913) 677-5727.