I’m normally pretty on top of my year opening blogs – but you guys have kept me so busy with Strip Tiles orders, and tabletop questions, and back painted glass, and, and – I haven’t had a second to breathe! Which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but I have missed writing. Last year we unboxed a whole new decade and a WHOLE new way of life, which has translated and shaped our home design needs. So now as we are here opening up 2021, let’s see what 2020 has predicted us to expect for the new decade.
Glass Partitions and Home Offices
When I first wrote my blog on Home Offices back in May of last year, we had no idea how much that would become a part of our business. Glass partitions and home office spaces have become a true regular around here. Specifically, our Industrial Grid partitions.
Closing off den areas or small nooks to create home offices has been a really big part of this new decade. With so many people working from home while also having their kids attend school online – we all need a little area to ourselves that separate work from home.
The industrial grid partitions are a really great up to date look for the new decade. Being able to complement both contemporary and modern style homes, this partition style is a fresh take on a classic that isn’t confined to its roots. The industrial grid partitions have absolutely branched out.
Tabletops
Tis the season – for tabletops!
No seriously, what even guys, everyone and their Nan is looking for a new glass top and I’m having trouble keeping up. Which is a great problem to have at the moment but SHEESH!
With buying a glass top, there comes a lot of questions, most of which I have answered in my latest October is Tabletop Season blog – but here are the most common I get asked on the daily.
Protective Glass Surfaces:
If you are looking to add a protective layer of glass to your existing surfaces, ¼” thick glass is the droid you are looking for. It’s thin enough just to add that extra layer of protection against stains and scratches but is thick enough that it won’t crack under pressure. Literally, not even trying to make a pun, thinner glass is more likely to crack if pressure or weight is applied. ¼” is the perfect happy medium.
Glass for Table Bases:
Sometimes, it really is all about that base. And hiding a beautiful base under a heavy wood top – you might as well get any regular ole base then, right?
But with a glass top, you can have your table base and eat cake on it too – I’ll stop with the bad jokes now, I’m sorry.
If you are considering a glass top for a table base, 3/8” thick glass is the starting point of what we recommend. It’s thick enough to be weight barring and is the easiest to move of the thicker glass options. From here we could go up to ½” or even ¾” thick glass, but that point it is more a style preference rather than a stability issue.
Regardless of glass thickness, the rule of thumb when it comes to glass for table bases, is that your base should equate to about 50% of your glass top surface area to ensure adequate support. A wobbly glass is not something you want around.
Tempered Vs Non-Tempered and Edges:
If you have an existing glass top that you would like to cut down, stop and before anything, check to see if it is tempered or not. There should be a little stamp mark or something on the glass, but not all glass is marked. You can check on clear pieces of glass in the sunlight while wearing polarized sunglasses to see if there is something of a rainbow on the glass (kind of like when you look at your car windows wearing polarized sunglasses).
Tempered glass will (not probably) burst into a billion pieces if you try to have it cut, so make sure that your local glass professionals check first as well before you have existing glass cut.
Tempered glass is typically used as an extra safety measure for doors or outdoor glass. For your everyday indoor glass such as your protective surfaces and tabletops, we typically use non tempered glass.
And continuing on with safety, all of our glass here at Builders Glass is either sanded by hand or run through our polishing machine to ensure that all edges or smooth to the touch – so no need to worry about sharp edges.
Back Painted Glass
Back when I wrote my 2020 Design blogs last year, big, bright, bold colours were brought back into home design’s focus; a trend we will see throughout the next decade.
Which is hard for me because, as you guys probably know from some of my older blogs, I love my neutrals with pops of colour here and there, alright?
In the past, our back painted glass has LARGELY been similar, with clients sticking to more neutral colours or lighter shades of blue.
Point blank, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
No longer are glass backsplashes trying to hide and blend in with their surroundings my friends, they are here to make a very big and bold statement!
We have already installed one for an outdoor grill area that is a rich blue colour, that really POPS against the surrounding white walls, and I am currently working on a bright cherry red for a wine enclosure!!
Honestly, it’s really exciting to see bright and vibrant colours being used for back painted glass. When we were experimenting with our under the stair wine cellar, we painted a stunning blue metallic back painted glass (which you can read all about HERE because that entire misadventure was chaotic and insane and – wonderful). It was the first time that I had really seen a true, COLOUR, back painted on glass, and I loved it!
Now, we don’t do metallics anymore (sad face), for… reasons (sadder face) – but seeing bright vibrant colours become something that people are seeking out for their back painted glass backsplashes is really, really exciting, and I look forward to painting more of them.
So, if you are thinking of doing a glass back painted backsplash, don’t just go light blue – go BLUE!
Don’t look for a warmed white – go RED!
I would love to see a really rich coloured green backsplash at some point.
Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone.
Glass Wine Enclosures and Cabinets
One of our most iconic custom products, glass wine enclosures are always really high on our list. Which is great because they are style fluid, fitting in with both modern and contemporary designed homes, as well as fitting in with all of the new design trends.
That and, come on, when is a wine enclosure NOT impressive?
I think there are two huge misconceptions that need to be tackled with wine enclosures, especially in this new decade.
They’re only for big wine collectors, with big collections, right?
Short answer – no. Forget all of your preconceptions of big, grand, Giganotosaurus Rex sized wine enclosures. They do not need to be that complex.
Bigger, does not always mean better. Depending on your bottle count, or what you would like to keep stored on hand, you may only need an enclosure that’s about 48” wide by 16” deep.
Heck, you could even just have the racking on the wall sans the glass enclosure and have a really neat wine wall display or build it on top of a cabinet for a jewel box effect!
Alright, but my wine enclosure HAS to be refrigerated though, doesn’t it?
Has to be? Again, no. Well – it depends.
For those of you that are like us here at the office that do not know what a wine stopper is, then you probably don’t need refrigeration. Refrigeration is primarily for wine being stored long term. For us, long term is about an hour tops on a Friday afternoon so – we personally refrigerate nothing.
Most of the wine enclosures we install locally are non-climate controlled, but a key thing to consider in our situation is that most of our residence here installing these wine enclosures are seasonal, and not storing their best or favourite bottles. That or they are drinking their wine like wine was made for and enjoying it.
If you DO need your wine enclosure refrigerated, you will need to hire a general contractor and an a/c company to handle your walls and refrigeration. Your walls will need to be properly insulated, and a small refrigeration system installed.
So welcome, welcome, 2021! For questions about projects moving forward, come visit us in our showroom or give us a call at (239)947-1505. We’re going to go ahead and open up a bottle of wine ourselves here and hopefully, get inspired.
