4 Ways to Modernize Your Small House With Glass

Glass holds an inherently modern appeal. The material is sleek and carries a shine, especially when the sun hits it. Its minimalist profile speaks well to the modern aesthetic, as does the fact it's man-made. Glass also has special properties in that it reflects lights and disappears within the sightline. Both of these qualities are ideal for small spaces. If you have a small house, consider modernizing it with customized glass installations.

You need storage in any size home, but creative storage is imperative in small homes. That said, you don't want to take up your limited real estate with a lot of heavy shelving. Therefore, customized glass shelving is ideal in this situation. You can start by replacing any wooden or otherwise opaque shelves with glass, a move which will immediately open up the visual space in your rooms. You can also design custom glass shelving with an obvious modern slant. One of the characteristics of the modern aesthetic is to focus on form as well as function. So, you can use custom-cut glass and discreet hardware to create a wall art installation that doubles as shelving. You can also design glass shelves that hang from the ceiling, which offer a beautiful modern touch.

Another relatively small change you can make to open up the visual space in your home takes place in your bedroom. You probably have some system of sliding or hinged doors to separate your closet from the rest of the bedroom. Well, that system is closing off the look of your room. One option is to have the wooden inserts replaced with glass, which will make your closet doors look a little like windows. You can also custom-order doors made fully out of glass. If you want to maintain the privacy of your closet, you have a couple options. One is to choose patterned or frosted glass. The other is to opt for mirrors instead. Both still create that visual opening and reflect light.

If you're planning a major overhaul of your petite bathroom, consider overhauling your conception of a bathroom, too. In some countries in Europe and Asia, small bathrooms are the norm because of the age of buildings or real estate constrictions. Many households transform their bathroom into some version of a wet room. In a wet room bathroom design, you have distinct areas that can get wet when you shower and others that you want to keep dry. The obvious wet area is the shower itself, but it can also incorporate a small soaking tub, a shower bench, and even the toilet. A glass wall separates the wet room from the dry area. Such a bathroom design is very modern in its designation of space.

Another method to re-tool your conceptions of use and space is to replace sliding glass doors with a glass overhead door. You see this idea implemented in restaurants and cafes as a way to fully open up the front of the business. Naturally, such an installation will require special tracks for the overhead door. However, the ultra-mod effect might be worth it. If you're not ready to get quite that radical in your new thinking, consider replicating the idea with a customized glass wall system. A glass overhead door usually consists of two to four rows of stacked glass panes. You could order a glass wall system with the heavy framing characteristic of glass overhead doors. They'll open the same way as a sliding glass or French door, though. Take your small house and put a modern spin on it with customized glass additions. Not only will you add beauty, you'll make your home look lighter and even bigger. Contact Concord & Antioch Glass, Inc., for all your glass needs.