Fantastic Transformations

Before and After Images

CLIENT COMMENTS
“It has been a pleasure to work with you and your company.  My family loves the room and deck and all we get is OOOH’S and AAH’S when people first see the room.  More than one person has suggested we should be featured in Southern Living Magazine!”
Richard and Patty Felker

“Very happy – would not change anything.  I am thrilled with the job.” 
Mary Lou Chambers 

“A 10 – Couldn’t have been better.”
Earl Brill 

“I just sit here in my new kitchen with a grin on my face.  It’s so beautiful.  It’s everything I could have wanted.  And we absolutely love Steve.  He was great to work with.” 
Liz Kaplan
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"Ten Top Design Tricks For Adding Pizzazz To Your Home"

The “Magic” of Glass

Any time you walk into a room, your eyes look around and survey the environment.  Then  your brain calculates the perimeters and makeup of the space.  When the calculation is complete, your brain then gives you a "read out" of the results.  What you get is not a factual accounting in feet and inches, but a subjective, overall feeling.  It accomplishes all this in a fraction of a second and you are hardly aware of what's going on.  However, the impression you get is powerful.  Either the room is friendly and feels good, or it feels foreign and uncomfortable and you don't want to be there.

We can make good use of this phenomenon by controlling what your eyes see.  And, probably no other material affects that vision quite like glass.  Glass is. . .well, transparent.  Your eyes really don't see it at all.  This makes it wonderful for visually opening up small rooms or adding interest to an otherwise boring view.

All too often you can walk up to some small window in a house and see a terrific view; a view that should be displayed and highlighted.  But, because of a builder's oversight or insensitivity, it is all but lost.  Imagine how stimulating it is to enlarge that window and create a scene with all the excitement of an ever-changing masterpiece.  The whole mood of the room changes.

The important question to ask is, what are your eyes focusing on?  It is possible to have a significant amount of glass in a room and still not achieve a sense of openness.  This is true in most instances where the windows are divided into smaller panes such as is prevalent in many traditional homes, or where there are shutters or other window coverings.  These things keep you from focusing beyond the glass.  This isn't without value, mind you.  It's a matter of controlling these factors to suit your goals.

Naturally, the most significant factor affecting how your eyes see a room is the amount and placement of glass.  A room can have a lot of windows and still seem closed in, if they are small and spaced all around the room.  This would be valuable where you want to "rein in" a large space.  Conversely, you would put all the glass together to open it up.

Probably the most dramatic effect possible is attained by having floor to ceiling glass over a wide expanse of wall.  This is made more possible today because sliding glass doors are available as wide as 16'.  These huge doors provide the additional benefit of having two sliding sections in the center which when fully opened give nearly 8' of actual opening to the outside.

When rooms are opened with this much impact, what is on the outside of the glass becomes extremely important.  This space, in fact, becomes a part of the room, itself.  A beautiful patio or deck with attractive landscaping, which compliments the interior of the room decor, makes for a stunning effect.

The view to the outside isn't the only use of glass.  There are occasions where you want interior rooms separate from each other and, yet, each room is too confining by itself.  Consider interior glass doors to provide the visual link between the spaces.  Both rooms benefit from this feature.

We have been talking about views up to this point.  But, there is also the issue of what comes in.  These days it seems everyone wants to get as much light in their house as possible.  Naturally, large chunks of glass in the wall accomplishes this pretty well.  And windows and glass doors aren't the only way to get light into a house.  Skylights, which we have covered in past issues, offer a dramatic infusion of light from overhead.  Even the dingiest of spaces are magically transformed with the addition of these funnels of light.  They can be used anywhere there is access to the roof.  They're perfect for baths, closets, hallways, or any other area that needs brightening up.

When it's necessary to make a room appear more generous than what it really is, mirrors can perform a similar function to that of windows.  Again, we're controlling the line of sight.  You can't really see a mirror, only the reflection.  This trick very nearly doubles the apparent size of the room.  Used in confining areas like small bathrooms or entry's, the effect is startling.  It seems almost impossible to make that much difference with such a small addition.  Keep in mind that the relative significance of the change is in direct proportion to the size of the mirror.

Glass can be used in other interior areas, as well.  Putting glass in cabinet doors, for instance, creates interest (if the contents of the cabinet are appropriate, of course) and expands the spaciousness of the room.

Pound for pound, you would be hard pressed to surpass the results that can be created with well placed glass.  Whether you incorporate it into a new addition, or use it to reshape your existing house, there's nothing like it for giving your eyes a visual treat.