Timeless Glass Features That Will Future Proof Your Home

It is a popular time of the year to plan renovations and upgrades for your home as we look ahead to the summer. Glass is a timeless choice for increasing the natural light and sense of space in your home, and carefully selected features will always age gracefully. 

Glass blends beautifully with other materials such as stone, metal and wood, or works equally well as a standalone piece. It’s also durable, versatile, and adds that indefinable sense of luxury and elegance to any space. 

Here are some inspirational ways to future proof your home with glass features such as frameless glass shower screens or glass stair balustrades, whether you have ordered a UV glass bonding kit ready for some DIY, or you are calling in the experts.

Creating light airy spaces

One of the main reasons that people are drawn to glass is of course because of its transparent quality. This is perfect for allowing the uninterrupted flow of light around a space, so that even compact homes can feel open and airy— a highly sought after feature in today’s housing market, as well as providing you with a more attractive living space. 

For example, glass partition walls can be used to create broken plan living spaces with just the right balance of openness and privacy. Glass shower screens can open up small bathrooms and showcase the wall tiling to full effect. 

Another very popular option that is at once contemporary and timeless is glass balustrades for staircases, mezzanine floors and balconies. These create a seamless flow of light and material around your home, opening up narrow spaces such as hallways and landings. 

Choose ultra-minimalist frameless styles, or pair with wooden bannisters for a harmonious balance of the traditional and modern. Alternatively opt for metal frames and hand rails for a chic urban style statement. 

Seamless integration with other materials

Glass is a material that works well with just about any other material in your home. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the warmth and solidity of wood, or the rough opaqueness of natural stone. This makes it ideal for combining with furniture items such as glass-topped tables or display cabinets. 

In your bathroom, glass shower screens or shelving will perfectly complement stone flagged floors or wall tiles. It is also a long term investment, as you may wish to upgrade the colour scheme or flooring from time to time, but glass will remain contemporary and functional for decades to come. 

Low maintenance and high tech

Tempered and laminated glass options are highly durable and strong, tested to the point of destruction so that they meet strict building safety standards and regulations. They are scratch-resistant and much less prone to corrosion or wear and tear than alternative materials such as wood or metal.  

This means that high-quality glass features will remain looking their best for years to come, with remarkably little effort needed to maintain them. In fact, most glass features will simply need a wipe down now and then with water or some diluted white vinegar. 

You can even consider glass that is coated with a surface to make it more resistant to finger prints and watermarks, saving you even more time and effort and ensuring the glass always looks pristine. 

That’s not all: glass technology has advanced in recent years to make it more versatile and multi-functional than ever before. For example, switchable glass allows you to change the transparency levels of your glass at the touch of a button or in response to an external signal such as light or temperature changes. 

This gives you the option of fully opaque glass when you want to have some privacy, or semi-translucent glass when you want to filter out direct sunlight but not fully block out the view or light. Glass can also be integrated with thermal control technology to help retain heat in the winter, and reflect it away in the summer.