Glass Wall Shelf Or Wood Wall Shelf?

Posted on 2011/01/07 by admin

Shelves and bookcases are available in so large a variety that one is often unable to decide which is the best and why. Here, we will have a look at the plus and minus points of shelves made from wood and glass and see under what circumstances each suits best.

Wood Shelves

Most of the wood shelves that we get these days are not really made of natural wood. As a matter of fact these are made from solid core of compressed wood or plywood, which is also known as engineered wood, and finally covered with a finish, veneer or paint. Such shelves are definitely cheaper than natural real wood and usually lighter, yet stronger than real wood. The best variety of these shelves is covered with veneer, a thin sheet of real wood. Professionally applied veneer gives the feel of real wood shelf, though the core is not real wood. Apart from economical, these shelves are most often made from recycled materials, thus protecting the environments too.

Though veneer has good looks, close to natural wood, it is not real wood. If you like to have really beautiful rich wood colors, go for shelves made from real wood, but be prepared a fancy price for that.

Glass Shelves

Just like shelves made from wood, glass shelves are also made from different types of glass, and it is important to know the kind of glass you are buying. Glass, as you know is very brittle and gets broken into millions of small particles. But, now better varieties of glass are available which don’t get chipped off or develop scratches. This doesn’t get shattered so easily, and even if t does, there won’t be tiny glass pieces scattered all around the place. This quality of glass is called tempered glass. These days they also give heat treatment to glass, enabling it to be stronger than normally annealed glass.

An important factor that determines the strength of glass is its thickness. It’s not difficult to estimate that a standard thick glass shelf would be stronger than a thin tempered one. Glass shelving is given a rating to indicate the permissible limit of weight it can carry safely. Do enquire about this at the time of buying.

When one is better than the other

Now that we are somewhat familiar with the quality of wood or glass that may be used for making shelving, let’s understand which material best suits under what circumstances. If you are able to assess your requirements, most of the job is done. Here area few questions that you need to answer to assess your requirements.

1. What are you going to put on these shelves?

If you intend keeping large or heavy items, like thick books, it would be better to have wood shelves. Though thick strong glass shelves are available, there is always an element of risk, howsoever small with such shelves. And, let’s face it, you are not going to weigh all the items that you intend keeping in that shelf! Wood can hold a lot more weight without any fear of giving way.

On the other hand if you plan to display your collection of baseballs, golf balls, vases or any such small sized items, you will find glass shelves worthwhile as they highlight the collection to which the viewer attention is drawn, rather than the shelf itself.

2. Which part of your home is going to house the shelving?

You would naturally prefer having glass shelving in the kitchen, compared to the wooden variety, for the simple reason that the former are easier to clean and maintain. You may be using cleaners to get rid of the grease. That could prove harmful in case of wood shelving. Likewise, the bathroom has humidity which surely is not healthy for wood, prompting you to decide in favor of glass. But, if you are planning shelving for your living room you may like to have wood that always has its own charm and warmth, whereas glass gives a very formal cold look to the whole place.

3. Who is going to access these shelves?

You would surely like to play it safe if you have growing children at home. Accidents do happen and in case of glass you not only lose the shelf for ever, but its shattering could prove hazardous for those in the room or even the person who accidentally broke it down.

4. What’s the lighting arrangement you can have for the shelf?

Lighting is an important aspect here. If you are going to store books in shelving, it’s not all that important to see the titles. But if you intend displaying smaller items or the not so heavy family heirlooms, nothing suits better than glass. Even with nominal lighting you can see all the items displayed therein.

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Don’t Forget About Glass Bathroom Shelving

Posted on 2010/12/21 by admin

Homeowners generally accord the least priority to the decoration of bathroom. Often, the bathroom has a small size, making it somewhat difficult to give it any decorative effect. Nevertheless, there is a convenient way to create additional space in the bathroom as well give it a decorative touch by including some glass shelves therein.

Bathroom glass shelves are available in very beautiful and attractive designs that go to enhance any décor, while providing additional storage space, which facilitate its functioning too. These easy to install shelves can b e fixed almost anywhere in the bathroom. All that you need for their installation is a ruler and a screw driver or a small drill machine. Make sure to measure the distance to maintain their position accurately and for keeping them stable.

The availability of glass bathroom shelves in so many designs and shapes makes it easy to get just the right one that best suits your requirements and goes well with the surroundings in the bathroom. You can have them with straight edges or rounded corners. Further, these are available in varying sizes, depending upon the space available at your end.

Even the brackets needed to fix these glass shelves come in many designs and shapes in a variety of materials. You may have brackets in polished chrome, satin nickel, Venetian bronze, and English Matte and other materials. These are available in a variety of designs, giving you many options to choose from.

Including a glass shelf in the bathroom is a great way of giving modern looks to your bathroom, while creating the much required additional space. Depending on the design of your bathroom, and your requirements of space you could certainly have more than one shelf, all of the same size or even in varying sizes as long as they look symmetrical.

When considering having shelving for the bathroom, you would do well to go around and check the available options. Compare the design, size and price of different options with respect to your requirements and the space available. That surely helps you arriving at the right decision and choosing the right product that answers all your requirements.

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Enrich Your House With Glass Shelf Brackets

Posted on 2010/11/09 by admin

The kind of shelving you decide to have certainly affects the ambiance of the room and you have to take into consideration a few factors while choosing the same. An important factor governing your choice is the kind of items that you intend keeping on the shelving. In case the items are going to be heavy like thick books, for instance, glass is not a good option as it is unable to carry the kind of weight that metal or wood can. Of course, it also depends upon the type of brackets and fixture you may use, but on the whole you should be playing safe as glass is a very fragile material and it will be better to opt for a stronger material, keeping you free from worries.

Next, you will like to consider the overall effect that shelving would cause on the ambience and furniture already present in the room. Let’s say your room presents a very cozy and traditional rustic looks, in which case glass would look a bit out of place and wood would better jell with those kinds of interiors. Nevertheless, it is well known that glass is a material that suits a wide range of interior designs and does complement a lot many décors.

Safety is another factor that just can’t be overlooked. In case the shelves are going to be at a low height and you have youngsters at home, glass could prove to be hazardous, though the glass used these days for the purpose of interiors is toughened and hardened, known as tempered glass and is quite strong.

An ideal place for glass wall shelves in any house will be the bathroom. You get glass shelves which are not too big and perfectly suit the storage needs of the not so heavy bathroom items. Further, the availability of tinted glass adds to the convenience of having them in colors that match the color scheme of bathroom, usually in shades of green or blue.

Another advantage of glass shelves is that they are the easiest to clean and maintain, needing no polishing or painting. They are less prone to scratches and chips and allow the light to pass thru, enabling clear visibility of the products stored therein.

Glass shelves look very elegant and outstanding by incorporating mirrors at their back to reflect light. Likewise, if you arrange for spot lighting, mirrored glass shelves look very dramatic especially at night.

Present techniques for cutting and handling of glass allow you to have curves or wavy edges on glass. Though custom shelving is an expensive proposition, the fact remains that you can give glass a very personalized looks and shapes by seeking the services of professional glass cutters.

A very unusual look can be had by using floating glass shelf that doesn’t require any brackets for its support. It is supported by using a tongue and groove arrangement and gives a very neat look, as if suspended in mid-air.

If you are not too sure of how to hang glass brackets on the wall, seek the help of a professional. However, most shelving remains simple and interesting DIY project. All that you need to ensure is use of proper brackets and supporting accessories, depending on the weight of the shelf and its contents.

The applications of shelving brackets have been so well exploited that there is hardly a place where you can’t find them. For your bathroom you may have a wall mounted mirror with built in glass shelves. These are very lightweight and cause dramatic effect in the bathroom because of the light they reflect. Another widely accepted application of glass shelf come in the form of TV stand, especially made of black glass that matches LCD and plasma screens. Combination of glass with other materials, including wood, gives very interesting and unusual designs of shelving. Of late, even bamboo strips are being used in conjunction with glass to get shelves in very striking designs.

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Glass Wall Shelf – Use Them For Easy Maintenance

Posted on 2010/10/31 by admin

Glass, because of some of its exceptional characteristics is being used more frequently these days for a variety of domestic and commercial applications. Glass is getting popular as a decorative material as it is affordable and easy to maintain and presents elegant neat looks. Glass shelving is being increasingly patronized by homeowners. While providing additional space for storage, glass wall shelves have stylish looks about them and look very graceful in homes.

Usually, glass shelves have been used for making display cases for curios. One reason for that has been that your valuables are secured, out of the reach of children or other such factors that could possibly damage them. Now , with the availability of glass shelves that are mounted on the walls in innumerable designs and shapes, their application is not just confined to display cases and are increasingly being used for other applications also.

As a matter of fact you get them in so varied designs and shapes that you could easily use them in any room of your home. You get especially designed glass shelves that can be fixed in any corner of your room, whether it is bedroom, bathroom or even living room. That’s the best way of using the space created in the corners, which otherwise is wasted most of the time. Their installation is simple- just fix the wall mount in the corner and fasten the glass shelf to decorate any corner in any of the rooms.

In case you are not in favor of having glass shelving in a corner, you may have it even in the middle of one of the walls. Especially designed brackets are available in many attractive designs which provide adequate support to shelving and keep it stable and steady. You may also consider having floating glass shelves, wherein supporting brackets are not visible to the onlooker and it appears as if the shelving were suspended in mid air. And, lest you continue to think that glass is not a strong material, you should know that these days you get glass shelving made from special type of glass that can hold up to 100 pounds of weight. Having such shelving makes a great device for displaying your favorite photos, knick-knacks and the like.

The most helpful factor of glass shelving is the ease of their maintenance. All that you need is window cleaner to keep them shiny and bright, without any hassles of painting or renovation of any kind. However, you need to be very careful while removing the shelving from its brackets or at the time of keeping items on them, lest you should scratch the surface of glass. Be sure of the weight bearing capacity of the shelf, else it might give way. All said and done, you can’t overlook the fact that they are made of glass.

You can have glass shelf in any room to improve the looks of the area, as these surely add to the overall ambience of the place. That kind of versatility coupled with the ease of maintenance is adding to their popularity and you can notice them in the kitchen, bathroom or any other room of a house, in a corner or on one of the walls.

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When Should You Go For Glass Shelves?

Posted on 2010/09/28 by admin

Any home is sure to have some kind of shelving or the other. Apart from offering convenient storage or display of family heirlooms or figurines etc. the shelves form a part of furniture for any room. So, one looks for shelves that have appealing looks and add to the décor of the room where they are installed. In case of modern homes with unassuming design, traditional bulky wooden shelves certainly look out of place and it is quite a trend to have clean shiny glass shelves. Before you venture out to buy glass shelves for such interiors, it will be good know some of the salient features of glass as material, and glass shelves in particular and the brackets you’ll need to support such shelves.

Of course, glass looks stylish and beautiful but being fragile, it is more prone to breaking as compared to metal or wood. That makes it very important to appropriately support them using glass shelf brackets, which reduce their tendency to slip and break. You get specially made brackets for glass shelves. There is a very large variety available in different sizes and shapes and you are sure to find some that jell with the interiors of your room. The way these brackets are fixed on wall for supporting the shelves is different than that of wooden or metallic shelving. Typically, they won’t need drill or screws. Instead these brackets are provided with slots to which you slide the glass. Take care to read the installation instructions that come with them or consult a professional for doing the needful.

Bathrooms are provided with glass shelves and matching brackets. That’s because glass is waterproof and bathrooms are always humid. Further, glass is so convenient to clean and maintain. Rather than having wooden shelving in the bathroom it is much more practical and logical to have glass shelving in the bathroom. They present a very neat look. Moreover, most of the items needed in the bathroom are lightweight and can easily be left in glass shelves without any feat of their falling down. Glass shelves in the bathroom make it quite relaxing and comfortable and help keeping the dull and drab place alive.

The use of glass shelf is not confined to bathrooms alone. You can have them in other rooms too. You should have noticed that an increasing number of architects and interior designers are making very frequent use of glass among other materials. At times they make a whole wall of glass, and even glass desks and countertops. So, having glass shelves with glass shelf brackets is quite normal and expected. You could surely have some in the kitchen to give it smarter and neat looks or have them in the living room. Surely, you cold display your figurines or trophies in the living room using a glass shelf duly supported on glass shelf brackets and earn the appreciation of visitors.

The most convenient feature of glass wall shelves that they need no painting or maintenance. You can just wipe them clean without any fear of their getting damaged or scratched. Glass shelves and brackets present an easy convenient way of adding elegance to shelving arrangement without losing any functionality of storage space.

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