Blog

Transform Your Home with QUBIGLASS®

If you’re like most 21st century adults in their formative working years- there’s a high chance you’re an independent contractor who relies on others to maintain your unique business. For an older generation, this flexibility and unstructured work schedule may appear risky or unstable, yet for the younger generation whose lifestyle relies on having a flexible work life, being an independent contractor and teaching classes makes total sense. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, having a fluid job like a yoga instructor (which relies on community involvement) has proven to be difficult- even with all of our modern technology and video conferencing! And though many attempted to teach classes from a virtual platform, there were a lot of technical and awkward difficulties that came along with it. After all, online painting workshops, Skype therapy, or tutoring, all quickly become impersonal and awkward over a virtual screen. These activities and lessons are unquestionably better in person. So what can you do about it?

Tips for instructors, self-starters, and creatives working from home

Whether you teach yoga classes or painting workshops, writing, or tutoring, there is finally a spatial solution available to implement in your home or studio so that you can get back to teaching in-person while still feeling safe and risk-free! QUBIGLASS® walls are the ultimate physical barrier between you and your clients! Perfect for these turbulent times of uncertainty, QUBIGLASS® wall partitions can be installed freestanding in any space, as this new system uses large sliding glass dividers that allow you to wrap an existing wall with glass walls in an open floor plan. Wrap around existing wall partitions in your home or studio to enhance the cleanliness and safety between two distinct spaces without paying the high cost of outfitting an entire space with new construction just to teach classes! Compared with Plexiglass or other synthetic glass alternatives, QUBIGLASS® is 100 percent real glass and can withstand constant cleaning and disinfecting with harsh chemicals. Over time, acrylic glass substitutes will fade, yellow, become scratched, and cloudy, while glass will remain clear and scratch-free for years to come!

Why glass?

Glass is the preferred choice for medical facilities, educational institutions, and working professionals due to its modern aesthetic, cleanliness, and longevity. Sturdy, non-porous materials like glass are exceptionally easy to wipe down and disinfect without compromising longevity.

QUBIGLASS® is a new glass partition developed by The Sliding Door Company, and is exceptionally well-made, durable, and built to withstand the test of time. These glass wall partitions are offered in a vast array of different sizes, configurations, and opacities. They can be ordered to suit your specific needs however big or small and are installed by a team of professionals within less than a day! That means no serious construction or disruption to your busy schedule or home life! These glass wall partitions were designed to work for commercial or residential spaces and are very easy to set up and deconstruct. During a time when we don’t know what the next week, month, or even year will bring, flexibility is super important!

Help cap airborne contamination between you and your students/clients with the most reliable physical barriers available! You can order your own QUBIGLASS® Partitions online at The Sliding Door Company. Schedule a free consultation with one of our team members and learn how you can update your space with the glass wall dividers your unique business needs to thrive!

Blog

Home Renovation Project Tips and Tactics

Tackling a home remodel or renovation project can be quite the task. Regardless of size and scale, any home improvement is likely going to cost you- not only in financial terms but also in mental taxation, your physical wellbeing, and the unavoidable disruption to your present life. So, how can a home renovation project become an easeful, relatively painless experience that doesn’t totally drain the bank? We’ve got some tips and tactics to consider before you start out on this new journey.

Before diving in too deep, you’ll have to understand that there are multiple factors at play during a home renovation- think of it as a symphony that must work with total cohesion to reach a beautiful harmony. In order to save money, stay on a time schedule, and not completely disrupt your life, all of these considerations should be employed.

Conserving Your Resources

In the beginning stages of any home improvement project, you’ll need to work with a great contractor or architect to identify what visions you have for your space(s), how long you can budget build time, and most importantly- the relative cost of all of this work. Set a clear budget with your team and stick to it. Be very clear that you don’t have a flexible budget (if this is the case) so that they don’t make costly decisions without your approval or enjoy too much wiggle room. When allowed for invited, often time architects and builders will try to push the budget and possibilities for extra add-ons and certain materials. Make sure you outline your boundaries and let them know you’re aware of your finances.

Choose the right materials

This can be a tricky process, as picking textiles and building materials can often be a frenzy of options and unknowns. First, try to identify the overall aesthetic of what you’re trying to achieve. Next, talk with your contractor about these main considerations:

  • Quality
  • Cost
  • Sustainability
  • Aesthetic
  • Availability
  • Long-term Use
  • Environmentally Responsible

All materials vary greatly in regard to the above factors. New wave building consciousness has led us to become acutely aware of the sustainability of our materials and textiles. This refers to the ethics and environmental impact of where and how these materials are sourced, as well as how long they will last and if their deterioration could be a potential environmental hazard/harm. Your contractor should be well versed in a plethora of material options and will be able to talk with you about your options. Typically, there is a great medium to be reached with regard to cost and quality. If you only select the top tier materials, you’ll end up paying the price for them in the end. Sometimes homeowners don’t realize that the relatively small price difference, while seemingly minuscule per unit, adds up quite a bit with the volume of units. Be aware of these factors.

Choose Flexible Solutions Whenever Possible

There are many fantastic options out there for space optimizing designs that don’t require full (and costly) wall construction. For example, full-length sliding wall doors are a stylishly modern and innovative solution to install in place of permanent drywall. This option allows for spatial flexibility, increased visibility, and light flow, as well as the option for a thoroughfare between two distinct spaces. Wall doors and frosted glass wall partitions, even a stylish barn door room divider still offer the option for privacy (depending on chosen glass opacity) yet they slash the cost of constructing an entire wall, and fortunately, are very easy to deconstruct when needed. These options will save time, money and add a lot of practicality to your new space.

Clear Design Direction

A lot of homeowners, when setting out to update their homes, are somewhat unaware of the necessity to outline- and stick with- a consistent design theme. This is such a crucial factor in the renovation’s success. While upgrading to a more modern look is a great design choice and probably a good return on investment, you’ll want the right accessories, fixtures and hardware to ensure your theme works within the full scope of the home. Below are a few considerations to attaining a consistent modern look:

  • Furniture and art curation (pick one or two themes and don’t deviate from them)
  • Smooth dyed cement retaining walls and siding
  • Wood accents (siding, fencing, hardwood floors, cabinetry)
  • Sliding bathroom door, mirror sliding door, or mirrored closet doors
  • Stacking room divider, pocket doors, or bi-fold doors
  •  A blend of elements throughout the house (wood, stone, fur, granite, metal)
  • Large, open windows
  • Plenty of light
  • Open floor plan
  • Large open kitchens

Relinquish Overzealous Design Choices When You Can

During the design process, we tend to get a little excited, and can at times go a bit overboard with our vision. Most times, architects will go through a series of designs, with each round cutting back and refining the overall choices and aesthetics. Throughout the first few rounds, there are typically ideas thrown out there that are inherently too costly to remain in the project in order to stay on budget. Work with your contractor to figure out which parts of your blueprints you are willing to give up to achieve financial harmony.

Frosted glass sliding door divides reading room with two pictures on the wall

Plan For The Unexpected

There are situations that will unavoidably arise throughout a building/renovation project that you hadn’t expected, and you’ll have to face these roadblocks head-on. If you and your contractor only budget both time and money for smooth sailing, most likely you will exceed your budget on all sides. Factor in an emergency cost budget, as well as plan for extra time in case unfortunate situations arise, causing delays and increased finances.

By being prepared for the unexpected, following a consistent design theme, employing flexible construction solutions, and carefully choosing materials you’ll set yourself (and your home renovation project) up for success. No one should endure a terrible renovation experience- leave those for television. Consult us at The Sliding Door Company- the experts in spatial optimization. For more exciting solutions and inspiration, Visit Us Online to browse our online viewing catalog and Enjoy A Free Consultation from one of our team members to actualize your design dream today.

Blog

Crafting the Perfect Workspace from Home

With a rapidly evolving definition of what it is to be a modern-day worker, so evolves our working environment. Whether you work from a computer, make art for a living, work as a physical therapist or bodyworker, teacher/tutor, travel agent, or even a hairstylist- all of these professions are ones that you can likely do from home.

Understandably, it is far more environmentally friendly working from home rather than going to an office day in and day out. Slash your daily CO2 emissions by saving yourself (and the planet) your taxing commute- nothing is worse than sitting in traffic while your car pumps out exhaust and adds to our growing carbon footprint. Other benefits, such as making use of your own kitchen rather than eating out every lunch, and (assuming every room in your home has a window), utilizing natural light rather than burning bulbs in a windowless office. Many are making the move towards working from home because if you can maintain productivity, it just makes a lot more sense. If you don’t necessarily need to be in the office five days a week, why not get creative and make your morning commute a thirty-second shuffle into the next room?

With a little planning and some tips from the space optimizing experts, you’ll be on your way to making a productive studio or home office in no time. Considering time, effort and budget as important factors in this transformation, we have outlined some helpful ideas to get you started.

Pick A Room

  • First things first- picking the right room of said home office or studio space. Important factors to consider are natural lighting, feasibility, size, storage capability, coziness, and foot-traffic flow surrounding the space. You certainly don’t want to select an unused room in your house that is dark and miserable to be in unless you feel you can effectively brighten it up with the right lighting. Which is, of course, a viable option. Generally though, air on the side of the brighter, the better when selecting your office room. Consider the fact that you’ll be indoors for the majority of prime daylight hours. This means you’ll quickly feel trapped inside and maybe even start to feel tired and lethargic if your chosen room is too dark and bearing little visibility to the outside world.
  • In terms of feasibility, were talking, “is this room already full of junk and storage spillover?” If the answer is yes, don’t pick that room unless you can find viable storage options for all of your existing material goods. This office has to work with you, not you work around it.
  • How large or small is the room? If you think you can squeeze all of your necessary staples- computers, a desk, filing cabinet, art supplies, exercise equipment, what have you- in it, then great. If you’re experiencing a bit of trepidation, perhaps consider a different room or swapping rooms with one that has more square footage to accommodate all of your needs.
  • How much distracting foot-traffic does your chosen room experience on a daily basis? If you have children, you should consider if it is within audible distance to their normal playtime spots, shouts or screams. Maybe you have roommates and they move around the house frequently, creating loud noises and therefore disturbing your workflow and potential clients that come to visit. All of these are very important considerations when first setting out to select the perfect room.

Craft A New Room

If there is no extra room available, luckily there are a few relatively simple solutions for you to employ. Find a relatively open space in your house that gets little use, and hopefully, comes with good lighting. Once you’ve found it, envision installing beautiful frosted glass wall partitions, or even sliding glass room dividers to craft entirely novel rooms out of nothing! With minimal installation, you save the cost, permanence, and inconvenience of serious construction. This solution offers you the flexibility to take down or rearrange your partitions and room dividers at any time. Our interior frosted glass doors and frosted wall dividers are the perfect medium of function and privacy all while allowing ample light to pass through. With a multitude of glass opacities, frame finishes, and available accessories, we provide all the customization options you could possibly need to make this space a working sanctuary.

Make It A Sanctuary

Remember: this workspace is about to be your little slice of solitude for the foreseeable future. Better make it as cozy, comfortable, and as conducive to productivity as possible. Again, we encourage you to embrace all the natural light and outside vistas available. This will help bring the outside in and make you feel that you’re not trapped indoors all day. After the sun goes down, you’ll need lighting- plenty of it. Make sure you’re well equipped to see into the late afternoon/ early evening hours- especially in the winter months. Floor lamps and spotlighting are a big help to make your space feel cozy and, in comparison to ceiling fluorescents which can make a space feel sterile. Try to integrate greenery and house-plants throughout your home office so as to breed fresh air, stimulate the senses, and craft somewhat of an alive sanctuary to create in. Make sure you get creative and wise about your storage. A great way to bring in more light while getting a handle on storage is to replace your existing closet doors with stylish sliding mirrored closet doors. This will effectively bounce back so much wonderful light throughout your office while creating the illusion that the room is larger than it actually is. An inexpensive win-win. Lastly, while dreaming up interior decorating schemes and design ideas for your new workplace, take it upon yourself to utilize your biggest and most helpful resource- the internet. Look to Pinterest, Etsy, or any online design mag to garner inspiration for your new interior space. This is a great way to craft vision boards and get novel ideas from existing designs.

With the above suggestions and helpful tips, we hope your transition to working from home is as enjoyable as possible. The Sliding Door Company has all the creative solutions you need moving forward with your exciting new project. Don’t hesitate to check out our website, which offers a myriad of design examples, photos, accessory options, and customizable choices. Get in touch with one of our knowledgeable representatives by scheduling a free consultation and start the transformation today!