The Year That Was
Each year, we are excited to publish another entry in our ongoing series of trends that are sure to make a splash in our bathrooms and kitchens in the coming year. Last year, we wrote about the changes in architecture that were trending in 2021. Thanks to the widespread migration of people choosing to work full-time from home, interior and exterior remodelers were kept busy helping to bring out a new side of our well-worn homes.
Smitty’s Quality Glass has certainly been integral in that shift. In the last 12 months, we’ve received thousands of phone calls from people in Utah interested in changing their shower enclosures, or who wanted a new window installation to update their homes. Last year, we documented four specific types of cabinetry that would be in vogue in 2021 and we had plenty of consultations about that as well; with every new style comes an update to their custom cabinetry glass.
Yes, 2021 was a good year to update your home and office space, and 2022 will be even better.
Let There Be Light
As mentioned above, many of our suggestions last year dealt with architectural changes. This year, the trends are a bit more subtle but still of great value to everyone who sees them. These have to do mainly with how the space is decorated and shown off.
In order to get the full effect of these decoration updates, though, one thing remains true: the more light, the better. And the best way to increase the amount of light you have in a room is to increase the amount of glass.
Celebrate Nature
The first update we want to highlight for your bathrooms and kitchens in 2022 is the use of natural elements to bring together your rooms. The psychological and emotional benefits of incorporating greenery in your decor have been long documented; fresh air, quicker physical recovery, and a happier disposition are counted among the most important reasons to decorate with nature. Knowing this, it becomes clear why the outside will be integral to 2022, as it will be the “year of bouncing back” for so many of us.
Updating our bathrooms and kitchens with nature can be as easy as:
- Incorporating potted plants
- Updating your window installations to allow you to more easily open windows for outside air
- Add more custom glass so that you can see more of the outside
Time For Reflection
As described above, one way in which nature will benefit homes and offices in 2022 is by having more access to natural air and light. Thanks to glass and other materials, we can increase the volume of outside light in our rooms by making more reflective surfaces on which it can bounce around.
This is best done by:
- Placing more mirrors around the house
- Investing in glazed and/or reflective tiles on the walls
- Repainting the interiors with high-gloss paints
- Install glass blocks above your shower enclosures or near doors
The New Stone Age
With talk about glazed tiles comes an investigation about other uses of stone and ceramics in your bathroom and kitchen. Tiles, naturally, are used quite often as an elegant way to pave a floor or decorate a wall, but 2022 will see more people choosing to invest in beautiful stone features as a way of increasing their connection to nature.
When looking into how stone can complement your space, it’s important to remember that for millennia, mankind has been using nothing but stone and glass to adorn their homes to great success. The following tips will help you decorate your space with stone, such as:
- Choosing surfaces on which to install accent marble
- Using stone tiles on the floor of your frameless shower enclosures
- Invest in decorative indoor rocks that sparkle in the light
Whether you are using plants, or stone, or air, or light, the goal for 2022 will be to increase our connection to nature. Glass plays an integral role, as it acts as a gateway to those elements, bringing out their best in your home or office. For more information on how you can use glass to bring nature indoors, speak with one of our experienced installation experts.