Bringing The Outside Inside

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31764, 22 August 1968, Page 11

Bringing The Outside Inside

One way of remodel* ing an indoor area to give it added sparkle and a feeling of greater spaciousness is to bring the outdoors indoors—to open the living room, kitchen or other area to the light and colour of nature. Make the peacefulness of the backyard, or the scenic view from the front garden a part of the home, both inside and outside. In other words, knock out the exterior walls, or at least part of them, and replace them with flooMo-ceiling expanse of glass. The remodelling-with-glass technique not only can make the interior seem larger and more visually pleasing, but

also ean pay extra dividends by giving the exterior a more modern and appealing appearance. The key is to make a glass remodelling project fit the pocketbook. Pick out the most attractive view, and bring it into the home with glass. Renovate with glass first in rooms which are used most often and then, when economics permit, branch out into other portions of the home. Sliding glass doors are a particularly popular means of uniting the home’s natural and manmade space because they serve both as a door and a window. They provide both visual and physical access to a patio, courtyard or lawn, turning it into another “room” in the borne and making it enjoyable yearround. Of course, it is possible to adopt refinements which are expensive.

Using insulating glass in these sliding doors is a practical means of making such a remodelled home work with the weather. Insulating glass is made of two panels of glass, separated by a sealed-in air space for' an added margin of protection against inclement weather and for lowering of heating costs. The glass panel facing the outdoors can be tinted grey or bronze to soften sky brightness and further reduce sun heat transmission. Tempered glass, also made with grey or bronze tint, is especially recommended for sliding patio doors. Glass tempered to make it highly resistant to breakage is three to five times stronger than regular plate glass of the same area and thickness. Should breakage occur with tempered glass, it disintegrates into relatively small particles resembling rock salt.