Month: December 2017

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The Pioneering Spirit & History of The Sliding Door Company
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Featured Project – Savage Mill
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Locks, Latches and ADA Compliance from The Sliding Door Company

How Hospitality Spaces Can Benefit from Interior Sliding Doors

Interior Sliding Doors in the Hospitality Space

The hospitality design industry is unlike any other. When it comes to hotels, restaurants, resorts, and spas, the built environment isn’t merely one component of a larger picture—it is the dominant feature, capable of making or breaking the success of any venture. Interior design must combine form and function to an unparalleled degree. Every detail is important. That’s why designers are constantly searching for creative solutions that help them meet today’s challenges.

Technology Points to New Paths for Hospitality Design

Technology is revolutionizing the hospitality industry, heightening the guest experience and transforming the spaces where people relax, socialize, and experience new things. These days, guests want to stay connected.
They want to share their experience with the world through social media and other platforms. They have higher expectations than ever. Every nook and cranny of every room must serve their needs. Spaces must be highly functional, giving guests what they want, when they want it.
Of course, hospitality venues must provide more than mere function or even convenience—they must provide an experience. Spaces are no long just spaces; they’re snapshots, unforgettable moments in time. To get the best results, designers must create physical environments that set the mood and capture the imagination.

Breaking Down the Hospitality Industry

The lion’s share of hospitality projects revolves around hotels—nearly 60 percent, according to an Interior Design survey of industry giants. Beyond that, there’s restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, spas, banquet rooms, business centers, and more.
The hotel market, in particular, has shifted dramatically over the years. These days, guests want both luxury and home-like comfort. They want the best of everything, along with a sense of cozy familiarity. Meeting these competing demands can be tricky, but it can also be rewarding since the result is often a creative leap forward. At the end of the day, designers must be able to balance the functional demands of a hospitality venue with the warm, intimate feel of a residential space.
Not only that, but bustling downtown areas are seeing an uptick in hotel construction. Where once suburban accommodations were more common, designers are now noticing a shift toward more urban locations. According to industry experts, only about 20 percent of hotels used to be located in urban areas. Now it’s more like 50 percent. That has implications for how designers imagine their built environments and how customers interact with them.

The All-Important Guest Experience

No matter what the setting, guests and patrons expect much more than they did 15 or 30 years ago. These days, they look for:

  • Personalized experiences
  • Unique settings
  • A warm and inviting space
  • Sustainable design
  • Smart technology
  • Luxury they can feel and see

In order to impress the modern business traveler, designers must learn how to find innovative solutions that deliver the kind of experience people anticipate. That’s why so many in the hospitality industry are turning to sliding interior doors.

How Sliding Glass Doors Can Benefit the Hospitality Industry

Room dividers and interior doors improve the customer experience through clever construction and beautiful design. They can help architects and designers increase the charm and functionality of any interior in a number of ways.

  • Enhance the dynamic usability of each space. Sliding doors offer easy access. They also save space, since they require no outward clearance. Finally, they combine on-demand privacy with open-air designs, allowing for light to flow through without sacrificing the sense of separateness.
  • Increase the aesthetic appeal with beautiful glass options, trim options, frame designs and frame finishes.
  • Maximize natural lighting by allowing sunlight to flow through different spaces in a building.
  • Minimize costs. Room dividers are both more affordable and more flexible than other space solutions. They also offer energy efficient lighting, heating, and cooling, since they allow air and light to flow from one area to another.
  • Ensure compliance. It’s not all about the door itself. It’s also about the accessories. Buildings that provide public access must meet strict guidelines laid out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. That means ADA-compliant locks, levers, and handles are essential for the modern hotel, restaurant, or spa.

Combining Sociability with Privacy

The days of discrete, closed-off spaces have come to an end. People today want open spaces that provide a warm, convivial atmosphere. That being said, they also want a place they can call their own, a place they can retire to when they want to leave the world behind. In other words, people want both privacy and sociability. That places a heavy burden on designers to create spaces that provide the benefits of a social atmosphere with the comforts of home.
Those demands appear to be contradictory. Fortunately, interior glass doors are versatile enough to give guests the best of both worlds. That’s because open-air dividers and frosted glass doors provide on-demand privacy without interrupting the flow of the room.

Aesthetic, Multi-Function Solutions for Hospitality Spaces

A diverse set of hospitality venues can benefit from innovative space solutions. Here are some of the many ways designers can incorporate sliding glass doors into their next project:

Spas

Spas are the essence of luxury. When customers step foot into a day spa, they expect to unwind in a clean, beautiful, relaxing environment. They also expect the best of everything. Sleek, modern glass doors are the perfect way to enhance their experience and heighten the sense of luxury.

  • Dressing rooms: Frosted glass doors provide both protection and seclusion.
  • Massage rooms: Separate message areas require frosted glass room partitions that maximize both flexibility and privacy.
  • Waiting rooms: Separate the main spa area from the waiting room with a beautiful glass sliding door, swing door, barn door, or pocket door featuring contrasting trim.
  • Shower doors: Frosted glass shower doors are a modern, hygienic solution for communal shower areas.

Hotels

Hotels present the greatest challenges to designers since they fulfill so many functions. They also present the greatest opportunities. Guests often spend more time in a hotel than they do in a restaurant or spa, so the experience must be immersive.

  • Lobbies: Interior doors and partitions allow for a creative structuring of an interior environment.
  • Conference Rooms: Business travelers require more than home-like comfort; they require office-like functionality. Interior glass doors allow designers to section off conference rooms without obstructing light or the visual connection between spaces.
  • Bathrooms: Suspended interior sliding doors offer a more modern take on the hotel bathroom experience. An aesthetic alternative to the traditional solid, swing-out doors, they’re also more functional, saving space in the hotel room while creating a more open feel.

Restaurants

  • Separate Dining Areas: Many restaurant owners want to separate dining areas without cutting them off from each other or separating one group of patrons from the larger dining experience. Glass room dividers are the best way to achieve that goal. They separate one space from another without interrupting the visual flow of the room. Whether you want to section off a wine tasting room, an event space, or simply a separate dining area, a glass divider can do it with style.
  • Event/VIP Rooms: Most restaurants have a dedicated space to accommodate events or VIPs. A room divider screen offers a flexible solution for restaurant owners who want to heighten the dining experience. What kind of divider designers choose depends on what kind of experience an tesablishment hopes to provide. Frosted glass, for example, provides maximum privacy, while transparent glass offers more openness.
  • Kitchens: Glass partitions can separate the kitchen from the dining area while still giving guests a sneak peek at the culinary process. In a day and age when diners want to know what each ingredient is, where comes from, and how it’s prepared, such transparency can give people added confidence.

Beautiful, Versatile Solutions for Hospitality Establishments

Space Plus, a division of The Sliding Door Company, is dedicated to helping hospitality businesses get the most out of their design. That’s why we’re constantly innovating and constantly staying up on the latest industry trends. Our sliding door solutions are designed to maximize utility and boost the aesthetic appeal of any space.
Contact us today for a FREE consultation at (888) 869-1850.

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Seamless Elegance: The Modern Appeal of Wall Slide Doors Over Pocket Doors
Reflecting Style and Functionality: Why Mirrored Sliding Glass Doors Shine in Closets
Sliding Doors for Nurseries

Turn that Interior Design Dream into a Reality with Glass Sliding Doors!

Interior living room divider

You have a vision for your home. You dream of remodeling, but you fear the hassle (and the costs). Here’s how sliding interior doors can help you realize your vision without sacrificing your financial stability or your peace of mind.

How to Remodel Your Home Without Major Construction

It’s the moment everyone dreads: the in-laws are coming. They have nowhere to stay—except the roll-out couch in your living room. If only you had a private guest room. If only you had months to spare and a small fortune to burn, you might be able to expand the house by hiring a crew to tear down old walls and erect new ones—but what if you don’t?

Those who work from home at least part of the time face a similar dilemma. We need a separate space in which to work quietly, but we don’t have the time, resources, or square footage to add an entirely new room. Or how about the overworked parents of the world? Who wouldn’t love to create a comfortable nursery or playroom in a last-ditch attempt to preserve sanity? How do you give yourself some peace and quiet without up-ending your entire life for the next six months?

The Sliding Door Company worked hard to solve just those problems. Our glass room dividers give you the power to re-envision your home without having to undergo major construction. Sturdy and imposing, yet easy to install, they allow you to erect a barrier between spaces without tearing down existing walls or constructing entirely new rooms—all of which takes a great deal of time, money, and work.
In short, you can divide and reimagine space—minus the major expenses, downtime, and regulatory hassles. With customizable designs from The Sliding Door Company, you get a triumph of both form and function. Our beautiful glass doors and dividers aren’t just practical architectural elements; they’re also décor focal points in their own right. Each impeccably designed divider enhances the aesthetics of any room, forming a stunning yet seamless backdrop against which life’s most precious moments can happen.

Glass Doors and Dividers
How to Make Your Apartment More Livable

Homeowners aren’t the only ones to take advantage of our innovative space-saving and space-dividing solutions. Apartment and loft-dwellers around the country also rely on them to make their living spaces more comfortable, more functional, and more beautiful.
For one, stackable room dividers allow them to add bedrooms without violating local ordinances. Let’s say you want a little more privacy in your studio apartment, so you can invite people over and not worry about sleeping or dressing. Or let’s say you’re one of the many millennials who pack many roommates in one small apartment in order to meet rising rent costs. Partitions are perhaps the only way to make the space livable for everyone. You still need permission to erect the dividers, but you’re more likely to get that than you are to get authorization to construct a new room from the ground up.

There is a catch, though. Many urban dwellers complain that lighting poses a problem, as does heating and cooling. That’s because most apartments come with only one or two main windows (e.g., one in the living room and one in the bedroom) and a few strategically placed vents. Throw up a wall, and you could cut off your main source of light. You could also interrupt the flow of air from a vent. That’s why some building codes demand that the partitions stop short of the ceiling, so light and air have a channel through which to pass.
Solid walls diminish natural lighting if they don’t eliminate it altogether. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution: room dividers made of glass. By allowing natural light to pass from room to room, glass dividers from The Sliding Door Company eliminate the lighting problem. With frosted, smoked, or milky glass, you get the twin benefits of privacy and illumination.

Sliders in Living Room

Lift Your Mood with Airy Design

Interior glass doors allow a space to breathe. They impart a sense of openness and modernity, whether you live in a downtown apartment, a rural farmhouse, or a two-story suburban home surrounded by a white picket fence. People today want more convenience and less clutter. They also want spaces that flow more and constrict less. Combine that with greater space constraints, and it’s clear living spaces have needed to evolve.

In recent years, they’ve done so, with the help of interior sliding doors. Beautiful, contemporary designs elevate the look and feel of any space, while high-quality glass helps natural light pass from one space the other, creating a sense of airiness even when the doors are closed. Slide the door open, and you don’t just create a bite-size hole through which you can pass; you remove the wall entirely. That gives the impression of an open, free-flowing floor plan, and you still get on-demand privacy.

Unlike solid swing doors, which block space and obstruct light, glass sliding doors and stacking room dividers allow for a more flowing, expansive design. They cut down on drafts and noise while allowing light and air to flow from one space to another. All that extra space, radiance, and openness can impact your mood, as well, uplifting the spirit and enhancing the aesthetic appeal of any room.

Of course, room dividers don’t just expand space; they also partition space, giving shape and structure to an otherwise open floor plan. Create a more private office or nursery off the side of a main room, so you can stay calmer and focus better without losing sight of the kids. Separate the dining room from the kitchen and living room so you can enjoy more intimate conversations without cutting down on light or expansiveness. Whatever the reasons, whatever the project, sliding doors provide the solution.

Sliding Barn Doors
Optimize Space with Sliding Barn Doors

As the world’s population mushrooms, space becomes scarcer. Limited space demands clever solutions. While hidden storage and folding furniture can free up a little room here and there, sliding doors can eliminate a great deal of wasted space. Whereas traditional swing doors gobble up somewhere on the order of nine feet, sliding barn doors only need minimal floor space. When every inch counts, that can mean the difference between a cramped lifestyle and a comfortable living space. Sliding barn doors hug the wall and pocket doors get completely hidden away. It is all up to you!

Pocket doors economize on space even more. Designed to disappear into the wall when opened and slide flush with the wall when closed, they eat up almost no floor space. If you live in a small apartment, or if you’ve joined the growing tiny house movement, pocket doors can be a lifesaver. Even in larger, more expansive houses, pocket doors cut down on wasted space while increasing leg and storage room.

Know Your Options
Glance through The Sliding Door Company’s catalog, and you’ll see plenty of solutions designed to help you save and elevate space. So, what are your options? Try these for a start:

  • Room Dividers: Divide space with modern grace and timeless elegance with our glass room dividers. Break up an open floor plan without blocking light, create discrete (and discreet) nooks without interrupting the flow, and add on rooms without major construction.
  • Closet Doors: Safe. Durable. Our closet doors are as safe as they are elegant, as masterfully constructed as they are beautifully designed. Designed to last through the years, our doors won’t break, malfunction, or lose their luster.
  • Barn Doors: The ultimate space-saving, mood-enhancing, design-conscious solution, barn doors offer utility and aesthetics in equal measure.
  • Sliding Doors: When you need a door, but you can’t spare the space, a sliding door makes for the perfect solution.
  • Swing Doors: We’re The Sliding Door Company, but sliding doors aren’t all we do. We also build and install traditional swing doors, for when you need a smaller option.

Swing Doors

Want to dream up close and personal? Find your nearest showroom to get a glimpse of our elegant sliding doors. Call us to schedule a FREE consultation. We can talk long-distance or in person at one of our 27 showrooms located across the country. No matter what your vision, we’ll help you find the most stunning, most ingenious space solution for your home.