The kitchen is one room that helps to add value to your home and the one room that can look dated quickly. Our guest today is knowledgeable about how to add tremendous impact to your kitchen cabinets with little cost and easy installation. Welcome Bendheim Cabinet Glass and read our interview.
Q.: If a homeowner would like glass inserts in their kitchen cabinets, what steps should they take?
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Select one or more glass designs based on your aesthetic and functional needs. Bendheim offers more than 150 decorative glasses, including romantic mouth-blown “new antique”, organic patterned, geometric patterned, frosted (etched), and colored glasses. Also consider your need for privacy. Some glasses are more obscuring than others.
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Order samples of the glasses you are interested in to evaluate in person.
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Decide if the glass should be laminated or tempered for additional safety. Laminated glass will hold fragments together upon impact, much like a car windshield. Tempered glass is four times stronger than regular glass and breaks into dice-sized fragments reducing the risk of injury.
As a general rule of thumb, Bendheim recommends safety glass for all applications where safety and security are desired, including kitchens and bathrooms. There is an additional cost associated with safety glass; however, more and more homeowners prefer this option.
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Measure cabinet openings: there are detailed instructions available to homeowners at www.bendheimcabinetglass.com/content.cfm/Bendheim-Cabinet-Glass/Measuring-Instructions/category_id/129
If cabinet doors are solid and need to be cut and prepped to receive glass inserts, Bendheim recommends working with a professional or an experienced DIYer to cut the openings.
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Order the glass online. Bendheim cabinet glass arrives cut-to-size and ready to install.
Q.: How difficult is it to install Bendheim glass?
Measuring the cabinet openings correctly is a key part of the process. Once the glass arrives, there are three methods of installing it:
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retainer clips
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glazing points
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silicone caulking
The first method is recommended for beginner DIYers while the second and third are recommended for DIYers with some experience. Detailed descriptions of all three methods, comprehensive instructions, and recommended tools can be found here: www.bendheimcabinetglass.com/installation-tips.cfm
Q.: The glass seems quite substantial—how is it against breakage?
Unless polished edges are ordered, Bendheim cabinet glass is supplied with safe seamed edges (the sharp glass edges have been removed). Still, glass should be handled with care. Tempered safety glass is more resistant to breaking. Please refer to point 3 of question 1. More information on safety tempered and laminated glass is available on the Bendheim News pages, www.bendheim.com/news/article.cfm?id=97
Q.: Would a homeowner be able to renovate some cupboards as a DIY project?
Yes, absolutely. Bendheim’s website is designed to serve as a DIY reference for homeowners. It offers design ideas, measuring, and installation instructions. There is Martha Stewart’s video of installing an antique glass pane into a window, providing your readers a visual of how the glazing points installation method works.
It’s all about the homeowner—do they get a huge change in style for their budget? Can you speak to cost?
Bendheim believes that enhancing cabinets with decorative glass inserts is one of the most cost-effective ways to update your kitchen design. With beautiful glass, homeowners can add depth, texture or color to the kitchen and display their china and collectibles or obscure clutter without the boxed-in feeling of solid doors. Back-lit from inside the cabinets, glass inserts create warmth and ambiance.
Homeowners can save significantly by ordering stock or semi-stock cabinets prepped for glass and selecting their own decorative glass inserts for a custom look. Decorative glass in the desired style will add character to the furniture and the overall design of the space.
Bendheim glass varies in prices depending on the type and safety options. Some glasses are machine-made and start at approximately $10 per square foot, a very affordable option with a wide variety of decorative choices. On the other end of the spectrum, starting at approximately $49 per square foot, are mouth-blown glasses produced by the renowned Lamberts Factory in Germany. These glasses are hand-made using centuries-old techniques and imported to America exclusively by Bendheim. The glasses in Bendheim’s online product catalog can be sorted by price, please see http://bendheimcabinetglass.com/productCatalog.cfm
Q.: What is on the horizon for Bendheim Cabinet Glass?
Bendheim has one of the most extensive collections of decorative architectural glass offered directly to homeowners. The company recently added decorative glass shelves to its online product selection. In the future, Bendheim is looking to expand the type of products offered beyond cabinet and door inserts to include glass table tops, backsplashes, decorative mirrors, and glass marker boards.
Q.: Is there anything else you would like to tell Home and Living Readers?
Bendheim is a family-owned company, now in its third generation. It is the premier supplier of specialty glass to architects and designers, and has earned a reputation for supplying products of the highest quality.
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