Aluminum, Mirror Sliding Doors & Enclosures Blog

Why Glass Shelving Improves Kitchens

In our quest to obtain the perfect kitchen design, mankind has made a few great discoveries. For example, make sure your cabinet knobs aren’t preventing your dishwasher from opening. Or, measure the fridge space before buying a new fridge. In terms of design style, we’ve also discovered that glass shelving looks fantastic in a kitchen. Let us tell you a few ways glass shelving improves kitchens like yours.

Window Herb Garden

If you want to know how glass shelving improves kitchens, the first thing to consider is a window herb garden. Who doesn’t love fresh kitchen herbs? Do you have any idea how easy they are to grow? Every time you cook, you can select a fresh herb right from your window herb garden to season your meal. The plants will just keep growing.

What does that have to do with glass shelving? Well, glass shelving is the perfect way to set up a window herb garden without completely disrupting the light flow in your kitchen. You may be wondering how you could have a window garden without a bay window. The great news is, it’s simple.

Your window probably has a sill, right? The inset part of the wall is often enough space to install a glass shelf. So long as there’s enough space to mount the shelf with adequate support, you can simply install glass shelving right in front of your window. And, the window can still be opened. Awning windows simply require enough space to rotate the window crank and sliding windows just require some care not to knock things off the shelves.

Liquor Shelving

Got a bit of free wall space in your kitchen? Liquor shelving is a really classic way to use glass shelving to improve kitchens. Start by putting up some mirror backsplash if you really want your liquor shelf to be a hit. It will reflect the bottles back on themselves and make your stash look twice as large. Then, install some glass shelving right in front of that backsplash and stack your bottles high.

The glass of the shelves allows light to flow through one bottle to another and prevents the wall from looking too full, even if it’s chock full of booze. It’s amazing what some simple transparency can do!

Open Concept Dish Storage

Don’t like the bulk of overhead cabinets? Keep your kitchen feeling spacious by relying on glass shelving for open concept dish storage. Not only is glass excellent at letting light pass easily through your kitchen, it’s also moisture proof. Plus, storing dishes on glass shelving gives it a neat floating effect.

Affordable, Quality, Glass Shelving in Toronto

Want affordable glass shelving that’s actually great quality? Keystone Home Products has exactly what you’re looking for. Just give us a call if you have questions or stop by our show room to see our products in person.

Wire Shelving for Professional Kitchens in Toronto

Keeping a kitchen in perfect working order is vital for the kitchen to function. This is doubly true for professional kitchens. One of the most important parts of kitchen organization is shelving. If you work in a professional kitchen, you know how important enough of the right shelving is. So here’s how Keystone Home Products can help.

Why Professional Kitchens Use Wire Shelving

Professional kitchens, by and large, use a lot of the same tactics, all across the world. One of those tactics is using wire shelving. Why is it that wire shelving is universally loved by professional cooks?

Cleanliness

The first reason wire shelving is far superior to solid shelving in a kitchen is cleanliness. Can things get on the wires? Absolutely. But, it’s much less likely. While something sticky could get onto a wire shelf and need wiping off, non-sticky substances wall right through. Hopefully, you wouldn’t be putting dirty objects on the clean shelving. But, sometimes when you walk by a shelf, a crumb escapes a plate in hand. Solid shelving ensures that crumb gathers with all the other crumbs and dust and stays put. Wire shelving allows it to fall through to the floor where it will get swept up later.

There is only one flaw in that argument. Did you spot it? What happens if the crumb falls through the shelving and into a bowl? Well, the fact is, any open-top bowl holds the same risk while stored on solid shelving. However, the dishes and tools in a professional kitchen have such a high use turnover rate that its rare for a day to go by when it isn’t being pulled off the shelf and used. Any stray crumb will be discarded and the bowl will be rinsed, used, and freshly washed. Do you know what doesn’t have a high turnover rate? The shelf it’s stored on. That’s why it’s so important to prevent it from building up grime at high speeds.

Accessibility

The next benefit to wire shelving is accessibility. Because wire shelving can be set up virtually anywhere in a kitchen, all of the kitchen tools are right where they’re needed. A whole wall can be lined with wire shelving if needed. The open face of it makes finding what you need easy.

Adjustability

On top of the accessibility of wire shelving, there’s also the adjustability. You can move wire shelving whenever needed and you can also adjust the shelf heights. This is ideal for kitchens, as there are many different sizes of supplies. If you have a large machine component that needs to be stored much of the time, don’t worry about a tight fight. You can adjust the bottom shelves so that it sits neatly on the bottom of the shelf without issue. Standard shelf a few inches too short for your stack of plates? Not adjustable wire shelving. Just move the next shelf up a bit.

Wire Shelving for Professional Kitchens in Toronto

If you’re looking for wire shelving for professional kitchens in Toronto, Keystone Home Products has what you need. Just give us a call or stop by our store to learn more about our products.

Separate Office Spaces with Aluminum Dividers

Keeping everyone in an office comfortable can be difficult when you’re short on space. This is especially true when your office is mostly one large room. If one person types very loudly and there are three other people who are easily distracted, that one person can end up bringing down productivity levels – not to mention causing irritation. Instead of forcing everyone in the office to share the same working conditions, separate office spaces with aluminum dividers and provide people a more private work space. Here’s why.

Employee Morale

The #1 reason to separate office spaces with aluminum dividers is the improvement in employee morale. Maybe you don’t have enough space for everyone to get a separate office. However, if you have the space to provide higher level employees with their own office space, that effect still trickles down.

Higher level employees having their own space makes them more pleasant to work with. It also gives lower level employees something to work toward. After all, there’s not a lot of incentive to want a management position if you simply have to do more work from the same tiny cubicle, right?

Improved Privacy

Additionally, separate office spaces mean improved privacy. This is valuable as a piece in the employee morale puzzle, but it’s also better for clients. If you have a clientele that visits your office to meet or consult with your company, giving them a private space to talk with you and your higher level employees is invaluable. It makes everyone more comfortable and allows a much more productive consultation.

Additionally, professional phone calls are easier to make. Hearing whoever is on the other end of the phone is a lot easier without 6 other phone calls happening around you. Plus, having a bit more privacy helps a person to relax, which can actually increase productivity.

Personalized Work Environments

Separate office spaces allow for a more personalized work environment. What does this mean? It means your higher level employees are able to curate their work space in order to work more effectively. This provides a significant increase in morale as well as productivity.

Everyone in the office couldn’t burn their own candle in a shared space. However, one supervisor with their door shut wouldn’t bother anyone if they lit one (supposing it’s not against building policy). With enough office space, one could even put in a loveseat and coffee table across from their desk. Those would provide ample space for spreading out many documents or having a quiet lunch in.

Aluminum Dividers From Keystone

If you want to improve your office space, separate office spaces with aluminum dividers from Keystone Home Products. Check out our different aluminum divider style options on our website or in person. We hope to hear from you if you have any questions.

What Makes a High Quality Closet Organizer?

If you’re looking for a new way to organize your closet, you may be searching for a closet organizer. The question is, how do you pick one? What is it that makes a high quality closet organizer? Let’s take a look at some of the most important features of a closet organizer.

Quality Materials and Assembly

The first and most important part of determining whether a closet organizer is high quality or not is the materials used to make it and how well it’s assembled. There are a lot of organizers in the world that may look good at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, they’re often made of cheap materials. Even worse, they’re often assembled using staples or small, weak nails from a nail gun.

If you want a high quality wooden closet organizer, you can find them at Keystone Home Products in Toronto. We provide closet organizers made to last and provide excellent storage for many years.

Diverse Storage Options

The next question of quality is how diverse the storage options are. Any company can offer a bookshelf or a dresser. However, what you need to organize your closet is something a variety of different storage solutions.

The organizers sold here at Keystone Home Products include shelving, drawers, and hanger bars. Therefore, even a completely empty closet can be turned into a neat and tidy storage space for clothing and more.

Shirts and jackets can be hung from the hanger bars
Large drawers can be used for storing pants, pajamas, and underwear
Small drawers are also suitable for underwear as well as socks, ties, and other accessories
Even better: outfit small drawers with jewelry sectioning to keep jewelry safe and easy to search through
Low shelves are perfect for displaying shoes
High shelves can house purses on display, or even storage bins with off-season clothes tucked inside

The important thing is that there’s space for every kind of thing you need to store. Moreover, one type of storage is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Modular Design

Diverse storage is good on its own. However, even better is if you can decide, yourself, how those pieces fit together. A truly high quality closet organizer is modular. You should be able to choose if the drawers are on the left or the right. It should be up to you how high the hanger bar is – or even if there are two, stacked. Plus, if there’s additional shelving, it should be your choice how wide it is and how much there is. Finally, if your closet has strange dimensions, you should be able to fit your closet organizer from one end to the other and around a bend with no trouble. Keystone Home Products offers organizers that make that possible.

Buy a Quality Closet Organizer From Keystone

If you’re looking for a great organizer to enhance your walk-in closet, visit us at Keystone Home Products in Toronto to check out our options. Find a color, size, and style that works for you.

Glass Display Shelving and How to Use It

Everyone knows it’s nice to have some nice wooden shelves on hand. They’re the perfect place for storing books, CDs, boxes, and more. However, they aren’t the only kind of shelving worth having around. Wooden shelves may offer sturdiness, but there are things they don’t offer. Those things can be obtained with glass display shelving. What exactly is glass display shelving good for? Here are a few things.

Display Important Objects

One of the best things to use glass display shelving for is displaying important objects. If you want your guests’ eyes to be drawn to something, this is the perfect place to put it. It’s a great way to start conversations, offer bragging opportunities, and begin stories.

Trophies

Trophies are not only a great way to show off your accomplishments, they’re also a great way of saying something about yourself without words. Someone visiting your home or office can spot a trophy and immediately know more about you. Perhaps it’s a trophy for excelling at the visual arts, performing well with a classical instrument, or outdoing all the competitors at a big triathlon. Guests, clients, and peers can look at these trophies and immediately see that you’re a painter, musician, or athlete. That’s a great conversation starter. Plus, trophies look really cool.

Sculptures

If you were never much for competition, you may enjoy looking at things. Most people do. If you’ve ever bought a sculpture – even a cheap one – glass display shelving is the perfect place to put it. Surround it with flowers, books, or nothing at all. You and everyone who visits your home or office can enjoy it regardless.

Collectibles

Glass display shelving is an exceptionally perfect place to put collectibles. Do you seek out beautiful crystals, minerals, and rocks? A glass shelf will offer an excellent place to display them for all to see. Or, maybe you collect figurines. If that’s the case, glass shelving is just as good for sharing those. No matter what you find yourself obsessively hunting down, glass display shelving is where you can bring it all together.

Tanks and Bowls

If you like to keep a few fish, glass display shelving is a great spot to keep them. Small tanks and bowls that aren’t extremely heavy can sit neatly on one of these shelves and be displayed for all to enjoy. Decorating the surrounding shelf with plants, rocks, books, or anything else, really, will only serve to accentuate your beautiful sea life.

What Makes Glass Shelving Different?

Improved Light Flow

Glass shelving is different from wooden shelving because it allows improved light flow. Even without a dedicated display light installed above the shelving, light from around the room will flow with ease through the glass shelves. Therefore, anything displayed on these shelves will be easier to see and enjoy, as it’s always easily illuminated.

Waterproof

Finally, glass is also waterproof. That’s what makes it such a good choice for displaying a fishbowl or plants. A drop of water here and there – or even a notable leak – won’t warp the shelving in the slightest.

If you want glass display shelving for your home, you can get it for an affordable price at Keystone Home Products in Toronto. Call us if you have questions. We’re happy to help.

Replace Your Broken Shower Door in Toronto

Nothing brings your day-to-day routine grinding to a halt like part of your bathroom malfunctioning. If you’ve got a stand up shower, one such malfunction could be your shower door breaking. Not only does this mean putting any showering on hold, it can also be an alarming experience! After you’ve swept up the shattered remnants of your old shower door, the solution is easy. Call us at Keystone Home Products to replace your broken shower door.

New Glass Shower Doors

If you’ve broken your shower door, replacing your broken shower door in Toronto has never been easier. Just pay a visit to Keystone Home Products and you can bring home a new shower door in no time at all. We offer shower doors in a range of sizes and styles. Therefore, even if your shower isn’t the most simple design, you’re bound to find a style that fits.

One of the most important differences in shower doors is whether they’re frameless shower doors or framed shower doors. If a frameless shower door breaks, you can’t just replace it with a framed one. That would look terrible. Additionally, the quality difference between the rest of the enclosure and the new shower door would be very obvious. Just as well, the other way around would look bad too. A high quality, frameless shower door hung on a framed shower enclosure would look just silly.

So, get the type of door you need to match your shower enclosure and don’t worry about having to pay outrageous prices for it.

Replace the Entire Shower Enclosure

If your shower door breaks, you may want to take a moment before you replace your broken shower door. Consider: did my shower door break because the entire enclosure is poor quality? Is my shower enclosure really old and run down? If the answer is yes to one or both of these questions, you may want to replace the shower enclosure entirely.

Keystone Home Products offers shower enclosures in framed and frameless styles. Both come in multiple designs so that you can pick the design that suits you best.

Custom Shower Door Sizes

Not every shower enclosure comes with a standard door size. This is especially true of shower doors that are made to span from one side of a bathroom to the other. Narrow bathrooms with a shower taking up one full end often have doors like this.

If you need a custom shower door, you can rely on Keystone to provide. We cut glass and mirrors all the time. We can easily provide you a custom shower door, sized to your specifications.

Get Back to Normal ASAP

If you’re ready to get back to normal as soon as possible, a visit or call to Keystone Home Products is the first step. Let us know how we can assist you and we’ll ensure the replacement process is smooth and easy.

Mirror Backsplash for Your Modern Kitchen

If you want your kitchen to stand out among modern interiors, there’s a fun accent that you should consider: mirror backsplash. We know what you’re thinking: “Mirrors? As backsplash? Isn’t that a bit tacky?” And the answer is ‘no.’ The trick is knowing how to incorporate it seamlessly into your interior design. Here’s how you can incorporate mirror backsplash into your modern kitchen and take things up a notch.

Don’t Leave Your Counters Empty

The first necessity when installing a mirror backsplash is to keep your counters decorated. Leaving them completely empty will leave the mirror with little to reflect. You’ll simply get a reflection of your already-empty countertop. That’s not very exciting. In fact, it’s twice as boring as an empty counter without mirror backsplash.

Instead, keep some decor or storage containers on the counter. Some neat or artsy canisters with sugar, oats, or flour in them are a nice way to create functional decor. You could also keep flowers, cookbooks, spices, or cooking oils on display. No matter what you put on your counter, if it’s kept tidy, it will look twice as good when reflected back.

Pair It with Dark Colors

What’s the best thing to pair with mirror backsplash? Dark, rich colors. Imagine wine red, dandelion yellow, or navy blue. These colors will reflect back into the mirror, keeping the backsplash from looking overwhelming. Additionally, the light the backsplash reflects will brighten up those colors and balance them nicely.

If you want to really make your backsplash and color combo pop, add in brighter accent colors. A navy blue countertop with a vase of baby blue flowers will really stand out.

Keep Mirror Backsplash Clean

The next step to keeping mirror backsplash looking great is to keep it looking clean. Sure, we get it, fingerprints on mirror looks awful. However, if you simply incorporate wiping it down into your kitchen cleaning routine, you won’t have to worry about prints. The beautiful shine of your backsplash will brighten up your kitchen, make your workspace feel twice as big, and give the place a modern twist.

Consider Under-Cabinet Lighting

Want to make your mirror backsplash really stand out and provide a lot of use to your kitchen? Consider getting some under-cabinet lighting. Mirror backsplash is really fantastic for lighting up your kitchen. Even better is if you put the lighting right above them. Those lights will reflect right back onto the counters with twice the power. That makes it easy to see what you’re doing, even if you’re making a midnight snack.

Buy Quality Mirrors

If you’re looking for quality mirrors in Toronto, Keystone Home Products is the place to look. We offer mirror backsplash for your kitchen as well as mirrors for many other purposes. We do custom cuts and provide high quality mirrors that last for as long as you’ll have them. Call us today if you have questions about our mirrors or how to use them for backsplash. We look forward to hearing from you!

3 Closet Door Styles and How to Choose

Closet doors may not seem like they matter much, but the style you get can change your entire room’s functionality and aesthetic. That’s why we want to cover the purpose and benefits of these 3 closet door styles. That way, you can make an informed decision when replacing yours or outfitting a new house.

Sliding Panel Closet Doors

Sliding panel closet doors are very standard in most bedrooms. These cover wide, shallow closets with hanger bars and top shelving. You may have seen these in any number of designs. They’re easy to find with wood grain coating, painted white, painted black, or even made of brushed glass panes.

Sliding panel closet doors are so common because they’re excellent outward space savers. You will need enough wall-space to accommodate a 5-6 foot wide closet. However, you can even put things in front of that closet because the doors slide open. The end of a bed could come out in front of the doors, a pile of dirty laundry could pile in front of them, or a child’s playthings could be scattered there. In any case, the doors will still slide easily open.

Bi-Fold Closet Doors

The next most common closet door styles are those that fall into the bi-fold category. Bi-fold closet doors are those that open by folding in half. Two parts, connected to each other by hinges, fold flat against each other when pushed to the side. These are ideal for small closets that are only as wide as a single regular door. For example, linen closets and coat closets are common places to find these.

The reason these doors are excellent all over the house is that they can really fit just about anywhere. They can cover a narrow closet that’s not wide enough for sliding doors. However, they can also be fit onto those wide closets that sliding doors usually go on.

The benefit of fitting them on a wide closet is that you can open them to either side and reveal the entire closet at once. If you plan to put shelving in your closet, or are looking to outfit a closet where a washer and dryer are stored, this is optimal. Sliding doors would cover half of the closet, which isn’t what you’re aiming for. Two bi-fold doors, however, would be the perfect fit.

Mirror Closet Doors

Falling into both of the former categories as well are mirror closet doors. These are bi-fold or sliding doors that are outfitted with a mirror across the entire exterior face. Mirror closet doors come with the added benefits of having a large mirror on your wall. What are those benefits?

Mirror closet doors provide you with a full-body view of yourself for choosing outfits, taking pictures, and more.
Additionally, mirrors reflect light, brightening any room and making it feel more welcoming.
Finally, mirror closet doors reflect a space back on itself, making a room feel bigger and more spacious.

Buy Quality Closet Doors in Toronto

If you’re looking for high quality closet doors in Toronto, Keystone Home Products is here to help. Just call us today if you have questions, or drop by our store and take a look in person. We’re happy to help in any way we can.

6 Uses for a Closet Organizer That Save Space Elsewhere

Closet organizers don’t have to be used just for clothing. If you find yourself struggling with storage space all over your home, a closet organizer may be the solution. There are a number of ways they can make storage easier for you. So, let’s take a look at 6 uses for your new closet organizer that can save you space elsewhere in your home.

1. Files

If you have a lot of files and documents to keep track of, a closet organizer is a great place for them. Deep drawers can be fitted with file bars, or you can use shelving to store existing file boxes.

If your home desk has a filing cabinet built into it, you may find that it gets overfull and hard to look through. Take some time to go through the contents and remove anything you’re not likely to need. Shred unneeded documents and archive anything you don’t foresee needing anytime soon. Then, put your little archive of old documents into a filing space in your closet organizer.

2. Books

Most people who own books already have a bookshelf in their home. However, if you enjoy buying new books (whether you read them all or not) your bookshelf will eventually fill up. Use some of the shelving on a closet organizer to retire the books that you don’t care for or that don’t look very nice. You’ll be so excited to see your bookshelf with some more space on it!

3. Photos

If you’re like most families, you probably have a huge stash of photos. Some may be from your own family, while many may have been passed down from parents and grandparents. These priceless relics should be stored properly, or they can fade or get damaged. Store photos in albums or photo boxes and stack or line them neatly on the shelves of your storage organizer.

4. Games

If you enjoy board games or card games, you probably have one of those familiar game stashes somewhere in your home. Many of us do. If you’re like most people, you struggle to find a place for them that works nicely. Free up some actual closet space and move them into a storage area with a wooden organizer. Here, they can be easily looked through and won’t crowd the space intended for storing clothes.

5. Bedding

Bedding is everyone’s worst nightmare when it comes to storage. I know I’m not the only one who’s spent years struggling to fit a folded comforter into the top of a linen closet without it falling or preventing the door from sliding closed. If you, too, struggle with storing bedding, a closet organizer is a great solution. With more space, better-fitted shelving alcoves, and easier access, storing bedding in a wooden organizer is much easier.

6. Utilities

Finally, we can’t leave out utilities. What exactly do we mean by that? Well, how about a stool? Some people opt for foldable step stools, but not everyone does. If you have an old fashioned plastic or wooden stool that prioritizes stability over space efficiency, a closet organizer is a great place to store it. Simple fit it neatly into one of the smaller, vertical, shelf cubbies and it will no longer get in your way.

How to Repair Damaged Wire Shelving

Wire shelving is one of the most practical types of shelving you can use. While it’s not the right solution for every storage need, it excels where it belongs. Unfortunately, like every other type of storage, wire shelving isn’t impervious to damage. The question is, can it be repaired? Let’s see what it takes to repair damaged wire shelving.

Unbending the Bars

If your wire shelving is bent, it can probably be repaired pretty easily. Naturally, the first step is unbending the bars. The most important step to this is protecting the bars before unbending them.

To unbend wire shelving bars, your first instinct is probably to take some pliers to them. This is the right move. However, first and foremost, you need to wrap something around the wires or the pliers. Using a thick cloth, or wrapping a thin one multiple times, should work.

The reason this is necessary is that pliers are typically kind of serrated. Therefore, you can get a much better grip on whatever you’re manipulating. However, the coating on wire shelving is not strong enough to make it through that unscathed. Squeezing the bars tightly with unguarded pliers will cut through the coating. Then, that will expose the metal and increase the likelihood that your wire shelving will rust.

Reinforcing the Bars

If the bars on your wire shelving have been broken, they may not be beyond repair. Repair damaged wire shelving bars that are broken by reinforcing them. Then, after bending them back into place, the best way to reinforce them is with electrical tape. This tape is always available in black and white (the colors of most wire shelving).

With the broken bars lined up neatly, start a couple of inches past the break on one side and wrap at a tight angle until you’ve crossed the gap and wrapped a couple of inches past the opposite side.This should adequately hold your bars in place, so long as you’re not putting anything really hefty on them.

Replacing Irreparable Sections

Is your wire shelving damaged pretty badly? Maybe you use wire shelving in your garage and backed the car up too far. If the bends are incredibly hard to get out, or the breaks are too big, your wire shelving may be irreparable.

Fortunately, most wire shelving is somewhat modular. Therefore, one shelf can be removed from the unit and replaced with a new one. If you need to replace one or more shelves from a larger unit of wire shelving, Keystone Home Products can help. We sell a variety of wire shelving and can almost certainly get you the shelves you need. Just let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

Buying New Wire Shelving

It’s not always possible to repair damaged wire shelving. If all else fails, you can always buy new wire shelving from Keystone Home Products. Our wire shelving is affordable, comes in many sizes, and is great quality. So, if you need something long-lasting to replace your previously beloved wire shelving, we’re happy to help.

Window Herb Garden

Liquor Shelving

Open Concept Dish Storage

Affordable, Quality, Glass Shelving in Toronto

Why Professional Kitchens Use Wire Shelving

Cleanliness

Accessibility

Adjustability

Wire Shelving for Professional Kitchens in Toronto

Employee Morale

Improved Privacy

Personalized Work Environments

Aluminum Dividers From Keystone

Quality Materials and Assembly

Diverse Storage Options

Modular Design

Buy a Quality Closet Organizer From Keystone

Display Important Objects

Trophies

Sculptures

Collectibles

Tanks and Bowls

What Makes Glass Shelving Different?

Improved Light Flow

Waterproof

New Glass Shower Doors

Replace the Entire Shower Enclosure

Custom Shower Door Sizes

Get Back to Normal ASAP

Don’t Leave Your Counters Empty

Pair It with Dark Colors

Keep Mirror Backsplash Clean

Consider Under-Cabinet Lighting

Buy Quality Mirrors

Sliding Panel Closet Doors

Bi-Fold Closet Doors

Mirror Closet Doors

Buy Quality Closet Doors in Toronto

1. Files

2. Books

3. Photos

4. Games

5. Bedding

6. Utilities

Unbending the Bars

Reinforcing the Bars

Replacing Irreparable Sections

Buying New Wire Shelving

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