At some point it happens to almost all office furniture. Scratches and chips appear across the surface. Water rings and other stains leave a permanent mark. Sunlight fades the color of the wood. It doesn’t take much wear-and-tear before your office furniture starts to look a little ragged. If you have customers in your office on a regular basis, ragged probably isn’t the look you want.
What if there was a way to protect your investment in your furniture, while also giving your office a more professional appearance? And what if that solution was also easier to maintain and clean?
Good news. There is a solution that can protect your investment in your office furniture and can help you present a more distinguished aesthetic. The solution is glass tabletops. You can put glass tabletops as protective surfaces on top of a desk or table, or you can use glass as the table itself.
Benefits of using glass tabletops
Glass makes for an attractive, protective, and easy-to-maintain material. Why use glass for your office’s table tops? Here are a few reasons:
Glass tabletops protect your furniture. One of the best ways to use glass is as a protective covering on top of a wooden desk or table. The glass protects the wood from a few types of wear-and-tear.
The first is obvious. Desks and conference room tables naturally accumulate small scratches over time. If you write with a pen or pencil on your desk surface, eventually the pressure from that pen will start to show up in the form of scratches in the wood. If you use a glass tabletop, you protect the wood from those small scratches.
Glass also keeps moisture from drinkware like coffee mugs away from your wood surface. That saves the desk from unsightly water rings and other stains.
Finally, a tinted glass table top may filter out sunlight and protect the wood from fading. Natural sunlight is always a good thing in an office, but it can do a number on furniture. Glass tabletops allow you to enjoy the sunlight without worrying about your furniture.
Furniture damage is no small issue. You probably invested a substantial amount of money in your office’s furniture, and you likely don’t want to make that expenditure again in the near future. If you can extend the life of your furniture, you can use your capital on more important items.
Glass tabletops make the room look bigger. Any designer will tell you that the secret to expanding the perceived size of any space is to eliminate lines and breaks in vision. The less clutter you have, the bigger a room will feel.
A glass tabletop can expand the line of vision in any room, making it feel bigger. For example, if you use glass as the tabletop for your waiting room coffee table, guests will be able to see directly through the table down to the carpet or rug underneath. That expanded field of vision will make the room feel larger.
Glass can also be reflective and act as a sort of mirror. Most designers will tell you that mirrors help to expand the perceived size of a room. Even if you have glass on top of a wooden surface, it could offer enough reflection to make the room feel larger.
Glass tabletops offer an upscale, professional appearance. Perhaps the most important reason to use glass tabletops is what they say about you and your business. When you put glass on top of your desks and tables, you’re showing your customers and prospects that you’ve invested in protecting your assets. It might be a small touch, but you never know what will factor into a customer’s decision making process.
You can even enhance the appearance of your glass with customizations. Get a custom finish on the edges of the glass to make it look more formal. Have your company name, logo, or other information etched into the glass to align it with your brand.
If you have customers and prospects in your office, you can’t underestimate the importance of your office’s appearance. Glass tabletops help you make the right first impression.
How to choose glass tabletops
Thinking of adding glass tabletops to your office? That could be a wise decision. However, not all glass tabletops are the same. Here are a few things to consider as you shop around for options:
Shape. Most glass tabletop providers offer tabletops in either rectangle, square, or circle cuts. However, some may also create custom shapes to meet your needs.
Custom sizing. Look for a provider that offers custom sizing. If you’re using the glass to cover a desk or table with a wooden surface, you’ll want the glass to fit exactly with the edges of the wood. If it’s short or if it overhangs, the glass will have an awkward appearance.
Obviously, if you’re using the glass as the primary surface with no wood underneath, you’ll need the glass to fit the legs and meet your design specifications. Look for a provider who has experience cutting glass to exact measurements.
Multiple types. Not all glass is the same. You want glass that can meet your durability requirements and your budget. At Jack’s, we offer several different types, including annealed, tempered, and plexiglass. All have added durability to protect against cracking and shattering.
Thickness. The thickness of the glass is very important. Generally, the thicker the glass, the greater the cost. If you’re using glass as a covering for another surface, you may be able to get by with 3/16” or ¼”. However, if the glass will serve as the only surface and is unsupported by wood, you will probably want a thicker sheet, like ⅜”.
Color. Believe it or not, you can get glass tabletops in several different colors. A darker piece of glass may block out more sunlight, or it may simply fit your aesthetic better than a completely transparent piece. At Jack’s Glass, we offer glass tabletops in clear, grey, and bronze.
Considering glass tabletops for your office furniture? Contact us today. One of our glass specialists would welcome the opportunity to help you choose the perfect glass for your needs. You can also order glass tabletops directly from our website.
