Seeing Clearly – How Glass Balustrades Benefit Your Mental Health
There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a glass balustrade, and no doubt you’ve got a few in mind already. But there are some advantages that aren’t quite as obvious right off the bat; namely, the mental health benefits that a balustrade can bring to you and your family. Bear with us, and we’ll explain a couple – you might be surprised at how many there are!
Glass Balustrades Provide Peace Of Mind
One of the foremost benefits that glass balustrades provide you with is safety, especially at raised heights. They provide a barrier between you and your family from potential falls, and you can rest assured that with the toughened glass we use on all of our balustrades, accidental knocks or bumps are highly unlikely to break it. This is fantastic news if you have small children or pets running around, who might not be quite so mindful of the dangers that the balustrade is protecting against. Without a balustrade a terrace is little more than simply a raised platform, which makes it impractical for more or less anything, including storage space. You can’t have children in such a space, or animals, or even adult visitors. However, the addition of a glass balustrade transforms a terrace from a sparse area (often buffeted by wind) to a safe, protected space that you can actually live in, whether it’s winter or summer.
Balustrades Make A House Feel Like Home
The advantages of glass balustrades are especially evident in smaller gardens – they can help give the illusion of space, helping us to feel like we’re getting more from the space we have. They can also shield this space from potentially prying eyes, protecting your privacy. Glass balustrades can also help us project more of our personalities onto our properties – they represent a major opportunity to add some contemporary styling to your home, giving the building a distinctive bit of personality to onlookers and visitors. Balustrades also play an important part in design – you can use them creatively to help define boundaries and split up your outside space, paving the way for it to become a dedicated work or party space.
They Let In More Sunlight
Among the most fantastic things about glass balustrades is their ability to let in greater amounts of sunlight compared to metal or wooden fencing. Sunlight directly affects our physical and mental health, and in some quite subtle ways, too! We won’t delve too deeply into the biology of it, but basically sunlight affects our circadian rhythm; our internal body clocks that tell us whether it’s day or night (it’s the reason, for example, that you don’t fall asleep instantly when the time hits 5pm in winter). When our eyes take in sunlight, it essentially activates cells in our brains that tells us the day has started, increasing our energy levels.
Sunlight also produces more vitamin D, which is good for our body’s overall health – it boosts our immune system, amongst other things. It also has a big say in our brain functions; UV sunlight helps in serotonin production, a brain chemical which directly affects our mood and energy levels. In this way, sunlight can make us happier and more productive, and that’s why it’s such a big benefit when it comes to glass balustrades.
You can browse our range of glass balustrades here, or if you’re a little short on space, you can read about the advantages that a Juliet balcony could bring your home. Of course, if you ever need any help or advice, we’re only a phone call away on 01254 825 594.
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Published: 23rd February 2017
