There’s a terrific article in today’s National Post about Garage Organization, prominently featuring our RedLine garagegear cabinets, StoreWALL slat wall panels and other options.  As the article notes, we are the pros when it comes to layout and installation, and are always ready to help with your garage project.  Here’s a link to the article on the Post’s website: National Post Article.  Even better - come in to our showroom at Bayview and Eglinton and see the systems in person!  Then set up an in-home consultation, and one of our designers will come out and measure and help you sort out your garage!

From now through September 13th, we are having a sale on our Element-System and decor offerings.  This versatile system is highly flexible and very heavy duty, and features a combination of pre-sized components and cut-to-fit shelves and closet rods.  Bring in your measurements or arrange for a FREE in home consultation - you may call the showroom at 416.322.5575, or use our handy Appointment Request module, and someone will contact you by phone to set up an appointment.  Visit the Element-System page to see more images of what you can do with this great system.  The terms of the sale give you a choice: you may choose either a) 20% off the materials or b) FREE installation.  The sale applies to new orders only.

While we certainly do the vast majority of our work in the Greater Toronto Area, we are performing more and more installations in the surrounding area, even as far north as Muskoka and Georgian Bay.   If your home is outside of the GTA, you don’t have to be on your own for storage solutions!  The process is similar to what we do for our more local clients, with the exception being that rather than come to you first, we will want to get some information from you at the outset so that we may put together a proposal as a starting point.  Then, once we get to a meeting of the minds, we will certainly send someone to see you and do a site visit for refining the measurements.  We don’t have an official radius for exactly how far we will go, it all depends on the nature of the work, and we’ll look at it on a case by case basis.  In the past few months, we have installed Garage cabinets, bedroom closets, family room built-ins, all outside the GTA - and we would love the opportunity to do work for you too!

Here’s how to get started - the simplest thing would be to use our Appointment Request form.  The form includes a space to submit your email address, which we can use to correspond with you with any questions we have about your requirements.   There is also a space to describe the work you would like done - use that to provide measurements and some specifics about what you would like us to do.  (You may also email us at info@spacesolutions.ca if you prefer.)  Whether you need some closets done, a family room, Garage or boathouse storage we can help!

We’re still getting our legs when it comes to making the most of social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook and You Tube.  But please follow us there and help us build our following.  We’d love to hear from you with questions, comments and ideas.  Have a challenging space you’d like guidance with?  Want to know where to get that accessory you’ve been needing?  Want to recommend a design or structure that you’ve seen, or even promote your services?  Drop us a line through any of the following services, or feel free to use the comments section below.  We look forward to hearing from you, and following you!

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Every few years, the Junior League of Toronto invites designers from Toronto’s design community to contribute to a showhouse makeover.  Each designer and firm will take over a room, and it offers them the opportunity to show off their styles and abilities in a unique environment.  This year, the project at McLean House, at The Estates of Sunnybrook, is opening for public showings as of May 8, running through May 31.  Laurie Bildfell of Ideal Spaces asked us to provide a contemporary closet for the Kid’s Room she was working on.  We installed white and silver aspects of our Element-System.  Tickets for attendance are $25, ($20 for seniors and students), and proceeds support St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club, the Women & Babies Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and other initiative supported by the Junior League of Toronto.  For more information, visit http://www.jltshowhouse.org/.

We’ve been getting asked a lot about how what we do relates to the federal government’s new Home Renovation Tax Credit.  The short answer is that yes, nearly everything that we do does qualify for the tax credit.  Since everything we do is custom designed to be installed in the space, our solutions meet the criteria of being “of an enduring nature and integral to the space”.  So whether you are redoing your walk-in closet, a garage. a murphy bed, or even just a set of sliding doors, you should be able to claim the expense under this new initiative.  Qualifying expenditures start at $1000, and you may claim against up to $10,000 of home improvements.  Our receipts and supporting documents will contain the information required for your claim.  For more information on the tax credit and how it applies to you, visit the government website on the matter at www.cra-arc.gc.ca

Here’s a great example of what you can do the get the most out of a small space.  Our client lives in a 500 square foot condo in Liberty Village.  The rooms of course are tight, and the existing closet was not working for him.  While the room has a 9 foot ceiling, the doors were of standard height, which meant the upper space in the closet was inaccessible.  The builder had provided lightweight sliding panel doors, which further hindered the access, and the interior had a set of wire shelves which did not work well with the sliding doors - you could really only access clothes hanging from one side, and the result was an unattractive, inefficient mess.  We needed to find a way to make this closet work better and look better, too.

The first step, was opening up the space.  The client removed the doors, shelves and even the header above the doors, which then gave us full access to the entire space.  We created cubby storage up above with lift up doors for long term storage.  We increased his clothes hanging capacity by double hanging his clothes in cabinets at either end.  We added drawers to the center, where he can store ties and belts and other small things, and then some open shelves.  Not only are open shelves useful for quick access, but they also make the space feel roomier.  In the original closet, the plain white doors were dreary and overwhelming.  The open shelves help make the room feel a little bigger.  Click on the thumbnail below for a closer look.

The noteworthy details here are the framing, doors, and hardware.    By applying a simple face frame molding between the sections, we not only obscure the places where cabinets meet, it also beefs up the look.  These frosted glass doors are a beautiful detail that really make the closet, completing a hip, urban look.  Similarly, the stainless steel handles provide the perfect accent to cap everything off.

Watch the video below for a tour of the space, so you can see first hand exactly what we did.

Most often, when we are custom building cabinets for closets and other spaces we will use laminates - melamine and thermofoil most often, and for some applications, arborite or formica for more heavily-used surfaces, such as desktops and counters.  But sometimes you will want a look that is a step above what any laminate can give you.  It may be a built-in cabinet in your living room, such as a library unit or cabinets straddling a fireplace; perhaps a built-in entertainment center in your family room or den.  Painted units offer you the ability to match any colour, so you can have a finished installation that is really part of the home.   You can take advantage of any available trim and door profile, without the limitation of colour availability.  Accenting your final storage solution with the decorative hardware of your choice provides you with unending possibilities and unsurpassed elegance.

There are two main options when having a paintable cabinet built.  One way is to have the cabinet fully installed in unfinished board, so that post-installation you, or a painter, paints the finished product in your home.  This is ideal when working with larger pieces, say a wall to wall section that will be matching the rest of the home.  We can still provide the hardware for your project, as you’ll want handles and pulls installed after the painting is completed.  We have an example of this type of option installed in our showroom at The Sunnybrook Plaza.

The other option is to have the components factory painted at our facility prior to installation.   The cabinet above - click on the thumbnail to enlarge it - which we recently installed in a client’s home, was factory painted in a black lacquer.  (We’ve lightened the image slightly so you may see the detailing.)  This design features baseboard detail and fluted columns at either end, Shaker style doors on the ends and flat panels in the middle, to accommodate the fabulous locking mechanism in the center.  The counter features an ogee molding around its edge, and the entire cabinet is custom fitted to occupy an alcove in the client’s home.  A beautiful focal point that will be a defining feature for years to come.

To learn more about how we can build a custom painted solution for you, please visit our showroom, or contact us to set up a complimentary in-home consultation.

We’ve had some exciting projects lately, and will soon have artwork to show you just what we did.  In short, we have recently done:

• a Murphy Bed with a drop-down desk surface on the outside of it, so that the space is still functional when the bed is closed
• a Built-In closet, where we replaced the existing plain sliding doors by filling the space with cabinets, and accented the work with some fabulous frosted glass metal framed doors
• a beautiful walk-in closet with a lit vanity counter and crown molding treatments

We plan on showing you some Before and After presentations of some of these projects soon.  Also, be on the look out for a Space Solutions youtube channel.  We’ll post videos from time to time highlighting interesting details on some of our projects, tips and even tours of some of our design concepts and ideas.  Stay tuned for updates!

Space Solutions proudly carries Metro Shelving for flexible, heavy duty applications.  Use it in your garage, your storage locker, your pantry (including their fantastic wine cradle shelves) - even your spare room or home office. These heavy-duty shelves assemble in a snap without the use of tools, and can hold between 300 and 800 lbs per shelf, depending on the size.  Shelves may be adjusted height-wise at 1″ intervals, so you can accommodate anything you need to store.

We stock Metro’s Professional’s Choice series in black and chrome - shelves in this series come in 6 sizes, and units can be assembled in a variety of heights.  Also available by special order is their Super Erecta shelving, considered commercial grade.  The shelves feature a denser mesh, so they may hold a  higher concentration of weight.  There are also many more sizes to choose from, with 6 depths and plenty of length options.  For either series, addons such as wheels and hooks may be added to make your units completely functional.  For more information, please come in to the store, or email us.