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Decorating with Glass

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Decorating with Glass

Decorating with Glass

When the task is to decorate a room, most people focus on colors, furnishings, textures and flooring. One important element of decorating is light, and the source of most natural light is the window. Glass is an integral part of a decorating scheme, so it’s important to remember it when making a decorating plan.

Include glass in your decorating plan

Windows have two primary purposes – light and ventilation. In some cases, a window is non-operable, so letting in light is its only gig. Light’s visible components are definitely desirable, but light has invisible components that bring in unwanted (or much wanted) heat.

Light and the accompanying heat raise the temperature of a room. That might be desirable in some settings, and highly undesirable in others. With an operable window, you have the option of ventilating with natural air. With inoperable glass, your only option is to turn up the air conditioning.

Letting in light means letting others have a view of your interior space. In most cases, that’s not what you want, so a decorating plan that includes glass will need to take into account the need for privacy.

You can “privatize” your window glass with a wide range of window treatments – including blinds, shades, drapes and shutters. You can also use frosted or coated glass to limit the ability to see out of the window without completely restricting the light that gets in.

Glassprimer™ glass paint offers a frosted effect paint that enables you to “frost” ordinary glass at a fraction of the cost of true frosted glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint creates a permanent bond with the glass surface, so once the paint has cured, it won’t come off.

Glassprimer™ glass paint also offers exceptional UV resistance, which means that it rejects some of the heat-generating light wavelengths that raise the temperature of a room, and bleach out colors in carpets, fabrics and hard surfaces.
If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Jeremy Levine, via Flickr.com

Decorating with glass: mosaics

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Decorating with glass: mosaics

Decorating with glass: mosaics

If you’re interested in decorating with glass, and are looking for a project that can stand the test of time, consider a mosaic. The mosaic is an art form that can be traced back to at least the 3rd millennium BC, and initially, was commonly created using pebbles. Other materials, including glass, shells, beads and ceramics, were also incorporated into mosaics.

Mosaics were first examples of decorating with glass

Mosaics are tough enough to serve as floor surfaces, but are also found liberally on walls and ceilings throughout the world. Mosaics have evolved over time, and, although they can be used to decorate exterior spaces, they’re usually found indoors. Decorating with glass via the mosaic was common in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Many early Christian and Islamic sites also featured mosaics prominently.

For hundreds of years (including today) mosaics have featured very small, generally square pieces of stone, tile or glass known as tesserae, but when decorating with glass, artisans can incorporate glass pieces of any shape. The earliest mosaics used naturally colored stones, but by about 1,500 BC, artisans began to incorporate glazed tiles in their mosaics. The earliest mosaics did not initially employ patterns, but they did strive to create imagery. Pattered mosaics became popular in the latter half of the Roman Empire.

Decorating with glass was common in early Christian sites, and many surviving sites feature richly colored images on walls and ceilings. Mosaics were not reserved for religious worship. They were also commonly found in private, upper class homes. Over time, mosaics became rather elaborate, and incorporated gold leaf, a broad range of colors and other adornments that gave them a distinctive appearance. Although mosaics can survive indefinitely, many mosaics from certain periods in history were destroyed, more for political and religious reasons, rather than wear.

Today, mosaics are enjoying a comeback in homes around Europe and North America. Decorating with glass is comparatively easy, and the resulting product (often backsplashes in kitchens and bathrooms) definitely stands up well to everyday use and cleaning. Colored glass (or transparent glass that is colored with glass paint) is often incorporated into modern mosaics.

If you’d like more information about decorating with glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Tim Green , via Flickr

Decorating with Glass

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Decorating with Glass

Decorating with Glass

Decorating can be intimidating, especially if you’re not comfortable with mixing colors and materials. If you’ve got small quarters, the ideal approach opens up the space. In most cases, you can’t really add square footage, so you’ll need to adopt a strategy that visually opens up the space you’re working with. Decorating with glass is one way to open up your space.

Many possibilities for decorating with glass

Nothing makes a space look bigger than natural light, so “opening up a space” that you can’t truly expand may involve adding or enlarging windows. You can also open a space by adding a skylight. Doorwalls, glass walls and glass enclosures can also allow you to open your space cost-effectively. Converting a porch or deck into a glass-enclosed sunroom may help give you a little more seasonal floorspace and a ton of natural light, even if your sunroom isn’t considered “living space.”

If adding or enclosing space with glass is not in the cards, decorating with glass can still help open your space. Because you can see through glass, it tends to make spaces look larger. Glass tables, glass shelving and even glass staircases can create the illusion of space. Paired with light colored walls and creative use of natural light, glass can make a small space look quite comfortable!

Lighting is important when decorating with glass. If you’re working with a small or windowless space, consider using full-spectrum LED lighting to create the appearance of daylight. Supplement dark corners, shelves and countertops with LED light tapes to chase away shadows.

Decorating with glass doesn’t always have to mean significant construction or major modifications to your floorplan. You can use glass accents effectively to create a minimalist effect. Upholstery in natural or neutral colors, light-colored floors and light colored wood can also complement glass decorations, glass room dividers and decorative glass panels. The use of glass tiles, mosaics and glass accessories can help visually open a space.

You can use glass paint to create accents or complement your color scheme. Glass paint can be tinted to match any color from any major paint manufacturer, and can be an economical alternative to more expensive stained or frosted decorative glass.

If you’d like more information about working with glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Christian Kitazume , via FreeImages.com

Decorating Interior Doors With Glass Paint

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Decorating Interior Doors With Glass Paint

Decorating Interior Doors With Glass Paint

When you think of decorating with glass inside your home, the kitchen and bath are naturals. Glass is an excellent working surface and can be used to decorate walls and cabinet faces, as well as countertops and dining furniture. Another place in your home décor where glass is right at home is in doors.

Glass interior doors are uncommonly elegant

In many homes, interior doors are made of solid wood, so you may not immediately think of the decorating potential of glass in doorways. Whether the doorway is wood-framed or frameless glass, it will make a statement that a solid wood door simply can’t.

French doors are probably the most common “glass door” installation in residences. French doors are often found in offices and libraries or master bedrooms, but glass is versatile enough to be used in any room – even the bathroom!

You can decorate glass panels with glass paint to create a frosted or etched glass look on any doorway where privacy is desired, or to make a more aesthetic presentation. For example, a glass door on a kitchen pantry, utility room or closet can be backpainted to enhance the décor of the room.

You can also use glass paint to add decorative framing to a glass door, or just a splash of color to the glass panels in a door to give your home a unique touch.

In commercial settings, glass doors can be painted, or enhanced using UV inkjet printing. Using Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator as a primer, you can apply inkjet printing, adhesives or urethane coatings to achieve a permanent bond between the glass and your preferred coating. Your printed or applied images will stand up to the wear and tear you can expect in a commercial space.

If you’d like more information about decorating with glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint or Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Barun Patro , via FreeImages.com

Glass furniture and decorating with glass

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Glass furniture and decorating with glass

Glass furniture and decorating with glass

Glass furniture?! Sure! Glass makes a great decorating surface, and glass furniture can really complement any décor. When you think about furniture, glass probably doesn’t immediately come to mind, but glass is actually heavily used in decorating, and it’s quickly becoming the go-to decorating option in both commercial and residential settings.

Dress up your glass furniture

Where can you start with glass furniture? The obvious place to start is with glass tables. Glass tables have been in vogue in home and commercial decorating for years. If you have an older glass-topped table, it may be time to consider giving it new life as backpainted glass. You can apply glass paint in colors or patterns, or even give your glass tabletop a frosted glass look. Backpainted glass is a great way to hide scratches and imperfections in the glass top, and bring your glass table into a fresh new decorating scheme.

Glass tabletops aren’t limited to the dining room. If you have a glass coffee table or glass end tables in your living room, you can give new life to them by applying glass paint. Whether you’re going for colorful or classic, glass paint can help you create a unique look.

You’ll also find glass in a number of other furniture applications – cabinets, bookshelves, breakfronts and hutches may all contain glass. Large mirrors, interior windows and glass partitions may also provide opportunities for decorating with glass. Interior doors may also be made of glass, or may incorporate glass.
You can also find glass hard at work in the kitchen. Many cabinet styles incorporate glass in the door fronts. Glass paint on cabinets can create a stunning new look for your kitchen.

The bathroom is also likely to contain a lot of glass. Glass is an excellent surface in the bathroom. It’s moisture-resistant, impervious and easy to clean and can be cut or shaped to fit even the toughest angles. It also offers great protection behind sinks. A backpainted, backlit glass countertop in the bathroom can create a dramatic look and complement the lighting scheme in what can be a difficult room to decorate!

If you’d like more information about decorating with glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to shop for Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Marcelo Gerpe, via FreeImages.com