The use of stained glass in a modern interior

Decorating your own home is not an easy task. One way is to use glass patterns. We will discuss how to use stained-glass windows in the interior.

About techniques for creating stained glass images

Stained glass is a type of fine art in which colored glass is used to create paintings and images. In the old days, glass was available only for wealthy people, and paintings made of colored glass generally cost incredible money. Today, not too complicated and expensive techniques have been developed that make this pleasure quite affordable. There are several different techniques for creating such products:

• Inlaid and mosaic stained-glass windows. Made up of pieces of glass. They differ in that in the mosaic, the fragments have the same shape and size, in the typesetting, they are cut to the desired size and can have different shapes. Fragments are fixed in metal frames (lead, copper, brass). One of the varieties - soldering - the picture is obtained using tin partitions. This is one of the most ancient techniques. More modern - stained glass Tiffany. In them, the fragments are collected on a copper tape, due to which they have a lower mass.
  

  Traditional technique - type-setting stained glass

• By fusing pieces of colored glass into a single whole (fusing or sintering technique). This is just a new and relatively inexpensive technology.
  

  Fusing stained glass can be distinguished by the absence of jumpers

• Etching technique. With the help of hydrofluoric acid, the color is etched in those places that should be more transparent. This technique produces two-color images. A more sophisticated technology of layer-by-layer etching allows making not only multi-colored, but also volumetric stained glass windows.
  

  Deep etching technique - glass matting

• Painted stained glass window. The images are created using special transparent paints, which are cured at high temperatures (final firing).
  

  Painted stained glass - drawing is applied using paints and fixed at a high temperature

The techniques for making stained glass are different, but they all require special skills and knowledge. Some also need high temperature ovens.

Simulation methods

The sophisticated technology of creating stained-glass windows is reflected in their cost - this is not a cheap pleasure at all. Therefore, in parallel with stained glass technologies, imitation methods have been developing for a long time. The very first - to stick a thin sheet of painted paper on glass - turned out to be very short-lived. But modern technologies allow you to get more similar and durable pseudo-stained glass:

• Filling polymer contour. It is created with transparent colored polymers in two stages. On the first, outlines are drawn on the glass. After polymerization, the space between the contours is filled with colored compounds.
  

  Pouring technique - using polymers to create a pattern on glass

• Film stained-glass window. To create the contours, self-adhesive lead tape is used, with which the contours of the picture are drawn. Then the space is sealed with colored stained glass film.
  

  Film stained glass is the easiest one to make on your own. but not too durable

• Overhead stained glass. Imitates a prefabricated stained-glass window: colored glass is glued to the base - transparent glass. This technology is much simpler, since the strength is provided by the "backing".

Methods for imitating stained-glass windows are technically simpler, which makes it possible for non-professionals to make some, not too complex drawings. At the same time, the products look good, which is due to their popularity.

Where can stained glass be used?

Initially, stained glass was done exclusively on windows. The technology was difficult even for creating flat-shaped products, and there was no question of any curly products. Now the scope of application of stained glass images is much wider:

• Window.
• Doors with glass - entrance and interior.
• Partitions for zoning rooms.
• Ceiling and walls (backlit panels).
• Lamps - plafonds or backlit panels.
• Part of furniture facades.
  

  Stained glass doors can be in any style

It is necessary to use stained-glass windows in the interior very carefully: it is a very bright decorative element and it must correspond to the entire environment. Rather, on the contrary - the furnishings are developed taking into account the pattern and colors used in the stained glass.

Stained glass in the interior: where and how to use

To make a room with stained-glass elements look harmonious, the shape and size of the product, the theme of the drawing, colors - all of this is selected in accordance with the situation. Products made using this technique always attract attention. And this must be taken into account when developing a design, not to overload the interior with other bright details. If you look at photos of interiors with stained glass windows, you will notice that colors and details are repeated in other furnishings, decor, and accessories.

Such a sight cannot leave you indifferent

On the windows

First of all, stained-glass windows appeared on the windows. They were made for palaces and churches many hundreds of years ago. Naturally, the theme was appropriate - for the most part, scenes were depicted on a religious theme. The paintings through which the light poured were impressive and awe-inspiring.

Stained-glass windows are very impressive in the semi-darkness

Modern stained-glass windows, which are used in the interiors of houses, apartments and offices, are more versatile in their subject matter. Most often, they depict landscapes, flowers, plants, geometric or plant patterns. And they all make the impression too - very beautiful, the play of light and shadows fascinates and I want to look at everything closer. A special effect is given by the light that pours through the stained glass images into a semi-dark room.

If the windows face the street and you don't want outsiders to know what is happening inside, you do not need to use curtains. You can install a stained-glass window made of patterned glass. The silhouettes will be visible, but nothing more.

Stained glass in the bathroom interior allows you to maintain privacy

The disadvantage of using patterned and colored glass over the entire glazing area is the insufficient amount of light that will pass through such windows. If illumination is important to you, the central part can be left as usual, and the ornament can only be put on the edges - along the perimeter, only at the top or on the sides - that's whatever you like best.

If you need more light to enter the room

When choosing a picture of a stained glass image on a window, in addition to transparency, you also need to select colors. Stained glass is an element of the interior and the colors in it must be consistent, the same as in the interior or neutral (transparent, white, gray, beige, black).

It is also worth paying attention to the topic. In the kitchen, for example, fruits and vegetables will be appropriate, for a nursery you can find a fragment from cartoons or fairy-tale characters, a water or marine theme is suitable for a bathroom. In "common" rooms, the best choice is neutral themes (nature, cityscapes) or geometric patterns.

In the door

Stained glass windows in the interior of a modern private house can often be seen in the design of the entrance group. A small fragment can be inserted into the door leaf, the same motif is repeated in the surrounding windows.

This design of the entrance to a private house could be called traditional .. but the stained glass window makes it unusual and memorable

If such an abundance of stained glass fragments seems overkill, you can leave patterns on the sides or only at the top.

Stained glass is installed only above the door

The ideas for stained glass windows and techniques are very different, but geometric patterns prevail, in which some fragments of flora and fauna can be included - a flower, a leaf, a butterfly, etc.

Most often, entrance doors are decorated with geometric patterns on glass.

Geometric patterns are composed of pieces of the same shape, which simplifies the process of their creation. Due to this, the price for such products is lower than for "paintings" without repeating elements. This does not mean that there are no thematic drawings or cannot be. They are, and sometimes complex, but they are not available to everyone. You can see some drawings for decorating the entrance group in the photo below.

Interior doors are also sometimes made with stained glass inserts. The sizes of the inserts can be different - for almost the entire surface of the door leaf, only a narrow strip or circle, oval, etc.

In furniture

Furniture facades are also decorated with stained-glass windows. Too complex drawings are not used - the scales are not the same, and the effect will not be so bright. Therefore, for the most part, they use geometric patterns with plant elements or none at all.

Most often, kitchen furniture is decorated with stained glass inserts, and more specifically, the doors of wall cabinets. They are located at eye level, which allows you to appreciate the beauty of the decor. In other furniture, such decoration is more the exception than the rule. Such a subject will attract too much attention to itself and it will be difficult to "balance" it. Yes, and a minus will appear in operation: heavy doors, which, if not handled carefully, can be damaged.

In partitions and on walls

In a modern interior, you can see stained glass windows on the walls - in the form of a backlit panel or in interior and zoning partitions.

The panel is a painting, but the material of the image is colored glass. To highlight this decor item and achieve maximum effect, backlighting is made.Previously, outdoor lamps were installed with a directed beam of light (as ordinary paintings are illuminated). But it is more effective to hide the lighting between the wall and the stained-glass window. Today it is not difficult as there are LEDs and led strip, with which you can organize a diffused or directional stream of light.

Partitions with stained glass inserts are a good idea. With their help, you can solve two problems. The first is to let natural light into a windowless room. If you make glass inserts into the walls that separate the corridor, during the day it will be possible to move along it without light. Even in the evening, the light from the rooms will allow you to walk without stumbling.

The second task is to make the zoning partitions "lighter". Modern trends are just a conditional division of large rooms into zones of different functionalities,studio apartments make you look for new solutions. One of them is a partition made of glass or with glass inserts. Glass can be ordinary with patterns, but stained-glass windows are much more spectacular (and much more expensive).

Ceiling stained glass

Ceiling stained-glass windows are, for the most part, lamps, but built into the plane of the ceiling. They are usually built into suspension systems and, most often, into plasterboard. In apartments, such products are very rarely left without lighting. Another thing is that they give a little light: colored and patterned glass transmits light in an insufficient amount, so one cannot do without other lighting devices.

Without lighting, a stained-glass window on the ceiling can only be in a private house. In this case, daylight enters the room through the ceiling. But the cost of such a decoration will be very high - the structure must withstand the onslaught of bad weather. One of the solutions is a cassette ceiling (they make a strong metal frame). For reliability, thick glass is installed on top, which takes the main load.

Stained glass is used in hallways and corridors. In such walk-through rooms, with a large number of doors, it is difficult to come up with another spectacular decor method. Moreover, the stained-glass windows in the interior of the hallway, with full guarantee, divert attention from the flaws in the layout.

Drawings for stained glass

Photos of interiors with stained-glass windows

Interior design without experience and relevant knowledge is not easy. And the creation of an interior with stained-glass windows is even more difficult: it is too bright an element that must be coordinated with other objects and decor elements.Therefore, it is desirable to have a sample by which you can navigate. For these purposes, we have collected photographs of interiors with stained glass elements.

There are also very interesting lamps made in one of the stained glass techniques

It is easier to fit stained-glass windows into the interior on your own if you choose not too bright colors

Repeating motifs and colors

Stained glass elements in the same style on doors, windows, indoors

All the same rules: some bright colors, recognizable ornaments

Stained glass goes well with wood, but requires space

Stained-glass windows in a classic interior - it is important to coordinate all the components in color and style

Stained glass semi-column with lighting. Elements on the kitchen ceiling with the same ornament

An interesting technique - a semicircular stained glass window

Round ceiling stained glass window with lighting

The top of the column is decorated with glass ornaments

For lovers of non-standard solutions

Unusually shaped window, and even with glass ornaments

There should only be one bright element

Marine theme in the bathroom - naturally