The general look and feel of a room depends to a large extent on its window coverings. Therefore, whenever you design a window treatment, keep in mind the overall design and its impact from the outside of your home. One sure way to do this is to use stained glass windows, which can also be a great investment.
Exterior Looks
To provide a uniform look to your home's exterior, try to design your window coverings so they'll be of similar colors. Imagine the disharmony it would create if someone on the curb were to see a blue curtained window on one side and yellow one on the other. Terrible!
You can safely bet that stained glass windows will look great even from the street. You need not worry, as they will add an extra touch of elegance and class to the outward appearance of your home. The positive outcome of creating these great-looking rooms is that you will feel warm and happy. When you pay extra attention to how your window treatments look from the street, you enhance its overall charm and curb appeal.
Revival of the Stained Glass Window
The making of stained glass windows was an ancient craft used primarily in churches. In modern times, it has been revived and can be used almost everywhere as a brilliant, vibrant form of artwork. If you want to, you can even make your own stained glass window.
The same basic techniques are used today as were used during the middle ages. The molten glass is first cast into a shallow mold. This is achieved by blowing an elongated bubble, which is then trimmed and flattened. Approximately 70 hours later, it's ready be cooled and cut.
Today, diamonds are used to cut the glass, since they ensure a cleaner break. The glass is cut into pieces which match the shape and colors of the original pattern. To distinguish the details of faces and hands, half tones or textures can be applied. In case you want to modify the colors of the glass at this stage, you can apply matteing, which is a layer of glass paint. A genuine stained glass window is nothing more than an assortment of colored pieces.
The pieces of glass are held or fixed with lead "cames." The advantage that lead has over other metals is that it is flexible and durable. It is also relatively easy to cut and solder, making it an indispensable part of the designing of the stained glass window.
Stained glass reached the state of the art in the early 11th century. Many gothic structures used such windows and even today they impose themselves with their beauty and their ingenuity. In those times men set up a glass factory wherever nature allowed one to be built, namely near a silica deposit. Silica is the main and most important ingredient in glass making. To obtain colored panes, people used the help of chemistry. While still liquid, an amount of metallic oxide was mixed in the melting pot. This gave the material its color.
Man knew colored glass from ancient times so the Romans, the Egyptians and the Greeks were renowned glass artisans. During the 5th and 6th century, the technique we know today as stained glass began to show its face. Early creations can be admired today in museums. At first, they combined thin pieces of alabaster inside a wooden frame; this gave a similar effect. Later on, Asian manufacturers used pieces of colored glass to create what we know today as stained glass.
For more detail, artists use painting techniques that enhance the overall design and complete difficult to fill areas. One interesting thing about these marvelous windows is that the only role they play is to dose the light and to make it difficult to see what happens inside the structure. The themes used in these masterpieces are religious (inspired from bible), symbolic or inspired from literature and myths. Some of them display scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and other religious figures. These are present everywhere on the windows of medieval churches.
Creating state of the art stained glass panes involves a lot of artistic genius and a lot of experience. Artistic skill and engineering skill are a must for designing the theme and the structure of such an artwork.
Nowadays, in the 21st century, this technique is used in combination with modern forms of art. A revival of the gothic style took place after WWII. Many monuments lost their windows during the war. Great German artists like Ervin Bossanyi, Ludwig Schaffrath, Johannes Shreiter, and Douglas Strachan took the matter in their own hands and struggled to make and old art form a contemporary one. Nowadays there are not many places where to study the traditional ways of stained glass making.
Despite this fact, stained glass is frequently used for home accessories and interior design elements. Either if it's a lamp or a window, a piece of stained glass will always add a finishing touch to your home.
Both J.r. Ferrara & Keith Londrie are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.