One of the most common challenges that I am asked to address by readers is what to do about windows. It may be that they have windows that are an awkward shape, or placed too high or too low. Others have too many windows, or too few. Should you always cover windows with draperies? Or blinds? Or when can you leave them bare? There are a variety of solutions depending on your need for privacy and light, as well as the architecture and style of your home.
There are tricks of the trade that camouflage perceived problems. For example, in basement rooms with low ceilings and high windows, you can hang floor to ceiling drapes to unify the appearance of the wall.
If a large expanse of glass offers lovely views but too much light by day and you want privacy at night, then custom shades are available that provide protection from UV rays, and are made in such a way that you can see out, but no one can see in.
Windows are an architectural blessing. They allow us to connect with the outside world and all the beauty that nature has to offer. However, when that view has become compromised, it is possible to create a fresh image by installing a stained-glass window.
These glorious works of art are not only the purview of churches or historic buildings. Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed thousands of leaded-glass windows for his public and private buildings. He was fascinated by the play of light on colour and different types of glass shaped in geometric patterns.
Wanting to learn more about this art form and its place in interior design, I spoke to glass artist Thomas Smylie, co-owner, with his brother Stephen, of The Glass Studio (theglassstudio.ca). He explained that there was some confusion over the terms stained glass, art glass and leaded glass. These terms overlap, but leaded glass covers all because it is lead that holds the glass pieces in place, whether they are coloured or plain.
Art glass is available in a variety of textures and tints. The artist creates the design, and then selects the type and colour of glass pieces from which he or she will cut out the shapes. The orange and yellow leaves of the captivating birch-tree branches shown here were made from a combination of Spectrum and Youghiogheny glass.
The colourless background glass is hand rolled. For added realism, the lead cames (the grooved lead rods used to hold the pieces of glass together) that represent the tree branches were hand tapered.
This stained-glass window was commissioned by homeowners who wanted to block out the view of a new home under construction very close to them. The landing window offered natural light they didn鈥檛 want to lose, and it was also a focal point听when moving between floors. The window is now filled with shimmering colour and beauty, and has become a lasting piece of art that decorates the home from inside and out.
The Smylies have designed and produced hundreds of pieces of glass art.
To inspire you, here are some of the ways you can inject this glorious art form into your home: skylights, leaded-glass doors and side panels, leaded- glass kitchen-cabinet panels, bathroom windows, carved art-glass decorative screens. Glass art will become a show-stopper wherever it lives. It鈥檚 a view changer.
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Debbie Travis鈥檚 House to Home column is produced by Debbie Travis and Barbara Dingle. Please email your questions to [email protected]. Follow Debbie on Twitter at twitter.com/debbie_travis, and visit Debbie鈥檚 website, debbietravis.com.
