Stained glass in the interior. What are they like?

Once upon a time, such paintings made up of colored glass were used to decorate only temples and cathedrals, but since the 19th century, along with the Art Nouveau style, stained-glass windows have also come to the interior of residential buildings, firmly settled in it and became a method of creating a unique dwelling design.

It is a mistake to believe that stained-glass windows in the interior are appropriate only in huge mansions, they have no place in an apartment. And this pleasure is very expensive. Modern technologies make it possible to make the production of stained glass windows affordable, harmoniously placing them in the interior of even a small apartment.On the contrary, here stained glass windows – in the kitchen, bathroom, hallway – will become a means of visual expansion of space.

Apartment interior with stained glass

Interior design of a room with multicolored stained glass

Unusual stained glass window in apartment design

What are stained-glass windows

Initially, the stained-glass window consisted of carefully selected pieces of glass, interconnected by metal partitions, creating the outline of the drawing and serving as a frame for the glass. This is how stained glass windows were made in medieval times, and this technology is still used today..

This is a classic stained glass window. In addition to this technology, other types of stained-glass windows are distinguished in modern decoration art..

Painted. Pseudo-stained glass, not composed of separate fragments, but painted with special paints inside the volumetric contour. Then the drawing is covered with a fixing compound. Its advantage is that it is made quickly, affordable and gives great opportunities – you can create any drawing for the style of the room, therefore one of the most popular types of stained glass.
Sandblasting. It is created by sandblasting glass and is more often used for facades of sliding wardrobes, interior doors, partitions.
Mosaic. This type of stained glass is similar to the classic one, the difference is that the drawing is made of pieces of glass of the same size..
Fusing. To create it, colored glass fragments are baked, in addition, small foreign particles can be included in them – for example, pieces of wire.

Stained glass room design

Colored stained glass in the interior

In addition to these, it is necessary to highlight etched stained glass, which is based on the ability of hydrofluoric acid to burn through glass. Thanks to this, you can create deep contours, and the drawing turns out to be voluminous. Stained glass is painted in the same way as painted.

Important! A variant of the classic stained glass window is called the Tiffany style. For such mosaic patterns, copper foil is used, due to which the contour becomes thinner, the pattern becomes more elegant. Tiffany stained glass allows you to use even small glasses, so they are more delicate, light.

Stained-glass windows also include a film look – the easiest and cheapest way to create an imitation of stained glass painting on a transparent surface. The glass is simply pasted over with multi-colored elements cut from an adhesive-backed film. The contour is applied with special paint.

Various types of stained-glass windows differ in the complexity and cost of work, the materials used, but all of them allow you to create a unique interior.

Apartment interior with stained glass

Interior design of a room with multicolored stained glass

Unusual stained glass window in apartment design

Stained glass in the interior

Initially, decorative stained glass windows were designed to fill the window opening. Today, not only windows, but also doorways, niches are decorated using glass mosaic, it is also used to create decorative items – lampshades, decorative screens, boxes and vases are created by masters using stained glass techniques.

If we talk about the interior decoration of the home, then the most popular places for using stained glass technology are:

window openings – in whole or in part;
doors;
ceilings;
niches in the room.

Stained-glass windows will be appropriate in any room – they can be placed both in the bedroom or living room, and in the bathroom or hallway. Only their functional purpose can differ: if in the dining room and the nursery they are designed to become an element of stylization, then the bathroom and hallway may also have a practical function – to close the room from the view of prying eyes.

Stained glass room design

Colored stained glass in the interior

Window stained glass

Stained glass in the window is more appropriate for a country house, mansion. Agree, in a multi-storey reinforced concrete tower, such a design somewhere at the level of the 10th floor will look ridiculous, but such a design will make a private house noticeable against the background of other similar ones. Stained-glass windows in the interior will decorate not only the classic style, but also:

avant-garde;
neoclassicism;
modern;
art deco.

English, Scottish designs of country houses will successfully complement the stained glass windows. Floral, landscape plots, sea spaces – themes for decorating houses in modern styles.

The continuous light belt of the bay windows visually expands the room, and the stained glass window in light colors will create a special play of light. It is difficult to decorate a room with such windows with curtains: the stained-glass windows will only slightly dim the bright daylight and hide what is happening inside the room from prying eyes. It will be interesting to look at the closed veranda with panoramic windows decorated with stained-glass painting, adjacent to the house. Small pieces of glass will create an indescribable atmosphere of something mysterious, magical and at the same time cozy..

If you want to recreate the decoration of an ancient castle – Tiffany styles and fusing allow you to turn a country house into a medieval dwelling – stained glass windows with arches will ideally complement the stylization, not only of the interior decoration, but also of the exterior of the house.

Important! It is worth making stained glass windows in rooms where there are no such high requirements for illumination. For example, it will be dark in the office. The need to strain your eyes, use artificial light sources while working will become annoying. And in a bright, spacious living room, bedroom, such windows will not cause discomfort.

Apartment interior with stained glass

Interior design of a room with multicolored stained glass

Unusual stained glass window in apartment design

Doors with stained-glass windows

This is the most popular way to use stained glass in the interior. Interior doors become a means of stylization, a unique decorative element. In addition, they are a way to hide from prying eyes what is happening behind the door, for example, in the bedroom, nursery, saving the owners from the need to install a blind door..

In the nursery, the stained glass drawing on the door can be a continuation of the fairytale theme chosen for the decoration of the walls: the windows of the princess’s palace in the child’s girl or the porthole of an underwater bathyscaphe or spaceship in the boy’s bedroom. Avant-garde style in a teenager’s room allows for pieces of colored glass inserted into the doors, arranged in a certain order or chaotically.

Doors with stained glass painting will decorate the interior in a classic style. Correctly selected plots will complement the Mediterranean, oriental designs of the living room.

Stained glass room design

Colored stained glass in the interior

Stained glass ceiling

If several centuries ago glass mosaics were often used to decorate the high ceilings of rich houses and theaters, now such decoration is becoming popular again, and not only for the stylization of public institutions – restaurants, theaters, halls in hotels, but also in residential buildings. Modern technologies make it possible to securely fasten glass sheets at any height. If the lighting is correctly mounted between the main and the suspended stained-glass ceiling, the effect will be simply amazing..

Important! It is possible to make transparent stained glass not the entire ceiling in a room, for example, a living room or a bedroom, but only a part of a multi-level ceiling – this will make an impression no less.

Apartment interior with stained glass

Interior design of a room with multicolored stained glass

Unusual stained glass in apartment design

Decorative stained glass

Stained-glass windows in the interior are often used not for practical purposes – to close a window or doorway, but purely for decorative purposes. For example, an irregularly shaped stained glass panel in a wall niche will make the room cozier, lighter, you can also use a picture of small pieces of glass to visually add light to a dark hallway – all you need to do is place a couple of stained glass panels on the walls.

False windows with a stained-glass insert will look spectacular, for example, in a bathroom. The window in this room is a new trend, and its absence can be made up for by imitation with glass mosaic. It is imperative to make the illumination of the false window from the inside, this will add realism, and the stained-glass window will play in a new way.

Stained glass room design

Colored stained glass in the interior

In a spacious living room, a mosaic panel will create an impression of festivity and splendor. It can be placed on one of the walls, or using this technique, you can build a partition that zones the room. It will be successful to use such a zoning of the living room combined with the kitchen, if the total area is sufficient. You can replace a part of the wall separating the living room from the hallway with a stained-glass partition.

Designers recommend such partitions as a unifying element of two adjacent rooms – they seem to flow into one another, while zoning the space, filling both rooms with light. When the lamps are turned on in the evening, a magical atmosphere is created – from the illuminated room, a stained glass window casts light onto a dark area.

Apartment interior with stained glass

Interior design of a room with multicolored stained glass

Unusual stained glass in apartment design

Stained glass and furniture

Stained glass furniture is a great solution for many styles. In the kitchen, cupboards with stained-glass facades will be appropriate, in the living room – showcases for dishes, in the bedroom, in the hallway – cabinet doors, dressing rooms. For sliding wardrobes, mirrored pseudo-stained glass windows or sandblasting ones are often ordered.

A light screen with stained glass inserts can become a decor item in the bedroom. Its purpose is more decorative, although it is able to cover with itself part of the space of the room, while not affecting the illumination of the hidden zone.

Original, stylish – mosaic table top for a small coffee table. Bathroom shelves and cabinet doors are another application of the mosaic technique. Similar items are used to create the exclusivity of the interior..

Stained glass room design

Colored stained glass in the interior

Stylish things

Stained glass in the interior is not only huge windows and door inserts. The decoration will be complemented by lamps with a mosaic lampshade, boxes, vases made in this technique. A frame framing a wall mirror will liven up a small hallway, just like a stained glass coffee table in a spacious hall.

The main thing is not to overload the space, it is better to let there be few such items, but they will become a design element, they will be combined with it in color, so as not to get out of the general decoration of the home. The choice of technology will depend on the design of the room: the classic stained-glass window should not be used in modern high-tech, minimalism, loft styles. But this does not mean that glass mosaic and modernity are two incompatible things. Geometric ornaments, suitable plots and modern decoration technologies will help to create an unusual and cozy home, characterized by exclusivity and originality..