Glass is showing up in the darnedest places in homes these days.
Big sheets of glass – the same tempered glass you find in your car windows – is being used in new structural ways. Glass may be used instead of plaster to finish a wall or the risers on a staircase can now be made of glass. The very properties that make glass shiny, transparent and pretty can also transform these former structural parts of the home into works of art.
The difference is the way artists and designers are using coloured and bevelled glass in innovative and different ways.
“You can put glass anywhere you want beauty,” said artist Dana Videla, who owns Flux Glass in Edmonton.
Videla recently installed glass stairs in a house with unusual and dramatic results.
“The risers were transparent and at night, they became glowing stairs because of the lights that were placed under them. Underneath the stairs the owner had a pond with koi fish in it so that the glass stairs went in an arch over this little pond and underneath you could see the fish. The glass was transparent, but also textured and we even sculpted large lily pads into the glass,” she said.
Sheets of glass may be decorative and beautiful on their own adding a different dimension, especially in bathrooms. But even then, changes to the way glass is made make it better than ever before.
Some glass, such as the Clear Vista sold by Norboys Glass, is see-through, but it's also mildew resistant and made so that soap scum is easily cleaned from the surface. A style called rain glass is textured on one side, but as the name suggests, looks as if it has raindrops clinging to the surface. If privacy is important, satin etch glass is completely frosted.
Glass shower doors are not advised for use in pre-manufactured fibreglass stalls, because they need to be installed with screws. They may be heavy so you need to consult an expert about whether they are suitable.
"A sheet six feet high and 18 inches high will weigh about 70 pounds," Videla said.
Mirrors are bigger and better too, said Bev Quaghebeur, owner of Wholesale Bevel and Edge.
"We can custom-size anything. We could make you a 10-foot mirror if you wanted. And if you want, we could overlay the mirror with square pieces of glass to make it fancier," she said.
Big mirrors such as these are usually permanent additions to the home because they are glued to the wall and if you pull them off, the drywall comes off too, Quaghebeur said.
"You can also get safety glass made into painted backsplashes for the kitchen or bathroom. There is no worry about breakage. You'd have to stand back and throw something at them to break them and even then, like a car window, it would break into little honeycombs," she said, adding that this style of glass may be painted any colour.
"I've even installed a lime-green backsplash in one kitchen," Quaghebeur said.
Painted glass panels make excellent room dividers. They are decorative between toilets and showers in open-style bathrooms but they also provide an element of privacy.
"The picture is on the back and we paint it permanently with a specialized glass enamel and then the catalyst that bonds it is heat. We kiln fire the glass," Videla said.
Videla has also made painted-glass privacy screens for the back deck. These screens are set into a moveable base that weighs 200 pounds.
"The concrete base is shaped like a Kleenex box with a slot for the glass. It can be moved around so you block out different views from your deck, for example if you are sunbathing," she said.
Glass may be used as tiles on a fireplace hearth or shaped into funky-looking address numbers for the front of the home.
Videla has had clients who asked for glass countertops and she painted them and had them installed, but she stressed it wouldn't be something she would do in her own home.
"It's safety glass so it won't break but it could scratch if you put a rough pot on it. The people who got it didn't do much cooking and they had no children but I wouldn't recommend glass counters for a big family," she said.
Nonetheless, glass is easy to clean.
"Even if the glass is used as a piece of art behind your stovetop, it can be easily cleaned, even if the spaghetti sauce splashes onto it. It's just glass so just get your window cleaner and clean it," Videla said.
Best of all, the coloured glass can add warmth to any design.
"Glass refracts the light,” Videla said. “So you can have rainbows in your home every day."
