Amazing stained glass effects: 5 ways to nail the look
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Love the stained glass look? Learn how to achieve stained glass effects with toughened and laminated glass.
Stained glass is a beautiful sight, whether in a mighty cathedral or a humble door-light. But one thing's for sure: it takes a lot of time, effort and resources to produce.
Stained glass artisans cut pieces of glass into shape and then join them together with lead strips. The new piece of glass is then painted, fired and installed into a frame.
So, what if you want to achieve that stained glass effect without all the hassle? Well, there are plenty of imitation stained glass options on the market. But there are also more creative ways to achieve this most desirable of effects.
Part of the beauty of stained glass is that each piece can be unique. Whatever materials you use, the design can be entirely original, an existing design or something between the two.
You can turn your living room into Chartres Cathedral or let coloured light spill into your home with an original design. You can make your office, shop or other commercial premises a multi-coloured haven.
It's yet another example of just how versatile glass can be. All you need is a vision – and a
specialist glass supplier to turn it into reality.
So, without further ado, here are five ways to nail that stained glass look.
1. Decorative LED glass
Imagine a piece of wall art or an expanse of wallpaper that radiates light. What you've imagined is
decorative LED glass, sometimes known as "illuminated glass" or "edge-lit glass".
It consists of an ultra-thin unit lit from the edges by LED bulbs. A single strip of LEDs can illuminate a 2.7-metre-tall glass unit.
A stained glass-style pattern can then be
digitally printed onto the glass. The combination of this pattern and the LEDs creates gorgeous refractive patterns that are sure to attract comment and admiration.
But beauty isn't the only selling point of decorative LED glass. It can be installed pretty much anywhere and is much more energy-efficient than traditional fluorescent lighting.
2. Coloured laminate windows arranged in squares
One of the defining features of stained glass is that it's comprised of different shapes joined together into a harmonious and colourful whole. You could do the same with modern toughened glass – but only if you've got plenty of time and money to spare.
A more practical alternative is to arrange
coloured laminate windows in squares. Each window is made of laminated glass, bonding a coloured interlayer between two sheets of glass. This gives you a contemporary twist on a classic design, suggesting stained glass without spelling it out.
What's more, laminated glass is highly robust. When it breaks, it cracks but doesn't shatter. This gives you the peace of mind that your faux stained glass installation is unlikely to be damaged.
3. Fabric lamination
Typically, laminated glass consists of two panes of glass with a plastic interlayer in between. This interlayer can be coloured or multi-coloured, combining the beauty of the design with the structural robustness of the glass panes.
But it's not just plastic that can be laminated. You can also sandwich
fabric interlayers between those panes of glass. This protects and frames the fabric, increasing its longevity and adding to its aesthetic appeal.
You can laminate pretty much any type of fabric. But to nail the stained glass look, you could explore felt, muslin or quilted fabrics. And as with all of these effects, the design can be anything you like. The only limit is your imagination.
4. Backlit glass
As the name suggests, backlit glass is glass lit from the back – an effect typically achieved with LEDs.
One of the most striking things about stained glass is the way light shines through it, illuminating the rich colours and designs. This can be mimicked by placing an LED behind a translucent glass design, whether on a feature wall, a piece of glass art or another installation.
5. Digital printing on glass
Digital printing on glass has come a long way in recent years. These days, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a design printed onto glass to photorealistic quality – a design, moreover, which will last for as long as the glass itself.
You can print any design under the sun onto glass. So, if you want to achieve a stained glass effect, why not digitally print an image of a stained glass design? Combined with backlighting, it can turn a corner of your home or office into an art gallery wall.
There's also
screen printing on glass. This uses advanced inkjet technology to apply the design to the glass. As with digital printing on glass, the standards are high. At ToughGlaze, we use ceramic inks that are as vivid as they're long-lasting.
What is stained glass?
Stained glass consists of pieces of coloured glass joined together with lead strips. It's familiar to many from churches and cathedrals but has also been used in secular interior design.
Stained glass has been around for centuries. The oldest known piece is a small, circular window at St. Paul's Church in Jarrow, England, dating from the 7th century.
The golden age of stained glass, however, is widely considered to be from the 12th to the 16th centuries in the so-called "Gothic" period. At this time, there were huge advances in both glassmaking and cathedral building in Europe, which led to some astonishing examples of stained glass.
How we can help
If you want to nail a stained glass effect in your home or commercial premises, we can help. We manufacture LED glass and can laminate fabric and coloured interlayers in high-end laminated glass. We can also digitally print and screen print glass with stained glass designs.
All our products are Kitemark-approved and meet BS EN standards. So, whatever kind of
decorative glass designs you're looking for, don't hesitate to
get in touch for a quick, competitive quote.
We'd be more than happy to talk you through your options.
