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Glass In Iterior Design

Glass is one of the most magical of all materials. Glass brings an unbeatable sense of drama to the interior, as well as maximizing light and views.

The use of glass in the interior is indivisible from that essential element, natural light. The transparency of glass allows our homes to be saturated in daylight. Glass has that quality that gives a structure a certain ambiguous, floating quality. In contemporary designs, where flexibility and clarity are prized, glass fulfils an important role in creating divisions between indoors and out and between individual interior spaces that are as minimal and discreet as possible.

The technological advances now have increased the range of glass applications - walls, stairs, floors, furniture, appliances, fixtures etc. In combination with more domestic, solid materials, such as wood, or in conjunction with sleek contemporary finished such as metal, glass can create any style to satisfy the most sophisticated tastes.

Glass Flooring

Glass flooring is the closest we ever get to walking on air. The light effects make glass flooring one of the most impressive applications to be found.

Glass is far from a mainstream flooring choice and is not suitable for extensive areas. But as a mezzanine walkaway, or in the form of spiral stairs, glass flooring allows light and views remain uninterrupted from level to level. Another floor-level effect is to construct display boxes sunk flush with the floor and topped with glass strong enough to walk on. One such example, located in a bathroom, was filled with seashells; in another version of the same idea, ostrich eggs were used to add to the sense of fragility.

Careful specification, engineering and installation are required. The type of glass suitable for flooring is thick annealed float glass.

Glass Fittings and Fixtures

Glass has many small-scale applications in the home which are no less effective for being unmomentous. The lightness of glass shelving focuses attention on what is being displayed and provides an unbeatable way of emphasizing luminous transparency of glassware and decorative glass objects, particularly when combined with sensitive accent lighting. In a similar way, glass-fronted kitchen units and bathroom cabinets are far less dominating than those with solid doors. Wipe-clean glass splashbacks provide an easy-maintenance solution in kitchens and bathrooms.

Glass has been used increasingly in the design of contemporary bathroom fittings, a notable example being handbasins in the form of clear, coloured or frosted-glass bowls. But perhaps the ultimate in visual lightness are bathroom vanities and bathtubs completely made of glass.

Care And Maintenance

Despite its rather fragile image, glass is surprisingly durable-there are still intact examples of glass which a eight or nine hundred years old. Cleaning is a different issue. Glass is far from maintenance-free and demands a fairly high degree of vigilance to stay looking pristine and sparkling. A fairly unforgiving surface when it comes to fingerprints and other greasy marks, glass inevitably reveals every single smudge and streak the instant it is made. Some research has gone into the development of non-stick coatings - with the aim of reducing maintenance, particularly for the windows of high-rise buildings - but in most domestic situations the solution remains a good astrigent cleaning product.