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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

New Home - New Gallery Glass Windows

There is nothing quite as exciting as moving the family to a new city. Recently, my daughter, Renee, graduated from Medical School and was chosen to do her residency at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. We are thrilled with the appointment, but it meant relocating to the new city which is 2 and 1/2 hrs. away from Atlanta. It isn't a long distance, but definitely far enough away for a moving van (actually took 6 trips). We kept thinking we were done, but then another van load of stuff would materialize. It was a busy and eventful 2 months which coincided with her graduation and the end of school and the "Dance" year for my granddaughters.
One of the first things Renee did after closing on the house was to email me the sizes of her windows. The house featured tiny little windows above each of the large window groups on the ground floor, and Gallery Glass was a logical solution to prevent glare where they would not be covered by curtains. We argued about the pattern for several days. I wanted to do something Art Nouveau, but my daughter felt that something more Art Deco would give the home a contemporary feel.


Finally, we agreed on this design. She thought it was perfect because it had the look that she wanted for their home. I could see that it was adaptable to all the places she wanted to put it, since it would look equally as well horizontal or vertical. And it was a pattern that could easily fit every size because the transom came in 3 sizes, the sidelights and transom was a different size and the kitchen and bathrooms were different, again. This design simply started with an "X" across the corners, and the perpendicular lines were drawn in proportionately. Perfect. Then we debated a lot about the spacial relationship of the frost and Crystal Clear. We needed a third texture, so Renee suggested "stripes" made with the Crystal Clear. It was the perfect companion to the Clear and Frost and the Ribbon of stripes flows through adjoining panes tying them all together as if they were part of ONE design, rather than dozens of separate designs.
Of course, I insisted that we not put color into play because I have a strong aversion to color on the front of the house. I think it can draw too much attention, especially at night, and it limits the use of interior furnishings and accessories that can be used in the various rooms. It's hard to pull off color successfully, especially when the same design is used across the front of the house.
 
 The front door has glass all the way around and opens into a small entry hall. Because the sidelights had real mullions (dividers) and the transom had faux mullions --bars between the 2 panes of glass, I opted to do all three of the areas on a long piece of plexiglas, instead of individual pieces. It was faster and easier, but it also allowed all three windows to match, stylewise. The transom rests against the glass, but the sidelights rest against the mullions - about a half inch from the glass, but from the outside, you really don't notice.

Our next project was the back door. It looks out from the mud room onto a deck that is higher than the street, so it is going to be highly visible, even over the fence, and especially at night.. Because the mud room has a tropical Palm Tree theme, we chose the contemporary "Leaves" design for the tall skinny window in the door. The mullions are real, but a routed groove around the outside allowed me to do the design on one piece of 1/8" plexiglas. This works well because it is a door that will get a lot of traffic, so the single panel will be more durable. 12 panes would be hard to keep in place with the family passing in and out every day. We chose to add some color to the design because it is the only window on the back of the house and can be a little more whimsical. We used Champagne for the background around the edge and also added Clear Shimmer to some of the leaves for a bit of glitz when the sun hits the design.  
Now for the transoms in the living area. The design worked well because the transoms were 4 different sizes. But as you look at the finished panels, they all look like the same design.

We also did the transoms above the dining area window and the doorways into the back hallway. The window over the sink was another "must have" because the window looks right out into the side of the neighbor's house. Notice that the design looks just as well "stacked"-as it does arranged in a line.

In case you think we were done, you'd be wrong. I took the same concept to the master bedroom on the main floor and the master bath. There are little windows in the shower and another 4 pane over the tub. I did the ones over the shower areas, both upstairs and down, but have yet to create a design for the large window over the tub. I'm thinking that we will do a little more with that design because it's big--there are 4, 21" square panels to work with. It's an opportunity for something interesting--maybe even some color. Stay tuned! I'll update this article when we finish.

9 comments:

  1. hi Miss Carol this is Bradford..LONG time no see LOL....love the windows in your daughters new home and many congrats to her.....would love to of heard those arguements the two of you had concerning the windows LOL...was just watching an old GG vhs video of the two of you the other night...my question is...the window above the shower...did you seal that with anything to protect it from steam or the dampness? I've had some folks ask me about doing bathroom windows and I have always thought the steam and wetness would make the GG not practical?

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  2. Welcome back, Bradford! We've missed you. You are so perceptive--about the decisions that had to be made. You'd think that me being something of an expert--she would follow my advice, but nooooooo! She had her own definite ideas about the pattern. I wanted some curvy nouveau lines, but she insisted on straight geometric deco lines. So I caved, and did it her way. She's happy.
    The windows in the shower are very high up and don't get any direct spray. The family knows to leave the door open after a shower, and let the moisture environment normalize. No problems. The only serious concern is windows that run with moisture or condensation and frequently "sweat"--usually single pane, non-insulated windows. These sweaty windows should not have Gallery Glass applied to them because they will never completely cure. Condensation is probably the most significant factor to consider, when deciding to apply the technique to a window, or not. For these problem windows, a free hanging Gallery Glass piece should be hung with air space around and behind the decorated panel, so that the moisture could evaporate around the panel.

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  3. I like your idea for the windows Miss Carol..LOL....my personal style taste has never been that of geometric straight line deco....I'm a Tiffany style man myself...however her windows are beautiful and as I remember from the old VHS tape she said then that she likes her windows with little or no color and I see that hasn't changed LOL...I had always hoped she would author a GG project book...Do you know if any new GG project books are in the future? I need to add to my collection.....My best friend of 15 years Dan Hughes of QVC said to tell you hello for him......he told me a story of how you did the windows in his bedroom of the house he had years ago and how the real estate agent listed the bedroom as having authentic stained glass windows.....

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    1. Sadly, no books in the near future, but we are working on a program to upload patterns and pojects to the plaidonline website. That would a big help to beginnrs. I'm determined to do that before I leave. Dan Hughes is a good mand and a wonderful host, I miss our adventures! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I was really in penchant with what you have dedicated to your devoted fans and home lovers. Yeah, Carol, love your insightful design ideas and passion. Of course moving new city is always very exciting and if the new house can be got into a new desired shaped that is over excitement. I took a rapt look into your new design and transformation. Indeed the front door, slinky windows and dining area window and the doorways into the back hallway was in real charming look and eye-peace creating. I was on aiming to grab the ideas on windows and doors Thornhill and already taken several browse. But it was an awesome tour no doubt. Of course I love to adore your genius job and much more thanks for sharing.

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  8. Moving or relocating a new place is tremendously thrilling of course if the place is the desired one. Glad to see your daughter's residency and the glass windows you inserted in this post look really so beautiful. Room also has been decorated gorgeously with color scheme. Love the decor idea. Anyway, I wanted to get the design and price ideas for new windows and doors in Brampton. But This sweet details made me really happy.

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