Printed glass in interior design

Printed glass in interior design

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Printed glass in interior design

Printed glass in interior design

There’s no doubt about the attractiveness of glass in interior design. Nothing opens up a space like glass. In addition to making spaces look larger, glass distributes natural light better and more effectively than any other building material.

One consideration when decorating with glass is balancing the need for openness with the need (or desire) for privacy. Whether you’re decorating in a commercial space or a residential one, the need for privacy is absolute at certain times. In short, clear glass isn’t always desirable. At the same time, painted glass may not be what you’re going for, either.

One excellent compromise is printed glass. Printed glass has been used for a long time in commercial spaces, for both interior and exterior options.
Initially, a silkscreening process was used to create “printed” glass. Silk screening uses a screen mesh to apply ink to the print surface. Areas of the mesh are blocked selectively to create different shapes or to apply multiple colors.

Screen printing has been around for more than a thousand years, and can be used with inks and paints. The technique can apply color to both hard and soft surfaces, including glass.

Silkscreen printing has its limitations, though. Consumers and retailers alike prefer photorealistic images, which silkscreen printing isn’t really good at creating. Photorealistic printing is better achieved with UV-inkjet techniques that deposit colored inks onto the surface of the glass.

UV-inkjet printing doesn’t require any special heat or chemical curing process, which makes it less expensive than other forms of glass printing. In addition, UV inkjet printing is highly durable, a plus in a commercial environment. UV inkjet printing allows commercial consumers to reproduce colorfast branding and logo information on glass inexpensively and without the pixilated look of silkscreen printing.

UV inkjet printing isn’t just reserved for commercial environments. In residential spaces, UV inkjet printing can quickly and inexpensively produce patterned glass surfaces for use in bathrooms, kitchens and throughout a home. Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator can help ensure that printed inks bond with the glass to improve durability and performance.

If you’d like more information about how you can use Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator in a glass printing project, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator or Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Rob Borgman, via Flickr.com

Open up to glass interior doors

Open up to glass interior doors

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Open up to glass interior doors

Open up to glass interior doors

If you’re looking for a clever, elegant way to open up a space in your home, consider installing glass interior doors. Glass interior doors significantly improve light transmission throughout the space, and make a small space appear larger.

Glass interior doors define sophistication

Glass interior doors don’t work for all applications, but you can purchase both frameless and framed glass interior doors for your space. Most glass interior doors aren’t made from clear glass. Instead, you’ll find a number of frosted or etched, silkscreened or printed glass interior doors that look amazing and fit into most design themes.

Although glass interior doors seem like they’d be most at home in a modern interior design, you can find them throughout all major interior design trends.

French doors, for example, are often made of glass or feature significant amounts of glasswork when used in interiors. The glass can be clear, frosted, beveled or even colored. True French doors are wood framed and include glass panels.

Single hung doors can successfully incorporate glass panels. They can be used in virtually any interior space, but may be most at home in the “public areas” of a living space. Glass doors may be used to close off a dining room, pantry or laundry area, but they can also be used successfully in bedrooms, closets and offices.

Frameless doors are definitely modern in character. Frameless glass interior doors can be used virtually anywhere to make a dramatic statement. Frameless glass can (and should) be tempered for use in high traffic areas, and in areas like kitchens and bathrooms. Frameless glass can also be etched, frosted, painted or printed to increase the amount of privacy while still permitting significant natural light transmission.

Glass interior doors can also be successfully used as “pocket” doors, or suspended from a top rail to slide across a doorway. In many cases, a top-hung door is printed, painted or silkscreened to provide privacy in bedrooms and to disguise closet storage.

If you’d like more information about decorating with glass interior doors, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint for use with a glass interior door or for any other glass painting project, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Feather River

Glassprimer™ on HGTV

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Distributor website www.glasspaint.com

Be sure to watch Glassprimer™ paint Team on HGTV TV series “Color Splash” with Host David Bromstad starting mid July 2010.

We are expected to be airing on HGTV for 2-4 years in.

  • Watch how Glass Paint is applied…
  • Watch back painted glass installs…
  • Before and after reviews…

Rejuvenating Glass Table Tops

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Thanksgiving is literally right around the corner so I felt that this was a timely topic to cover. There are few things that can ruin the elegant and regal look of a glass top dining room table like a series of persistent, hairline scratches. Today I’m going to cover a way for homeowners to quickly repair the damage and save some money.

Now first, you have to figure out whether or not the scratches in question are fixable. The scratches may be too deep and if that’s the case it’s a good idea to consider getting the glass top repaired by a professional.

First you’ll need the repairing agent. Something along the lines of a polishing compound or jeweler’s rouge. Believe it or not, you can actually obtain similar results by using extra strength whitening toothpaste. What you want to do is fill in the scratch with the repairing agent and let it set there for a few minutes. This is where the hard work comes in. You’ll have to methodically buff the scratch with a small cloth or a lamp’s wool pad. If you lack the necessary elbow grease you can also opt to use a handheld buffer. You should rinse the scratch(s) periodically to see if your efforts are bearing fruit. If they’re not, you likely have a scratch that needs to be repaired professionally. But before you go that route, there is another option available to you.

At Glassprimer.com, you can find a reliable place to purchase glass paint which can be used to paint the underneath of a glass table top and hide the scratches. While this method may not work for all glass top dining tables– when applicable it has the advantage of bringing new flair to the home instead of only repairing. And an added advantage of this method is the fact that it will prevent new scratches from being visible in the future.