My New Music Adventure

This year my husband and I made it a new year’s resolution to do something fun and crazy. Both him and I play musical instruments but had never played for a public. We don’t have kids or pets to take care of and so we find ourselves having lots of free time. One of the fun parts of this adventure is turning my mom’s old room into a music room. We call it that because we want it there to be mirrors, a crystal lamp and glass shelves to hold the equipment and other glass stuff. We want to do something to enhance the lighting in the room and have the mirrors so that we can see ourselves when we play the music. A happy and well-lit room gives us more inspiration.

We have been rehearsing for two months now but our real adventure will really begin next week. I will be
playing the guitar and my husband will be playing the bass at a nearby café on Wednesdays. Luckily we both have decent voices to sing in public. The café we are playing at is very cool because every Wednesday is open mic night and anybody can come up on stage and do a little show. You can recite a poem, sing acapella, play some acoustic music, or throw a short comedy jam.  Open mic nights are fun; you all need to come to one some time or another. 

I’m very happy with what our room has turned into. In addition to the glass, we painted the room all white to make it even brighter. I had some custom glass shelves done and bought some cool stuff to give it a musical theme. I particularly like the red glass I bought that make up the word “music”.

The Mystic Cottage

My mother has a ranch outside of the city which I often go to when I want to get away from my daily routine. The ranch is quite big with a small 4-wall cottage about 100 meters from the main house. This cottage is my favorite, and it’s the one I stay in whenever I come home to visit. I wanted to fix it up a bit to make the atmosphere feel more happy and peaceful. I thought putting in more color would do it but I didn’t just want to paint the wall. The roof actually had a glass window which was water-stained and looked more white than crystal clear. I thought “what if I replaced it for some colorful stained glass?”

It was a genius idea. I didn’t want any design that was already too common. I began thinking, “what kind of

art has affinity with the types of activity I like to do in the room?” I always do relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation in the room, and it is also where I like to practice being in silence but content within. That’s it! Something mystic looking would really give the place a more peaceful looking feel. Yogis and other spirituality practitioners tend to think that geometric shapes and the colors of the rainbow have an energetic effect on an individual. So I drew a sketch of spiral-like shapes with my favorite colors; blue, purple, green, orange and yellow. Once I gave it to experts, they created a masterpiece of stained glass (see picture below).

In addition to the stained glass, I also removed most of the furniture to provide more space to do the relaxation exercise. I bought a futon instead so that when no one is staying in the cottage it can be used as a space where guests can hang out and have a cup of tea. But most of time, I am the only one who uses the cottage. I feel like a kid again when I have a space where that is big and I can run around without shoes in it.

Beveled Glass Mirror

Are you bored with the interior design of your house, but don’t have much money for redecorating? Just adding a fresh coat of paint and new wall hangings can go a long way in reviving a room. For example, consider putting in a few mirrors as decoration. Beveled mirrors, in particular, are unique and striking additions to your hallway, bedroom, living room or bathroom.

You may not recognize the technical term, but I’m sure you’ve seen this type of mirror before. A beveled mirror is one whose edges are cut at a slant, creating a framed look between a quarter of an inch and two inches thick. This detail causes the light to refract differently off the mirror, forming a prism effect. All types of mirrors make your rooms seem more open and airy, but only a beveled mirror brings all the colors of the rainbow into your home and appears differently depending on the angle from which you are viewing it.

Beveled mirrors come in square, rectangular, oval or any other custom shape. Before deciding on the form or size of the mirror you are going to buy, evaluate your space, style and the image you are trying to project. A large piece or several small ones artfully arranged (such as in this image) can work beautifully. The mirrors can be framed or not, and hung directly on the wall or mounted. Shop around online or stop by a glass store to see which standard or custom-made option fits your needs.

The clean and elegant style of beveled mirrors really revitalizes an otherwise dull room, whether it is in a residential or commercial space. These mirrors can open up a small, cramped doctor’s waiting room, provide a touch of class to an office conference room, and make customers look their best when trying on clothes in a fitting room.

Broken Mirror Mosaic Table

One boring Sunday, I realized I was bored with the layout of my room. I rearranged my furniture and rehung custom mirror. Finally, I was satisfied with the way my room looked and decided to go out with my friends. However, I guess I hadn’t hung the mirror carefully enough, because when I returned I found it on the floor, completely shattered. At first I was upset, but then I realized that there was something beautiful I could construct from this disaster: I could decorate my bedside table with a mosaic using the salvaged mirror pieces.
my photos, wall art, and

Using thick work gloves, I carefully collected the shards and placed them in a box. I ran out to the store and got sandpaper, adhesive and grout. My first step was to sand the top of the table a bit. Next I slathered the table top with glue and donned my gloves again. Carefully and artfully, I arranged the broken mirror pieces and stuck them to the table. Once the adhesive was dry, I covered the table top with grout. I waited about an hour for the grout to set and dry, and then I gingerly cleaned the mirror shards with a soft cloth until they were shiny again.

Just a few hours and a little bit of elbow grease was all it took to give my night table a fresh look.  Reusing and repurposing items that no longer serve their intended purpose is such an easy and cheap way to revitalize your home. True, I did not have my original custom mirror anymore, but I now had a funky, new-looking table. Just think – without a bit of creativity, those mirror shards would be sitting in the garbage right now. Instead, they are brightening up my bedroom in a whole different way!

Glass Office Walls

You have finally solidified your plan, saved enough money and gotten investors.  Now it’s time to design your office and start your own business.  Of course, you will want to make your office open and inviting for both customers and employees.  How can you best utilize that tiny space? The trick is tempered glass panels.

Let’s assume that your office comprises an entire floor of a small building.  Most companies offer managers
their own offices, hopefully with windows. So you construct small offices along the perimeter of the space. 

That is great for the senior members of your team, but it leaves the employees in the center without any natural light.  Studies have shown that uncomfortable work conditions can negatively impact performance, and that exposure to Vitamin D (in the form of natural light) lifts people’s moods. Having such a closed-in space in the middle also makes your office look small and dingy to any clients who may come in, leaving them with a bad impression of your business.

There is a solution: if you build those inner office walls using tempered glass panels, everyone will be able to enjoy the sunlight.  Most businesses today promote transparency and invite open dialogue with their workers. As such, standard clear glass is preferable in the majority of offices. However, if you are worried about privacy when conducting sensitive business deals or meetings, you can order the panels with etching or frosting.

You also may be concerned with safety with all that glass in your workspace. Besides looking great, tempered glass panels are extremely strong and durable. Having glass office walls will make your small office appear bigger and more modern, which is desirable in any industry. If you are just starting or renovating your business, consider glass partitions a good investment for your company.

Attracting Clients with Glass Panels

Marketing is an art. Not everyone can do marketing because it takes a lot of creativity, an open mind, and the ability to place yourself in the shoes of your customers. One key aspect of marketing is visual aid. In order to attract people and get your message across you need images, pictures and colors that are appealing to them and that will catch people’s attention because that is what marketing is all about: getting people’s attention. One clever and different way to do marketing and make people watch what you have to sell is by using glass panels.

Glass panels can come in different shapes, sizes, colors, patterns and designs. For example, this illuminated glass panels are a great way to get people to look and attend your store or business because it is something different and something that looks good and we all know appearance sells.

Another great idea to get your brand across is to engrave it in a glass panel because it is something that will surely stand out among many other marketing attempts. Take a look at this! Isn’t that something that you would look out? And it would make you want to find out more about this brand! This is proof that decorative glass panels are wonderful for decoration and marketing. If you are interested in acquiring them you can contact a glass company and they can design something unique for your unique needs!

Glass in Interior Design

Glass is such a classy material that it can enhance almost any room. That is why I always say that glass and interior design go hand in hand. If you want your home to look luxurious, fancy and classy it is as simple as adding a few glass items. Glass can come in different applications, including glass shelves,  glass table tops, glass doors, and my favorite – glass panels. Those elements combined can surely create a one of a kind room in which the word tacky does not exist.

Glass panels can make a regular home look luxurious and they serve different purposes. For instance, glass panels can be used as walls and they go great in places where the view is amazing, that way people can enjoy watching a beautiful landscape from the inside of their home. But glass panels can also be used to separate different rooms in a house and they are much more appealing than simply building up a wall.

Glass panels can also come in different patterns, designs and colors. All you have to do is contact a glass company and tell them what you want. But one thing is for sure, you can’t go wrong with glass panels!

 If you want to go the extra mile, I would also suggest getting other glass applications that go with the mood of your house. Check out these stylish glass table tops! You see how something so small and simple can totally change the looks of the room?! It’s amazing how simple interior design can be if we just learn how to work with beautiful elements. 

Custom Glass Art

I have always admired works of art. People usually relate art to ‘’oil-on-canvas’’ or a lofty tune by a symphony orchestra, but that’s not at all the case. If you know how to play the bongos or a ukulele and do it well) you certainly qualify as an artist. I regard art as a beautiful expression of one’s special talents. With that in mind, I must admit that I always marvel at a friend of mine who is a glass artist. The term may not sound familiar and that’s because they’re not common and they are also sometimes underappreciated.

I think that when someone can mold a piece of glass and give it a specific shape or set of colors that can help transform that piece from a grotesque block or film of crystal into a masterpiece. I say grotesque not undermining the raw form of the matter but rather emphasizing its untransformed state. After the artist injects their ability, the outcome is wonderful eye-candy.

My friend has done beautiful sculptures and also custom glass art panels. Because of their large size, she only does the panels if someone orders them. This is something she does on the sides on top of her regular job. Her designs are simply mesmerizing. I have seen panels resembling the image of Jesus or a saint, Virgin Mary or a Cross. She doesn’t necessarily focus exclusively on religious concepts but those are the ones that are most frequently ordered.

A particular item that gets ordered very frequently is the couple’s sculpture for wedding cakes. She as an artist will not however deliver a generic design, no. She will ask the bride and groom something about their taste, their preference and their quirks to make the design truly special. I endorse my friend whenever I can by referring her work to others or simply by ordering her products whenever I can afford to. Remorse is never the outcome.

Tempered glass panels

By definition, tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. I was always under the impression that the panels which serve as partition devices in office buildings were the crystal equivalent to wooden or concrete walls that executives used to prefer in the old days. Not uh, they are not. In fact, tempered glass panels are a very elegant and functional way to ‘’shield’’ your office.  I consider how resistant this material is as one of its main advantages; its resistance makes it very durable. It also of course does not require painting and can be easily cleaned and polished by using a chemical solution for crystals and a microfiber. I would not like to endorse Mr. Clean’s products but what you see in their commercials and other related substances is exactly what you will get as the end result of a thorough cleaning.

Tempered glass is also used because of their safety and strength in a variety of demanding applications such as passenger vehicle windows, shower doors, architectural and bathroom doors. I personally like this material a lot and use it as much possible wherever it would look good like inside the home and in the workplace. For example, my office door is a tempered glass panel and my desk is also made of the same material. If you combine it with metallic legs and a minimalistic décor concept for whatever you plan on having on your desk like a MAC or a few pens and papers here and there and a nice white sofa would make a very sophisticated look.

Another advantage of this material (at least when it comes to my desk) is that I don’t have to be so protective with the surface since it does not get scratched so easily. When I had my wooden desk for instance I had scratches and bite marks before I even knew how they had happened! That’s why I switched, and I think it’s been a very, very good decision!

Dividing Spaces

Last year my sister and her husband decided that they wanted to get married, but before this huge step they wanted to have their new home built and decorated two months before their wedding. Finding a construction contractor to do the enormous house they wanted wasn't as difficult as for her deciding on how the interior design of the house would look like. She wanted several rooms and areas but didn’t want to divide all of them with walls, so a friend of ours recommended to her to take a look at decorative glass wall panels.

Our friend mentioned us that most people are using these decorative glass wall panels as a new way to divide the different areas of their homes, and that they are a lot more affordable than splitting the rooms with the regular walls, and a lot less messy since you don’t have to get contractors working in your living room.

Before my sister looked up more about these decorative glass walls, she thought that they probably wouldn't be attractive enough to be placed in her house, but she was wrong. She fell in love right away with the interior designs of different houses that had these glass panels.

The variety of styles, colors, and even surface designs are unlimited, you really don’t know where to start from, and these even give you new ideas on how to redecorate your home to make it look more spacious than what it really is or it can also give you that modern and sophisticated look that you would want your home to have.

My sister was definitely glad that our friend told her about this decorative glass wall option; she was able to not only build her home exactly two months before her wedding but also was very pleased with the finished of the interior design and space distribution of her new home.  

My Entrance Door

A few years ago, a college professor told me a line that has since stayed with me: ‘’you never get a second chance to make a first impression’’. That single quote changed my way of thinking and general outline of the world right away. I started dressing better, speaking better, listening more, judging less. It was definitely a transformative experience. Once I purchased my first home, I made sure to implement his lesson on my sacred temple.

I knew that the first impression version of my house would be the façade, so I made it a point to make it look as best as my budget would let me. I installed a picket fence and beautiful gardening on the front porch, it may have been Kentucky blue grass or a look-alike but I loved it. I figured the final step for the first impression project was the entrance door. I believe in symbolism and that doors act as a gate that transport me and my guests from the outside world into my own personal space. A space for relaxation, reflection and peace. I began browsing around in decoration magazines to see what door could best fit my wishes. Somewhere, in one of the dozens of magazines I looked at, I saw a wooden door with a beveled glass panel on each side. They were shaped like beautiful roses and had some color in them, I knew immediately that was the look I wanted for my house.

I always enjoyed walking through my beveled glass doors, and my initial safety concerns bearing around the glass being see-through quickly dissipated once I realized that just was not the case. The door provided safety and a lovely decoration option. Many of my friends (to my surprise) complimented me on how elegant the doors looked, something I realized until after the fact but now that they mentioned it, they did look very classy indeed. Yay me all the way!

Decorative Glass Wall Panels

Home decoration can be really tricky; believe me, for weeks I have been trying to decide on a new color for my living room.  We care a lot about this stuff because our home is that place that we take pride in. We want to create an attractive, cozy oasis for our visitors and specially ourselves. But sometimes I feel that is very hard to do. I don’t know if it is because of my lack of creativity or some other reason, but deciding on home decoration is something stressful for me.  The good thing is that nowadays we have countless options to choose from; and that helps us get a bigger perspective of what we might want. Recently, I was checking some cool decorative glass wall panel designs; and they definitely caught my attention.

My house is really small but I wanted to create like a study area where my living room is. The thing is that building a wall to divide the living room would imply a lot of money and time; and the house would end up looking even smaller and claustrophobic. While trying to find solutions for this matter I ended up thinking about decorative glass wall panels. The solution was right there.

Many people can quickly decide if they like or dislike a piece of art; however, in the case of decorative glass wall panels, options are countless and that gives you the perfect chance to make a decorative statement. Panels come in different colors and patterns, your panel doesn't have to be transparent; it can be opaque and mysterious, or bright and fun. You can choose something that best fits your style. There are also many benefits in having a decorative glass wall panel, for example, glass holds up well in moist environments and they are easy to move and replace.

I know I made the right choice by getting a glass wall panel. Instead of investing tons of money in remodeling, I divided my living room in an elegant and creative way.

So, when thinking about decorating your home, be sure to check out decorative glass wall panels. 

Why I chose decorative wall panels over wallpapers

In the 60s and 70s, wallpapers were a really trendy way of decorating your walls. They were an interesting alternative to paint. Many homes were decorated that way; commercials and home builders also used them as a nice way to boost the esthetic appeal of a house.

I never really liked them very much. They kept falling apart and getting stained so I told my dad at the time we should paint the house (which we did) and that interestingly enough became one of the iconic moments I remember about our relationship early on. We continued to share differences of opinions over interior design concepts but he always trusted my taste and I appreciate him for it. He was even more surprised however, when I recommended we remove the paint and install decorative wall panelsinstead! He has always told me I am ahead of my years when it comes to decoration. I think I just have a general notion of esthetic appeal; basically of what looks good and what doesn’t and in that regard I have rarely been wrong.

Our decorative wall panel was amazing. It was mostly wood but it had very nice carvings around the middle and incredible finishes on the edges. It gave our home an instant boost, it made it look a lot more elegant. We then added some paintings and nice furniture thus completing our home remodeling project. I think our home looked terrific, he definitely agreed since he basically funded the whole makeover. Dad always said that there comes a time in a man’s life where there is a great amount of pleasure in the little things such as decorating a house, things that he confesses were usually left for me and my mom to decide and execute. He now takes part in the decision making process and enjoys the follow through of our projects and I know for a fact he gets a kick of our guests’ looks when they see our décor.

Decorative glass panels are awesome

Glass is a very interesting material. Very much like iron, it can suffer physical transformations by heating it and acquire incredible shapes and colors. I was largely unaware of this until I made a trip to Germany; in one of the stores I visited, they had all kinds of scale size decorativeglass panels. They had mosaic, superheroes, flowers, religious figures and silhouettes; there was also one that looked exactly like President John F. Kennedy (I had read before my trip that he made a trip up there coining the phrase ‘’ich bin ein berliner’’.

Ever since I got back to my hometown, I have tried to incorporate that wonderful decorative concept into my house. What I did was basically contact local shops to see if they had those same kinds of products. 

Some said they had heard of them and some did not have them or weren’t aware of their existence for that matter; but one company did know about decorative glass panels and they told me they could make them shift shape to pretty much anything. I was very pleased with that answer and had them install about 5 panels on my living room. After that, the sun was reflected in such a different way, almost like the shaped and colored crystal was now a prism reflecting the magic of the sunlight. It’s really breathtaking to see those things.

My houseguests thought so, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome. It gave my home an instant esthetic pick-me-up and it wasn’t so costly to have them installed. I have actually recommended that same design concept to many friends who have given me compliments on my decorative glass panels. They really catch your eye. Next step for me was to have some lamps made of the same material and then some ornaments like ‘’Faberge’’ eggs, vases, and sculptures. I just hope an earthquake doesn’t happen soon for the sake of my décor.

My Tempered Glass Office Door

I have always been the kind of girl who is crazy about interior design. Just to illustrate, I probably have more blogs and stores’ newsletter subscriptions that I can count with both hands; so naturally, when the time came to choose specifics for my first office, I made several adjustments to what was ‘’pitched’’ to me by the remodeling crew. First, I went with a white couch, a long arm lamp, metallic structures for bookshelves, my desk and a few black & white New York City photographs on the walls. There is something about New York City’s skyline, its vibe is so contagious, every time I see it, it just gets me going.

Now, at last came the time to make a choice on the door! I have seen all kinds of doors, mostly on TV, from bamboo curtains, to thick wooden doors and a personal favorite, tempered glass. I went with tempered glass doors because I really like the way they looked, regular crystal somehow seems too fragile and I of course am a tough woman trying to stand out above the wolf pack! (I’m the only girl in a floor of 20) A stronger looking entrance to my space seemed to help with that image.

After a while waltzing through that door every day, I had come to love it so much that I decided to call a local company to have my own bathroom’s curtains replaced for  tempered glass shower doors. The material looked great even in my less luxurious apartment. There was something else that caught my attention about the tempered glass doors in my bathroom. Before I used to feel like the vapor from the showerhead just suffocated me and if I adjusted the knob it would just get very cold so I stuck it out. With curtains gone, I felt that that vapor somehow escaped faster making my every morning ritual feel less like a sauna visit and much more like a refreshing shower.

I have recommended tempered glass to a lot of friends, not only for their offices but also for tables, shelves, lamps etc. I guess that’s the type of things you start talking about after a while, along with perhaps brunch eateries, farmer’s market deals and pottery barn. It’s all part of the circle of life (ok now I’m being a little too deep). All kidding aside, they are a very esthetically appealing and a very affordable substitute to curtains and wooden doors. I remember the salesman at the firm telling me you could play around with your door design, for example, you could have something inscribed on your tempered glass doors like your name or something else. He was a good salesman, I reward people like him by referring new business casually.