Picking the right stained glass door can be essential to your happiness. After all, you don’t want a door that you don’t find attractive because you’ll be unhappy with it every single day that you walk through it for the rest of your time in that particular house!

So what are your options when it comes to picking these kinds of doors? Do you have to buy them ready made or can you get them custom designed? Or can you do them yourselves? The answer to each of those questions is a resounding, YES!

Many people buy them ready made. You simply go to a door design company and look through their catalog. Many of these companies have so many options that you may be a bit baffled at first. Take your time and pick out a door that you really love. There’s no rush! If possible, look at actual doors that they may have on location to get a feel for the doors that you can relate to the pictures in the catalog. Many door firms will be able to point you towards houses in the area that they have sold doors for in the past and you can drive past them and see (at least, see the front door!).

Another option is to have your door custom designed. Many door firms can do this for you, creating the exact door that you want in the exact stained glass or leaded glass pattern that you want. Sometimes you will give them an idea that you have yourself, other times you will simply tell them that you want a custom design and their artists will go to work and come up with something on their own.

Another option is to go to a glass works company. These companies don’t build doors, they just do the glass work. Think of them as purely artists. Many times they they will ship their finished glass work to a door company who will them place the glass in a door of your choosing. Sometimes glass work shops will simply deliver the glass to you! Make sure you find out the glass works exact procedures when it comes to this sort of thing before hand because you don’t want to wake up one day to a big slab of delicate glass on your front porch!

When it comes to glass work companies, the same general thing applies as with door companies. They will have catalogs of their work that you can choose from, and they will also probably offer custom designs as well. The better you can communicate with the glass workers, the more happy you are ultimately going to be with their work. Be as specific as you can when describing what you are looking for. They are used to it! You won’t look pushy at all. After all, you are the one that has to live with the final product for years to come, so you had better be happy with it!

Finally, quickly, yes it is possible to make your own stained glass as well. There are a number of do it yourself options, from kits to simple instructions. You will need glass cutters, bits of colored glass, and probably the ability to solder came together. If you are particularly artistic, then this may be the way for you to go. It can be pretty fun if you are so inclined. If you aren’t artistic or do it yourself, then you may just want someone else to do this work for you, or buy ready made.

Whatever you end up choosing, one thing is for sure; and that is stained glass doors are a wonderful investment in beauty that is sure to bring you many years of enjoyment and raise your property value, or at least the curb appeal of your home!

An why focus only on your front door? These doors are great for many interior doors in your house as well. Don’t believe me? How about one for the library or study? Why not put one into your home office? They are great for closing an area off yet making it feel that it is still open and airy. Today I’m going to talk about these great doors in a lot of detail and hopefully you will be able to find everything you need to help you make a final decision.

Leaded glass door options when it comes to these one of a kind doors, you have an almost infinite option. For the most part on this page I’m going to assume that you are in the process of building a new house, or are planning to do so. Tell your contractor right away that you are interested in this sort of door because it may take some time to find the right one for you. Each door is different, and you should think about it as a piece of art. You wouldn’t buy a piece of art that you didn’t love, and so you shouldn’t buy a leaded glass door that you don’t love as well.

This can mean shopping around, and finding just the right company for you to either custom design one, or offer you a large catalog from which to choose from. Most door companies can ship anywhere within the United States and some can ship abroad, so location shouldn’t be a huge priority here.

Custom or Stock, that is the question: I’m of two minds on the question of whether you should go with a custom piece or a stock piece. On one hand, I like the idea that my door is completely original. On the other hand, I’m a little apprehensive that the piece I get will look bad. With a stock piece, I know exactly what I’m getting before hand and so I have a fairly sure bet that I am going to like it. Deciding between these two options is something that you will have to do on your own based on your specific preferences, and there’s not much more I can advise on this subject for you.

Does It Add Value? Yes! These door add tremendous curb appeal to your home, thus giving it added value far in excess of the mere cost that you can expect to have to pay.

Be Careful About This: Some glass companies think of themselves as only glass workers, not carpenters. If this is the case, they may merely provide you with the glass, leaving you to scramble to find a door to put it in! Stay away with the sort of arrangement if at all possible because you want a turnkey solution so that you get a finished door to install right into your door.

Adding leaded glass doors to your home is an investment that you will cherish for years and years to come. There is nothing more relaxing then walking up your front walk everyday to be greeted by the sight of a work of art right there on your front door.

I’m going to talk about both of these methods in detail here today. Leaded glass windows bring style and elegance and any room of your house and they also have benefits to your furniture by filtering out some of sun’s harmful rays that can fade carpet and furniture and things like that. They can also raise the value of your home.

Do it yourself options do exist: not only does do it yourself options exist, but they’re actually much easier and even much cheaper than you might think. The most important part of the project is the pattern that you would like to put on the window. When starting out for your first project I recommend you use patterns with straight lines as they will be much easier to work with until you get the hang of things. Once you get a pattern that you like, cut the pieces out of it with scissors and be sure to cut enough space around each piece of the pattern so that you can put the lead and solder on successfully.

Next you need to get a hold of some bits of colored glass that you can find in any hobby store and probably even in a regular hardware store or glass shop. Make sure each piece of glass is clean, you may have to clean them before hand. Simply trace your pattern pieces onto the pieces of glass that you have selected. Once all the pieces have been traced, cut the shapes out with a glass cutter.

Now some people like to number the pieces of glass and use little arrows and things like that so that you know exactly where to place them on the window. I don’t find that this is necessary because I usually have a colored picture that I’m basing my design off of any way, and I can usually just refer back to it if I get lost along the way. But to each his own and if numbering your little glass pieces helps, then by all means go for it!

From here on out it’s just a matter of fitting the pieces together and soldering the whole thing up which can be difficult work but it gets easier the more you do it, I guess like everything else in life!

If doing it yourself is not your thing then I suggest you purchase your stained-glass panels directly from the store. There are a number of ways you can do this. You can purchase directly from a manufacturer or you can have them custom designed to fit specific windows in your house. Of course, the second method is more expensive than the first and both of them are more expensive than doing it yourself. But for those of us who aren’t artistically inclined, buying them ready made is usually the way to go. No matter what, one thing is for sure…and that is that leaded glass panels will really spruce up your place and give you years and years of enjoyment.

Today I’m going to talk about leaded stained-glass windows in a fair amount of detail. I’ll talk about different kinds of windows, touch on installation, discuss some of the benefits, and try to hit on pricing so that you have some sense of what you can expect to pay for something like this and also try to touch on where you can go to find a good deal.

Benefits of your new windows when you think of stained-glass windows you think of them for their inherent natural beauty, but there are other reasons to own them. For instance they let in the natural sunlight but at the same time give you privacy in a big way, which is more and more important today. Regular drapes and blinds give you some privacy sure, but they don’t compare to stained-glass privacy if you know what I mean!

They also help protect the things in your home such as art or carpet or fancy furniture. How you might ask? Well, they filter out a large percentage of harmful sunlight, and that sunlight can damage artwork, fade furniture, and also fade wood and carpet in your room. They’re also good for transforming a bad view into something beautiful. We’ve all had windows that face out onto, let’s say, less than beautiful scenes. Now you can make those views disappear!

And It’s Not Just For Inside sure they can transform any room in your house to a work of art, but many people fail to realize that they look amazing from the outside of your house as well… adding immediate curb appeal to your home and hopefully increasing its value dramatically.

Can you make your own windows? the short answer is yes! Of course this will depend on just how artistic you are; but generally speaking it is possible. There are basically two methods that you may use; one is the leaded method and the other is the copper foil method. The main difference between these two methods is that in the leaded method you have to start putting it together from the top corner of the window piecing each piece together from there; whereas in the copper foil method you can start placing your pieces together in any fashion from anywhere on the window. The actual construction is fairly simple but I’m not going to get into it in a greater detail today because you can find this information all over the Internet.

What about prices? this is a tricky subject because it will depend on the size of your window and other factors as well. Custom made windows in my opinion are the way to go, but they have an additional expense. You’re not just buying a window here but a work of art that is beautifully handcrafted and therefore often much more expensive than you may think. But at the same time you can find deals if you look around a little bit.

However you choose to go, ready built for custom-made, I have no doubt that you will enjoy your leaded stained glass window for many many years to come. There’s just something about them that you can hardly put into words but you feel it every time you walk past it, and that’s worth quite a bit.

Also I’ll spend just a minute or two talking about faux stained glass options for those of you who may not want to jump right into full-on windows, these do it yourself methods can create a fairly nice effect with no money, or I should say little money, and just a little bit of effort. So let’s get into it is!

A quick history lesson before we go on: your normal glass window, or glass just about anything, has lots of calcium in it. Lead glass replaces that calcium with lead to the tune of 20% to 35% mole units. The mole unit is just a measurement unit that’s not real important to understand. This lead increases the glass’s refractive index and lowers is working temperature as well as its viscosity. This makes the material really dense which gives it that sort of murky look. Lead has a high at atomic weight which makes it more dense.

We’ve found (and by we, I mean archaeologists and scientists) lead additives all the way back in Mesopotamia which is the cradle of civilization as far back as 1400 BC. A recipe for lead glaze was found in Babylonia on a tablet in 1700 BC! We’ve also found examples of lead glass all the way back in early Han China around 206 BC to 220 AD. They used to use it to imitate Jade. We think that the technology was brought along the Silk Road by glass workers from the Middle East into the West. Monks used it in Western Europe during medieval times for the stained glass of their monasteries and churches. Then between 1618 and 1681 a guy by the name of George Ravenscroft began producing it on a mass scale throughout Europe especially in Italy… and the rest is history.

Enough history, let’s talk about price! If you want the beautiful look of leaded glass or stained glass, without the price and the hassle of actually buying some… then you can do this simple do it yourself method that is fairly inexpensive and has a really nice look to it. First just take a cardboard box and cut it up into a pattern that you would like to see on your window. I suggest you get some ideas from magazines or catalogs as to the exact look you want to create on the window. Tape the cardboard cutout onto the window.

Next place self-adhesive lead strips that you’ve bought from the store onto the window along the pattern that you’ve cut out of the cardboard box. When sticking the lead strips onto the window, be sure to use more than you need, you can go back when you’re finished and cut off the excess with a utility knife. Clean the windows like you normally would, you don’t have to do anything special because of the lead strips that you’ve installed.

This is a great way to create the look and feel of a leaded glass window without the expense normally associated with it. This effect should last for many years to come leading to a good deal of enjoyment for yourself anybody else who happens by. Check out the rest of the site for more details on purchasing leaded glass.