09 September 2009

Have you seen back-painted glass?







I had a conversation over the weekend with someone who couldn't decide on a back splash material. Her kitchen's beautiful, and modern. It's a symphony of horizontal planes and sleek surfaces. I love it. Despite my growing reputation as the mosaic guy, when I first saw the space a mosaic isn't what popped into my head. Instead of a mosaic, I suggested that she consider sheets of back-painted glass.



Back-painted glass is exactly what it sounds like it would be. It's a sheet of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" or 3/4" thick clear glass. The back of the glass is painted and then baked on. As a result, you look through a layer of clear glass at a color in the back. It's a terrific effect, the color appears to float.



Glass comes in 130" x 84" sheets so it's very possible to cover whole areas with seamless glass. Sometimes, back-painted glass gets installed as smaller panels, but that's almost always an aesthetic call.



The photos scattered across this post are from Soda Glass, a northern California coated glass manufacturer. They have retailers in San Francisco and in Sacramento. Other manufacturers and suppliers across the US, Canada and Europe are plentiful. Nothing else looks or behaves like this material. I cannot for the life of me imagine it in anything but a really minimalist setting. Am I wrong?








9 comments:

  1. Oh I just absolutely love these! Thank you for sharing!!!! :))))

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  2. My pleasure Marie, thanks for stopping by. It's some pretty cool stuff. It looks amazing when it's cut into tiles as well.

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  3. I'm hoping to do this when we remodel. I got the idea from a real-life remodel article I read. the couple painted the wall, not the glass, and then put up a sheet of glass that had tiny metal wires woven into it. can't remember what it was called, but very cool effect. PS: love your blog!

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  4. Thanks Laura and thanks for stopping in. I like the idea you're describing and I love to see some images of it. I hope it was a perfectly flat wall! The idea of wire-enforced safety glass is intriguing to say the least. It sounds great.

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  5. ok, so totally had to find the article and of course I couldn't! grrr. I did find a link to one of their pics. I know this is it because I remember the cabinet turned sideways. can you make out the safety glass pattern?

    http://www.hgtv.com/kitchens/cost-cutting-kitchen-remodeling-ideas/pictures/page-10.html

    it was a show about homes built real inexpensively. ughh. I'll remember at 4am for sure. :)

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  6. Hah hah! I'm the same way, I get something lodged in my brain and I HAVE to track it down. Thanks for finding that laura. I can see the safety glass, but this is definitely one I'd have to see in real life. I'm just curious to see how they dealt with uneven walls and gaps around the glass. Cool idea though, really cool. When you do this in your home, be sure to send me photos!

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  8. STOP SPAMMING MY COMMENTS. NOW.

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