A Closer Look At Kitchen Cabinets with Stained Glass

¡°No Rules¡± is Latest Decorating Trend 

Trendsetters pride themselves on having the latest and greatest before other people have ever heard of it. They buy a new wardrobe every season, snapping up hip and of-the-moment clothes which they just as quickly relegate to the back of the closet when the fashion winds change.

In the same way, trendsetters are constantly reinventing their homes, trying out new paint colors, slipcovers for the furniture and cutting edge accessories. The bad news for these trend junkies is that the latest decorating trend is no trend at all. Instead, interior designers are embracing the ¡°no rules¡± school of decorating. In other words, trust your instincts and decorate your home in a way that fits your personality instead of in a way that looks good on the pages of a magazine.

¡°The biggest shift we¡¯ve seen in our business is a move to a more eclectic sensibility,¡± says Michael Cassidy, president of Stained Glass Overlay (SGO), a company specializing in custom art glass pieces. ¡°Our customers want to make a statement with their designs, to express their individuality,¡± he says. Thanks to technological advances, art glass designs can be used to add a unique, custom touch in unconventional places.

Cassidy¡¯s company uses a process that is lighter in weight and more structurally sound than traditional stained glass, while being indistinguishable in appearance. Homeowners can add stained glass to their kitchen cabinets, windows, ceiling light panels, sliding glass doors and more. Cassidy points out that although customers may use his company¡¯s product to dress up a shower stall or create privacy, what they¡¯re really buying is a piece of commissioned original art.

Every piece of stained glass overlay is personalized according to the homeowner¡¯s wishes. The designs can be customized to match the colors of their wallpaper, tile patterns and other elements in a room¡¯s décor. ¡°Each project is hand crafted, and the artisans at SGO work closely with homeowners to achieve the look they desire,¡± says Cassidy.

The company¡¯s designers have an extensive library of custom work completed over the years and are trained to offer suggestions and provide valuable tips on which design and colors are best suited to various uses.

In order to allow the art to be even more customized, SGO recently introduced a number of new color choices. Pantone, a leader in predicting color trends, forecasts that throughout 2004, diversity and individuality will dictate the color direction, with tones that seek to evoke feelings of beauty, honesty, familiarity, constancy and balance. Neutrals will be popular for 2004, but so will deep, primal shades; blues; and bright colors in fun, ¡®60s shades.

¡°We want to give customers these options and more,¡± says Cassidy. The new color palette includes three shades of blue; neutrals such as pale yellow and stone; and stronger colors like Alpine Green and Dusty Orange.

¡°Your home should be an extension of your personality,¡± says Cassidy. ¡°It should be a place you look forward to returning to at the end of the day, a place that relaxes and rejuvenates you.¡± So leave the trends behind and decorate your home with what pleases you.

Stained Glass Overlay serves customers with more than 300 locations in over 30 countries, including 150 studios in North America. For more information on finding the nearest designer, or to find out about franchise opportunities, visit www.stainedglassoverlay.com or call (800) 944-4746.

Courtesy of ARA Content