Colored glass

One of today’s hottest design trends is colored glass. One of my favorite things is hand-blown glass, which is also usually colored. If you ever have the chance to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle (next to the Space Needle) or one of his traveling exhibits (like at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, AZ) I highly recommend you go. Dale Chihuly’s vision and execution of blown and colored glass is truly exceptional, and absolutely beautiful to behold.

Photo courtesy of the Desert Botanical Gardens

There are so many ways to enjoy the beauty of colored glass today, from exquisite, yet fragile, hand-blown wine glasses, vases, and bongs to acrylic colored glasses you can sip poolside. There is no shortage of options this season to use and show off your love of this stunning design trend. Here’s a few that I really love.

Hand blown glass

Hand blown glass in my opinion is the finest example of colored glass. If you’ve ever had the chance to watch hand-blown glass objects being made, it’s an amamzing sight. The glass is so hot it turns to liquid and flows like lava. The artist turns this dangerous, yet fragile molten glass into unlimited shapes in unlimited colors; some strictly for beauty, others into functional forms. One very popular maker of hand-blown glass objects is Estelle Colored Glass. Estelle Colored Glass is a luxury brand of hand-blown colored glass cake stands and stemware in a mix of jewel tones and soft pastels. The Estelle Colored Glass collection is comprised of original commissioned pieces made by glass artisans in Poland at a glass making company with a rich 100-plus-year-old history. Estelle Colored Glass pieces are best described as “jewels for your table.”

And speaking of function, I was lucky enough to purchase one of the these hand-blown glass bongs from My Bud Vase (I love this comapany!) before they sold out. As I’ve mentioned, I rarely smoke flower, but I could not resist the beauty of this piece and display it proudly in my home. I love to watch the expression on my guests’ faces when they first view my beautiful display of artistic paraphernalia. Historically, flower use has been something that needed to be hidden. But as legal use spreads across the United States, more and more products are coming available that are beautiful and meant to be displayed, just like any other chotchkie in your home. This also provides an opportunity to answer questions your guests may have about flower, which helps end stigma and prejudices that still exist surrounding its use.

Colored and cut glass

If you want to enjoy the beauty of colored glass, at a fraction of the cost of hand-blown glass, there are plenty of options available. A great place to find colored and cut glass pieces is at antique markets. Colored glass was equally popular in the middle of the last century and you can find beautiful and affordable examples from this era at flea markets and antique stores. If you want something new, all major home retailers have plenty to choose from, since the popularity of this design trend doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon.

Image courtesy of West Elm

Image courtesy of My Bud Vase

Image courtesy of Pottery Barn

Acrylic

Summer is fast approaching which means more time poolside. It’s dangerous to use real glass by this pool. Broken glass can be almost impossible to see if it falls in the pool and no one wants to step on a piece of broken glass with their bare feet. But acrylic glasses imitate the beauty of real glass with reduced risk of breaking or injury. I found a lot of great colored acrylic pieces (like the ones shown below) at Home Goods. Acrylic is very inexpensive so you can splurge on multiple pieces for parties and sipping poolside with friends.