Glass shelves on the wall can be attached to almost any room in an apartment or house. They would also be appropriate in the kitchen to arrange spices or put on the TV.
They will come in handy in the bathroom - you need somewhere to place cosmetics and washing supplies. You can put gloves and hats on them in the hallway, and books in the living room or bedroom.
The main difficulty is to make glass shelves on the wall in the interior look good and not ruin the overall decoration.
Advantages of glass shelves
Glass shelves have a number of advantages over others:
- Beauty. Glass is perhaps one of the most unusual and interesting interior materials in general. It looks simply chic and never goes out of style.
- Relevance. Glass fits perfectly into both modern and classic styles - the only question is what materials to combine it with.
- Reliability. If you don't hit the glass with a hammer, it will hang on the wall for many years.
- Easy to clean. The glass can simply be wiped with a dry cloth from time to time.
You should not buy fragile sheet glass - it will quickly become unusable and can also break into many sharp fragments. It would be much smarter to make a shelf from plexiglass, tempered glass or, if the budget does not allow, from acrylic.
It is also worth remembering that in those rare cases when general cleaning is required, you need to use special products to clean the shelves that do not leave streaks.
Qualitative characteristics
The perfectly smooth and moisture-resistant surface of the glass shelves, coupled with a thoughtful fastening method, ensures safety of use and ease of maintenance. Tempered glass, recommended for use in interiors, does not change its aesthetic qualities over time, is not subject to mechanical wear, and when broken, breaks into small parts, eliminating injury.
Varieties and main characteristics
There are different options for shelves - first of all, they come in different thicknesses:
- thin, up to five millimeters, suitable exclusively for light souvenirs;
- medium, up to a centimeter, suitable for dishes and things of medium weight;
- thick, more than a centimeter, suitable for large bulky objects such as a TV or stereo system.
There are also different types of fastening:
- hanging ones are attached to the wall with chains or cables, which looks good in classic interiors, but is reliable only for thin shelves;
- fixed ones are mounted on brackets, the design of which can be quite fancy and perfectly complement the rest of the interior.
The holders can be forged or made of wood, with carvings or intricate curls, they can depict something or be a simple triangular shape.
The shelves themselves can also be of different shapes.
Rectangular glass shelves
Simplicity of shape, sharp or slightly rounded corners - rectangular shelves can be considered classic. They have no specific advantages other than this aesthetic nobility, but they do have a unique disadvantage - you can stumble into a sharp corner and get seriously injured.
If you have a child or animals in your home, take this into account in your design decisions and choose rounded corners. They will not spoil the overall appearance.
Color options
In photos of glass shelves, it is not always possible to distinguish tinting, which not only changes the reflection of light, but also creates tint or contrast pairs with the wall, holders or frames.
Colored glass with a slight transparency and a mirror effect, which was previously used mainly in the design of shops and other public places, is making its way into homes and apartments in the form of wall shelves.
Small-sized elements will allow you to enrich the interior with fashionable non-standard colors - red, crimson, lilac, yellow, orange, as well as all the rich variations of green and blue.
Corner designs
In small rooms, corner shelves will look much better. They are built into the corner, completely occupying it, and as a result seem light, almost weightless.
They take up almost no space, but they provide no less space than rectangular ones.
They are usually installed in bathrooms and tiny kitchenettes typical of Khrushchev-era buildings.
Variety of shapes
Shelf panels can be rectangular or square in shape with varying degrees of rounded corners. Glass corner shelves are produced in two configurations - triangular or radius. This material, just like plywood or wood, can be cut according to an irregularly shaped pattern, and in such projects glass looks most elegant.
Frame shelving can be assembled from perfectly round or oval-shaped modules. A special category is curved shelves, which, thanks to inclined surfaces, become not only convenient organizers, but also stylish decor.
Custom shaped glass shelves
Since glass is usually cast, there is a huge scope for non-standard shapes - you just need to make the appropriate design for casting.
It could be waves, a shell, a flower, a triangle, a cone, a blurry blot with curved outlines, a heart - in fact, anything.
The big minus is the price. The more original the shelf, the more expensive its production will be.
But, if your budget allows, you can order a shelf to your taste, according to your sketch. And get a real work of art that would look good at an exhibition.
Drawing
A shelf with a pattern - if you add lighting, it looks even more impressive
You can apply a drawing to a shelf in different ways:
- Stained glass. Perhaps the most obvious idea. Stained glass is made simply - pieces of colored glass are inserted into the frame and folded into a pattern. But pieces can fall out, and this is a big minus.
- Fusion This method is devoid of such fragility - the pieces of glass are not inserted into the frame, but are placed on a large piece of glass and baked in an oven. As a result, the color will remain bright, and the glass itself will become even stronger than before.
- Paints. Drawing with paints is also a pretty obvious idea. You can even decorate a shelf in this way with your own hands, if you are not afraid to use a brush and ruin the craft.
- Photo printing. If stained glass seems fragile to you, you don’t like fusion aesthetically, and you don’t know how to draw, you can simply print a photo you like on the shelf. The result will look great and cost very little.
- Engraving. If the drawing looked very stylish, you can engrave it on glass - it will have a beautiful shade, it will look original. The only negative is that the glass will become more fragile. The drawing itself can be made in any way. Flowers, patterns, waves, birds, butterflies, plant motifs, favorite characters for a children's room - everything that comes to mind.
The main thing is that shelves with a pattern are not suitable for bulky items. They cannot act as shelves for crystal or TV. You need to put something light on them, otherwise no pattern will be visible.
Matting
Colored matte shelves - you can choose the color to suit your taste
A glass shelf does not have to be transparent at all - it can also be matte. Most often this effect is achieved using sandblasting. A jet of sand is passed over the glass under pressure, and it becomes dull and dark.
You can also use etching - instead of sand, acid, the effect is similar, only there are bright streaks along the surface, reminiscent of lightning.
Frosted glass can be colored in different ways and be:
- colorless - this type is not very interesting, but it fits in everywhere;
- colored - and then the color can be anything, from white to black.
The main thing to remember is that no matter how high-quality the glass is, frosting will in any case make it more fragile.
Texture options
The most common methods of decorative glass processing (sandblasting, chemical, film) allow you to expand the choice of material. For horizontal surfaces, the most suitable option is multilayer options or specially treated matte shelves with a perfectly smooth surface. The range of glass modules is enriched by the use of stencils with geometric and floral patterns.
Toning
Tinting that perfectly matches the souvenirs on the shelf
If you want the shelves in your room to be dark, but not frosted, you can use tinted glass. It is stronger than other varieties, and looks no worse.
Glass shelves with wood
Wood is a frequent companion of glass. We can say that this is a classic. Glass shelves in a wooden bookcase, next to a wooden door, on a wooden shelf, on wooden brackets, in a wooden niche, on a wooden shelf - all this looks familiar and good.
Fits well into classic interiors. Serves for many years. Rarely breaks.
The main thing is to ensure that the wood matches the glass in shade if you decide to make it different from the standard transparent option. And do not use chipboard - it breaks down too quickly.
Brackets and profiles
A brushed strip of silver metal underneath the shelf can be the best neutral solution in any room. An alternative is decorative brackets with corner configurations that provide structural stability.
Shelving on a frame made of metal profiles is another option for stable fastening of glass panels, which can be used in niches and corner structures.
Illuminated structures
Every designer will agree that the right lighting is the best complement to any glass decorative element. Light makes glass sparkle and turns it into a real jewel. And most importantly, you don’t need any complicated equipment. Simply run the LED strip along the edge of the shelf.
It can be white, green, blue - in fact, any color. If this color matches the interior, the result will be beautiful in any case.
Mounting to a wall surface
For glass shelves, there are several types of shelf holders: special ones, as well as aluminum profiles. These glass shelf mounting options are functional and practical to use, but are installed differently.
In addition, the holder can be used for different thicknesses and sizes of glass, and the aluminum profile is used exclusively for a specific thickness.
Despite this disadvantage, there is a huge advantage. If necessary, an LED strip can be inserted into the profile for illumination and also illumination of the shelf.
Attaching holders for glass shelves is not difficult: one side is fixed to the wall surface, the second, which performs a decorative function, will subsequently hold the glass.
Do not forget that to install one shelf you will need several holders, the number of which depends on the loads and the length of the glass.
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Glass shelves with mirror
The mirror combines with glass shelves no worse than the lighting. It is usually wall-mounted, hung directly above the shelf, and the design, although not original, does have a touch of traditional chic.
On the shelf under the mirror you can place cosmetics, washing supplies, and a comb. You can look in the mirror.
The best solution for the entire structure is to place it somewhere in the bathroom or hallway so that you can clean yourself up in the morning.
It is interesting, by the way, that the glass shelves themselves can be mirrored.
Rooms where glass shelves are appropriate
The final touch is placement. Whatever shelf you end up with - wood or metal, patterned or matte, colored or transparent, thin or thick - it needs to find a place.
Traditional use
The glass shelf under the mirror, a familiar attribute of a bathroom set, is gradually losing its relevance. Glass still remains among the top moisture-resistant materials, but trends are changing the principles of shelf placement. 3-5-level combinations occupy a niche next to a ceramic bathtub and corner spaces.
Glass is often used as a stand for pots of indoor plants; see placement examples here. The green inhabitants of greenhouses and balconies, thanks to fashion trends, gradually moved from balcony greenhouses to bedrooms, offices, kitchens and living rooms. Designers are eagerly expanding the use of glass in all spaces with countertops and shelves that create interesting eclectic combinations with wood and metal.
Bathroom
The very first and most obvious thought is the bathroom. Any residential building requires that residents get up and wash in the morning, come home from work and wash their hands, and take a shower in the evening. And for this to become possible, there must be a space where you can put a glass of toothbrushes, soap and shampoos.
Shelves in the bathroom are usually either:
- corner, on a special plastic pipe so as not to take up much space - often this is the corner where the bathtub is installed;
- narrow rectangular, held on mounts under the mirror.
And if space allows, then you can hang shelves here and there.
Kitchen
In a small kitchen, glass shelves create a feeling of spaciousness, especially if the walls are painted a light color.
Kitchen glass shelves usually:
- support the TV - such a shelf in the corner, above the level of the furniture;
- support all kinds of tools and ingredients - and then serve as a replacement for wall cabinets.
It is important to remember that open shelves should not be hung right up to the ceiling, and it is also better to keep them away from the work area. Otherwise, your regular routine will include constantly cleaning them from grease and stains.
Visual effects
Frame sets of shelves for dishes can be an original solution for decorating a kitchen or balcony window with solid glazing. They essentially provide an obstruction to the view, but do not restrict the access to natural light. Shelves that fill niches or sections in partition or furniture walls visually expand the space or raise the ceilings, depending on the configuration of the opening.
Objects placed on open shelves attract the eye in all cases, but glass, unlike other materials, does not create a focusing frame; it also allows you to free yourself from the problem of alignment, since it demonstrates complementarity to any textures and colors.
Living room
Glass shelves in the living room are a great place to display souvenirs.
In the hall, hanging glass shelves are needed not so much for practical purposes, but to complement the interior and show that the owners have taste.
You can put decorative plates, photographs, souvenirs, icons, books or even a TV on them - as long as they generally look good.
Functional solutions
Glass is used where there should be no clutter. Such a rack with books, souvenirs and other small items can hang directly above an armchair and coffee table, or occupy space near large panels and paintings. In another option, glass shelves become a stylish addition to coffee tables, desks or dining tables, the horizontal surfaces of which are made of identical material.
