Back Painted Glass Backsplash
If you open a design magazine or visit websites like Houzz or Pinterest, you can’t miss the sleek backsplashes made of all glass. Back painted glass for a kitchen backsplash is not only sleek and beautiful, it is probably the most functional of all the backsplash options. With a seamless piece of glass, you can make a contemporary design statement and never have a grout line to clean again.
Builders Glass of Bonita, Inc. leads the industry in custom glass designs and installations. Two years ago, we were the first to offer custom back painted glass for backsplashes and walls. Today we remain the only Glass Company in Naples, Bonita Springs and all across South West Florida to offer Custom Color Matched Glass Backsplashes. From design, color selection, template, fabrication, and most importantly the painting, is all done in-house! The final installation is completed in your house, by our team of Glass Artisans.
We love back painted glass and the endless possibilities it can be used for. We are excited the design industry has made Glass one of the most sought-after options for the modern house.
How did we become the only Glass Company that offers back painted glass produced ‘in-house’?
I remember the first time I was introduced to back painted glass over 10 years ago. A sales rep brought in a small sample of white back painted glass. I thought it was sleek and contemporary, and I loved it. I immediately ordered a whole sheet to cover the walls of one of our office spaces. The quick project turned out great and the wall was quite useful in our business. We often had it covered in dry erase marker with notes and project reminders written directly on it. That was back in 2006. The white glass was manufactured by Dreamwalls, and they later added a few more colors to their offerings. The true white from Dream Walls has been a popular seller, in recent years. In fact, we always keep it in stock at Builders Glass of Bonita, Inc.
Why Painted Glass?
In the last few years, back painted glass has become the ‘it’ material of choice amongst the forward-thinking designers. The color options grew, but were still limited to a small selection of factory-made colors. Clients started requesting custom colors and were never satisfied with the standard options.
This beautiful blue color is not one you will find in a Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore Fan Deck. This color has a story behind it for us, and more importantly for our happy client. During our design consultation, the clients brought in a photo of the beach and sky from their recent vacation. They circled an area in the horizon and asked if I could make the paint match that part of the Sky. I thought it might take a few tries, but told them we would find it. The first sample was made and instantly accepted by the clients. What a unique way to incorporate your treasured memories into your home!
The hood range is installed over the 8′ ft tall painted glass. A total of nine holes of various sizes had to be fabricated in the glass prior to tempering.
I started to experiment with painting glass over six years ago. I wish I could say I predicted the explosion in demand for back painted glass, I definitely did not. My first painted backsplash came about as I was trying to create a unique backsplash in my own home. I was getting sick of the small mosaic tiles that were trendy when I built the house, and I didn’t want to go through the hassle of ripping them out. I knew with glass, I could simply put it on the tile. I became the guinea pig. It came out beautifully. In hindsight, it was a bit of luck. Over the years I continued to test different paint and application techniques. This went on for years before we came to the process we use in-house today.
Undoubtedly, our process will continue to evolve. We have installed many pieces over 8′ tall, with precisely drilled holes to accommodate the installation of the range hood. We knew these large pieces, with all the fabrication required, and handling to install needed to be heat treated. These larger pieces of glass are cut, fabricated and polished, then sent to tempering. The tempering prevents any possibility of a heat or stress crack from the heat of the range. It also toughens the glass to ensure it can handle the weight of the range hood. After tempering, the glass is ready for paint. The final critical step is done in house by a trained artisan. We can control the conditions for dust, humidity and other variables to ensure the finished product is flawless.
Further staying ahead of the industry, we were not satisfied with the look of the sleek glass being disrupted by an electrical cover plate of a different material. Ideally, we recommend pre-planning for your glass backsplash by integrating your electrical into the base of your cabinets. The uninterrupted glass is so beautiful you might even give up coffee and the coffee maker on the counter. For applications with cutouts needed for outlets we knew they had to match the glass. After testing a few ways to achieve this, we ultimately created our very own. Custom-matched, real glass cover plates. The glass seamlessly blends and your electrical outlets virtually disappear into your custom backsplash. The process is very tedious and they must be made with great care, but seeing the final look makes it well worth it.
Designing, color matching, fabricating, and painting, is all done in-house. This type of installation is highly custom. Our team of glass artisans takes great pride in each custom backsplash they do. Each custom painted glass project we do becomes a part of our always growing showroom display. As each project is finished, We proudly add a 12″ x12″ piece to the showroom floor collection. Our clients have chosen some beautiful colors. We have had clients intend to pick a color of their own, struggling with the task of choosing one color out of the thousands available. They visit the showroom and end up selecting a color from our collection of past projects. The popular colors of 2016 and 17 were grey, blue/turquoise, and warm creams.
Painted glass isn’t just for kitchen backsplashes. There are so many uses for painted glass, only limited by your imagination. You can visit this blog post for more ideas!
We answer more of your questions in our post, Back Painted Glass, Your Questions Answered.
We recommend scheduling an appointment in our showroom to go over the options and process. You will be inspired by the many ways you can use back painted glass in your home!