|
|
|
Weathered doors and windows
This simple distressed
finish evokes time worn comfort and easy living.
A perfect decorative paint finish to complement color-washed
walls.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A rustic door in Provence with sun faded
painted doors and an inviting canopy.
|
|
Time worn doors, found in the Italian town
of Lucca, suggest stories from behind these aged
portals.
|
Simple doors set within stone and brick
are reminiscent of the days of Speak-easy's - and secret
wine vaults.
|
Hand-painted Delft tiles
The loose un-even quality of this faux technique
makes painted Delft tiles an ideal decorative effect for the beginner or
inexperienced do-it-yourselfer.
Irregular lines and hand
painted renderings add character and old world charm, easily
achieved without any prior painting experience.
more decorative treatments
|
|
By Juliette Guilbert
|
|
Dutch Colonial Architecture with diagonal paned windows
Windows do much more than simply
admit light and air to a room.
They can be utilitarian or
decorative, countrified or
classic, formal or
rustic, shuttered or elaborately
draped. Windows can be a
purely practical matter, but they
can also dramatically alter our
experience of interior and
exterior space.
Although
the Romans used cast glass windows in
important buildings as early as 100 AD,
glazing was a great luxury until the late
Middle Ages.
|
|
 |
 |
Blown-glass,
leaded panes were reserved for cathedrals and
palaces, set in massive stone arches that reached
heavenward like the Gothic spires that surrounded
them. Ordinary windows were simply shuttered
against the weather or barred against hostile
force.
|
|
Leaded
pane windows offered soft, diffused light, as well
as protection from the elements.
|
As
the medieval era drew to a close, glass windows
became more widespread.
An increasing number of public buildings, inns and
the homes of the wealthy were fitted with
decorative, often colored glass depicting
historical scenes and coats of arms. |
|
 Windows
set in stone
in Tuscany, Italy
Visit Tuscan Style
now
|
Sun bleached
shutters
in Provence, France
Visit French
Country Style now |
|
Eventually,
of course, glass was installed in the windows of
even the most modest European houses. A
double casement set in Tuscan stone, sun-bleached
shutters in Provence -- these small, timeworn
windows have framed centuries of everyday life.
Their weathered, ancient look is nicely offset by
ephemeral ornamentation like a flowerpot or
delicate lace curtains.
|
|
Period
and Historical Styles
|
|
|
Colonial
simple, double framed windows
Shutters for blustery days
The
regional and period styles of the New World are
often a simple, but nonetheless visually
appealing, response to the natural environment.
Sturdy shutters protected against colonial New
England winters.
visit
Colonial
Style now
|
|
Southwest
Burlap
curtains shade a rustic, sun-drenched Southwestern bathroom. |
New Orleans Style
New
Orleans adorns a down-home crab shack with graceful six-over-six
panes, shaded, of course, by a porch overhang.
visit New
Orleans
Style now |
|
Toward
the end of the nineteenth century, architects
began to reassemble Old World window forms with
striking results.
|
|
Victorian
Grand,
elaborately detailed Victorian arches in colored glass have a
pre-Raphaelite feeling.
visit
Victorian
Style
now |
San Francisco
San
Francisco jumbles ornate baroque and classical elements for an
eclectic, colorful prettiness. |
|
|
|
Sometimes,
a new approach to design emerges in the treatment
of a window. The geometric forms and wide
sash windows of an Arts and
Crafts bungalow create light, airy interior
space as well as a striking facade.
Arts & Crafts - Bungalow Style
Sash windows, geometric forms
And
the crazily tilted, quirkily adorned frame at
bottom abandons the "rules" of design
altogether, making the humble window an expression
of individualistic flair.
|
|
|
| |
