The Process of Custom Design
The thought of a custom stained glass piece thrills most people. The thought of where to begin intimidates just as many! The following is a step-by-step walk through of the process. As you will see, it's easy!
Location, location, location...
Deciding where to put a stained glass piece is usually the easiest part. You probably already have a place in mind. It might be a transom over your front door, perhaps sidelights or a bathroom window. In this example, the customer had an octagonal bonus room window high on one wall. The position of the window allowed the sun to come bursting through the small window for most of the day. The customer wanted something to diffuse the bright spotlight appearance in the room.
What's your style?
The customer knew she wanted something simple, maybe something geometric. We began by looking through design pattern books to narrow down the styles she prefered. Once a few designs were identified, we moved on to color.
Using glass samples I brought to her home, she was able to view the actual glass in the room giving her the added advantage of knowing that the colors would match the room. This customer picked three glasses she liked, but was unsure of which configuration she wanted them displayed.
Framing and installation options were also discussed at this meeting.
Using glass design software, I designed two windows that reflected the styles she prefered. I then took the three colors she chose and represented them in different configurations.
The graphic on the left represents what was presented to the customer as her choices.
An Estimate of Cost...
The cost of a custom commission is two-fold. There is a base price of $60 per square foot (for the overall finished size), plus $4 per individual piece in the pattern for designs I develop from scratch. The per piece price for existing designs is $3.50.
For example... The finished project shown here was 1.76 square feet (x $60 = $105.60) plus 21 pieces of an existing design (x $3.50 = $73.50) making it a total price of $179.10.
DELIVERY!
Once your piece is finished I will contact you to set up a time to deliver and install. (A small installation charge will be charged depending on the location and size of the piece. Installation charges will be provided with the original estimate.)
This piece was built with a small white wooden frame surrounding the glass. It was then slid into the existing window opening and secured. This will allow the customer to remove the piece if they ever move, they can take the piece with them. (This is the preferred method for most customers.)