Make Your Historic Fort Worth Storefront More Authentic With Stained Glass

As an owner of a historic storefront property here in Fort Worth and want to update it while maintaining its original character, the department of the interior has some sage advice.

According to the NPS website you should

1. Become familiar with the style

2. Preserve the storefront’s character 

3. Avoid the use of materials that were unavailable when the storefront was constructed

4. Choose paint colors based on the building’s historical appearance.

Along this vein is the adding stained glass to your storefront window is a way to accomplish a number of things–beauty and authenticity.  This is because commercial establishments in the 18th and early 19th centuries were typically on the ground floor of buildings.  This made it difficult for retail establishments to stand out from their residential neighbors. Commercial spaces began implementing large bay or oriel windows made up of numerous small panes of glass set the shops apart from their residential neighbors.  In the early 20th century the use of decorative stained glass transom windows set off a trend of displaying the presence of a commercial/retail space. Therefore, using this same glass today in your historic storefront is about as authentic as it gets. 

Stained Glass Styles That Work Well For Historic Storefronts

Which style of stained glass you use for you Fort Worth historic storefront is really up to you–and there are a lot of styles to choose from.  However, in order to preserve the authenticity of your store’s appearance you may want to go with a stained glass style that was popular around the time your historic structure.  Below are some suggestions

For stores built in the 1800s:  Victorian Style Stained Glass, Gothic Style Stained Glass, Mackintosh Style Stained Glass

For stores built in the early 1900s:  Greene and Greene Style Stained Glass,  Art Nouveau Style Stained Glass,

For historic buildings built in the early-mid 1900s: Prairie Style Stained Glass, Art Deco Style Stained Glass.

Of course, this all depends on the look of your entire building and the theme of your store but keeping things as close to they may have been back in the day is always a wonderful touch.

To learn more about a stained glass style that may work wonderfully on your historic Fort Worth building–retail or otherwise– contact us at Scottish Stained Glass in Fort Worth today!