Glass has always fascinated us - beads, bottles, bangles, tableware, stained glass...they've always been popular, all over the world, down the ages. By the year 1200 Venice had become the centre for some of the most exquisite glassware the world had ever seen. It was the Venetians too, who perfected "crystal" glass, which was absolutely transparent and colourless, without a ripple or a blemish. In our part of the world, the Mughals too had a fascination for coloured glass, which they used to great effect.

The present generation of home decorators can't get enough of it too. Glass is hot - and they're literally playing with it in every which way. The colour, texture, form and function of glass lends itself today to table-tops, partitions and screens, bedsteads, kitchen surfaces, bathroom accessories…or it is simply displayed in a variety of pretty or elegant objects. Whichever way it is used, the play of glass and light combine to make magic.

Sonali Bhandari of Westside says that though clear glass and crystal will always be around, coloured glass is the pick of the season, this summer. "It's younger, trendier and in-sync with global decorating trends. You find glass in stunning colours and innovative shapes, making it perfect for bright contemporary spaces," she explains. The coloured glass repertoire that a lot of stores are carrying today ranges from traditional bottles, vases, candle stands and bowls to elaborate sculpture.

Manufacturers too, are simply rising to the occasion, providing frosted, wavy, bubbled, seeded, coloured, stained glass. Contemporary trends in the making of coloured glassware reveal a great blend of innovation and a fidelity to superb traditional glass-making techniques. Glass designers are having a field day expressing themselves through the imagery of glass.

To meet the demand for unusual home décor, coloured glass is today available in a huge range of colours too: cameo, ruby, opaline, amberina, aventurine, Bristol blue, bloom, cranberry, peach, mint green, orange, ochre, aquamarine, turquoise, copper, bronze…there's just so much to choose from, to suit your tastes and the effect that you want to create.

Ravina Bithar, a home design consultant, says that earlier our coffee tables used to be decorated with silver objects; this was then replaced with crystal, and now coloured glass curios are grabbing center space. Ravina swears by Swedish Orrefors coloured glass accessories, which come in exquisite colours. "Place them on window-sills and under lamps so that they catch the light," she advises.

Rajesh Jain of Jain & Co. prefers Sabina Glass from Poland. "It is handcrafted and each piece is in a unique hue and design," he points out. With an extensive colour palette and designs that vary from the realistic to the abstract and surreal, there's something to suit just about every taste, he says.

So think coloured glass this season - it's bright, vibrant, and yet timelessly elegant too.

Jain & Co., Shastri Apartments, Moledina Road, Pune - 4110 01, Phone: 26133672.

Westside, 1B, Moledina Road Camp, Pune - 4110 01, Phone: 2611 9920, 2611 9395, 2611 9396, E-mail: westside5@trent-tata.com.

Ritika Ramtri Kumar