How does a custom stained glass window get designed?

A lot of people come to me thinking the design process works like an online order describe what you want, approve a sketch, receive a window. It's more collaborative than that, and I think the result is better for it. Here's exactly what happens between first contact and the start of the build on a custom stained glass commission in Toronto.

It Starts With the Home, Not a Sketch

Before I draw anything, I visit the space. I want to see the room the window will live in, the light it receives at different times of day, and the existing colours throughout the home walls, trim, doorknobs, hardware, flooring. I take photographs of all of it. Not just the window opening itself, but the whole space.

The reason is simple: a leaded glass window that looks beautiful on its own but clashes with its environment is a miss. I want to design something that feels like it belongs in your home that complements the architecture, the palette, and the character of the space rather than competing with it.

Presenting Ideas and Finding Direction

After the site visit, I come back with a few different design directions different styles, different levels of complexity, sometimes different moods and present them to the homeowner. You choose the direction that resonates most, and we refine from there. I send sketches, you give feedback, I drop more variations. We keep going until we land on something that feels exactly right.

There's no fixed number of rounds. The process continues until the design is something both of us believe in. I don't want to build a window I don't love, and I don't want to build one you don't love either.

Working With Client-Provided Inspiration

A lot of homeowners come to me with images a window they saw in a neighbour's home, a design from Pinterest, an AI-generated concept, something from a magazine. This is genuinely helpful. It tells me something real about your aesthetic and what you respond to.

That said, I don't replicate windows one-to-one. What works in someone else's home won't necessarily work in yours the light is different, the colours are different, the architecture is different. I use reference images as a starting point to understand your direction, not as a blueprint to copy. The goal is always a custom stained glass window designed specifically for your home.

Designing for Longevity, Not Just the Photo

One thing I push back on gently during the design process is the pull toward very bold, statement colour. Some of the most photographed stained glass windows are extremely vibrant deep reds, heavy cobalt, saturated greens. They look striking in photos. But in many of the Toronto homes I work in, especially older homes with warmer, earthier palettes, those colours stick out rather than complement.

My instinct is always to design something timeless. Colours that work with the home, that age well, that won't feel like a design trend in ten years. The best leaded glass windows are the ones that people stop noticing as a thing and start noticing as light because they belong so completely in the space.

Choosing Glass Colours and Textures

By now I've been making leaded glass windows long enough to have a real sense of what works. I have an inventory of glass I love to use colours and textures that I know look beautiful in Toronto homes and that photograph and live well in different light conditions. When I'm selecting glass for a commission, I start with what the home needs and cross that against the textures and colours I find most interesting.

I won't build a window using glass I don't believe in. If I wouldn't put it in my own home, it's not going in yours.

From Design Approval to Build

Once the design is right and you've signed off, a deposit is taken and I start sourcing glass. Most custom stained glass commissions in Toronto move from design approval to completed installation in four to eight weeks. The initial home visit through to design approval typically takes a couple of weeks, depending on how many rounds of iteration we go through.

After that, it's the build and that's its own process entirely. But it all starts here, with a visit to your home and a real conversation about what the space could be.