Crystal Vase 

What to do with that Crystal Vase

For too long we have been subjected to the tyranny of opaque containers. Sure, the paintings and other artwork on them may be very nice, but you can't escape the fact that a solid chunk of color looks like an obstacle in the room. This is one of the reasons that some of us prefer light, airy decorative touches in our homes. A crystal vase lets the light through, splits and refracts it, and just generally livens up a room when the sun manages to hit it.

Most people use them to hold floral arrangements and bouquets, but there are many other attractive ways in which you can decorate your environment with these things. Sometimes they are cut in ways that catch every stray bit of light and send it bouncing happily around the walls and corners of the room. Sometimes they are just smooth, polished, and plain. However they are constructed, you will undoubtedly find that they somehow seem less solid and obtrusive than their opaque counterparts.

It's an illusion, to be sure. But it is an effective illusion and it is responsible for a certain amount of our comfort level when we are in our homes. In much the same way that mirrors, high ceilings, and light colors give an impression of far more usable space than is actually present, see through and translucent decorative elements help to give the room its own character without seeming to make it smaller. Items which refract and reflect can, in fact, reverse the feeling of encirclement which we sometimes feel when our possessions start to become visually intrusive.

Fill it with flowers if you like. Most people do. The only down side to this is that you, and all your visitors, will be able to tell if you have been diligent in your care of the bouquet.

Dirty, unchanged water which is starting to leave a mucky ring on the inside of the glass is obviously not something that you want to have on display. Transparent containers with flowers in them need to be maintained frequently to make sure that they don't start looking awful.

The trouble with flowers is that they don't have much in the way of interesting stuff to look at once you get south of the head. This means that your gorgeous flower jar is basically a showcase for some wet, green sticks. The real action happens above the jar. You can change this easily and make the entire vessel into an eye catching piece.

One of the quickest ways to do this would be to fill it with colored sand, pebbles, or water. For a really impressive effect when the sun hits the sides, try filling it up with small, brightly colored glass beads. The sun's rays will be jangled left and right, spun through all kinds of filters and surfaces, and will end up painting your room in all the colors of the rainbow.

You can paint them, fill them with shiny things, or put flowers in them. However you decide to decorate your home, a crystal vase can usually always find somewhere to live.