For those who are owners of vintage and historic buildings, found throughout the country in city halls, libraries, and other buildings that are commonly used by a community, you can add a major focal point to your building with the addition of antique stained glass at appropriate points. Antique stained glass, also known as leaded glass, adds color and sparkle to what might otherwise be buildings in neutral colors, adding a dash of style to your historic building that is also keeping within the period styling and detail.

Antique stained glass can be added to windows throughout your period building. Leaded glass often was used to adorn Victorian architectural design styles, as well as Craftsman-style buildings, but today you are certainly not limited to those two architectural building styles. Antique stained glass may be added to the inside of any single-paned window in order to bring color to the spot while still allowing light to enter the building, a decided advantage that comes from using antique leaded stained glass for decoration.

One traditional way to utilize antique stained glass in a historic building is to add antique stained glass panels around doors. The antique stained glass panels would then function in a similar way as a sidelight might. Sidelights are typically narrow strips of glazing that are placed on either side of a door. When antique leaded stained glass pieces are situated similarly, they add color while helping to illuminate the inner entryway with natural light.

For certain buildings with domed roofs, you may want to consider the addition of antique glass domes. Antique glass domes, which function as spectacular skylights in a building, are fairly rare, due to the delicacy of the glass that has withstood decades of use, but when they are available and thoughtfully restored, they add a one-of-a-kind stunning focal point to any vintage building. Although leaded glass domes are round in shape, you can also find other brilliant skylights in oval and rectangular shapes. These skylights also add vivid hues and tints of color to the interior of your vintage building.

Stained glass can add an artistic touch in smaller-sized pieces as well. You can add a panel of stained glass in a room wherever there is a waist-high wall. Hung above, and perhaps with columns or other architectural elements to frame it, the glass adds sparkle to any corner of your historic building.

Pictures of actual stained glass pieces from around the world are available at salvage antique dealers' websites, which allow you a closer look at the beauty of these artifacts.