I saw a lot of blue opaline glass on my antique travels this summer. I’ll use the term lightly, as much of it was not “officially” the rare French glass produced from the late 18th century through about 1890. Real opaline is a richly saturated cerulean-meets-turquoise type blue, quite different from the watery blue-green glass I am often writing about (here and here). Sometimes it has hand painting or gilding. Much of the glass I saw was in the opaline “style,” but it still packed a colorful punch, reminding me of one of my favorite interiors, the living room of Christy Ford, featured in Southern Living. Ford and her mother Jan Roden (whose house featured years ago in House Beautiful remains one of my inspiration interiors) have what looks to be a fabulous shop called And George in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Here you can see a bit of the chandelier peeking out in her entryway.

And designer Suzanne Kasler loves to use it too. The key to using is successfully is to group a series of objects in a mostly neutral toned and simple space, perhaps picking up the color for another accent elsewhere. Here Suzanne uses it on the ottoman to great effect. Christy Ford used similarly colored candles in her living room above.

Here’s a close-up…

I think I must be feeling a bit blue myself. Leaving the US tomorrow morning after 10 wonderful weeks, going home to Tokyo. Bittersweet as always…

Image credits: 1-3. me, 4-5. Southern Living, photo credit William Waldron, 6-7. both rooms designed by Suzanne Kasler, mea culpa, I don’t have the credits on them, but perhaps they are from her book Suzanne Kasler: Inspired Interiors.