Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Smith.
Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been enamored by old things: old people, old stories, old buildings, and always had a lifelong dream of restoring a historic home. Upon moving to Illinois in 2017, my husband and I took a chance and bought a 5,000 square foot 1887 fixer-upper Victorian. We spent 8 years restoring it and along the way, I decided I wanted to learn how to maintain the home’s antique stained glass windows. I fell in love with the art form and saw a real opportunity to offer restoration services to my neighbors and now all of Belleville and beyond.
We sold that incredible home last summer (in 2025) and moved just a few blocks away into the sweetest little 1912 Craftsman. Because maintaining our hold home took so much time and mental energy, I used that as an excuse for not really making stained glass restoration into a true business. Now that we’ve moved and I have more time, I’m truly ready to devote my life’s work towards preserving these truly irreplaceable windows.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a quiet road. I’ve been very slowly building up my knowledge base and abilities over the last 4 years. In that time frame I’ve taken both the beginner and advanced stained glass restoration courses at the Belvedere School for Historic Preservation in Hannibal, Missouri. I’ve restored stained glass windows for family, or restored broken panels I’ve picked up off of Facebook Marketplace, but I haven’t really marketed myself at all. Now that I find myself with a basement studio space (as well as a small space I rent as part of an art collective in downtown Belleville), marketing myself is becoming more real and concrete.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a stained glass artist working in the St. Louis metro-East and while I do make smaller art pieces like sun catchers and ornate makeup brush holders, I specialize in restoring historic stained glass windows. St. Louis and Belleville are home to some really incredible historic districts and so many really stunning stained glass windows. Because of the typical life span of the lead that holds stained glass together coupled with the average age of historic homes in this area, most of these windows are approaching the age where they’re going to need restoration work. This is a dying art form and if there’s no one left to restore them, these windows get thrown in the trash which is a heartbreaking thought. I love preserving as much of the original detail as possible: if the lead is in decent shape, I try to keep most of it. If the glass has minor cracks, I tend to keep those too because it’s all part of the story. As a true preservationist, I will strive to maintain as much of the truly original features as possible.
For example, I recently spent 6-weeks restoring a transom window out of an 1894 home in Quincy. It was seriously bowed and sagging. Each end stuck out convexly while the center was bowed convcavely, and it also had a few pieces of broken glass that needed replacing. Instead of ripping out all the lead and rebuilding it from scratch, I decided to take the time to correctly flatten it. The lead was in great shape, it was just bowed. It took a month of laying flat wrapped in a heated blanket, rotating it every few days with weights on it to soften the existing lead. That was before I ever touched any glass! I could’ve restored it faster but that would’ve required running all new lead which really wasn’t necessary since it wasn’t failing, just bowed. Not only is it true preservation but it’s also more cost effective for the client since we’re preserving what’s already there and not buying new materials unnecessarily. Now that it’s been flattened and had new putty poured on both sides for stability, it will last another 130+ years!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have so many happy childhood memories whether it’s watching I Love Lucy with my grandmother or swimming competitively with a swim team that travelled all over Europe, but I think my truly favorite memory was going to the Cincinnati Zoo with my Great Aunt Betty. In her retirement she was a volunteer there and was in charge of implementing computer and ordering systems in all of the shops. She would take me with her sometimes and I would get to help her pick out what books she would order for the gift shops and would take me around the zoo telling all these incredible stories about the animals there. It stayed with me forever and has translated into now being a St. Louis Zoo Ambassador volunteer as an adult.
Pricing:
- Smaller art pieces range in price from $25 to $185 but each window project is “diagnosed” individually. Sometimes I charge hourly, sometimes I bid work out as an entire project. It just varies!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @RoseColoredWindows
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rosecoloredwindows
- Other: TikTok @RoseColoredWindows
