Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Before they became universally reviled, glass bricks were everywhere. Shower walls were glass brick. Small windows were glass brick, so were bars. Through their bubbled double walls, light played. Neon was usually involved. To this day theyre everywhere in Pittsburgh (before it was a steel town, writes Jakob Lazzaro, it was a glass-industry town; It really has been, in many ways, Pittsburgh's hidden industry said Anne Madarasz, chief historian at the Heinz History Center, when interviewed by WESA in January).The glass brick began to lose ground with the it crowd sometime in the 1980s. First of all, there were overused. Second, because they require some finesse to install, there were a lot of poor examples. They can also be tough to clean. But that was then. Now, in the bright light of 2025, theres a new glass blockwhich is, yes, not the same as the brick. "A glass brick is a solid piece of glass. It is made by pouring a molten mixture of soda ash, silica particles and other components into a single mould," according to the experts at Quality Glass Block & Window. "When a glass block is manufactured, the molten mixture is poured into two moulds to form two halves of a glass block. The two halves are sealed together, creating the final block and leaving a hollow chamber of air in the centre of the block." The block is hardier. The block can withstand weather. Welcome the block. Below are ten ways to use the glass block. You never know, you just might find a place for it in your heart and home (or restaurant or shop). 1. Build a low wallThe glass block can be stacked in a low profile, letting the light shine through and creating an interesting structural element pretty much anywhere. Try it in the kids' room (just beware the corners, this is still glass here). 2. Build an indoor solariumAnother trend due for a revival is the small, glassed-in room thats open to the air above by way of a cutout in the roof. Popular in Central California, where winter sees more rain than snow, these little rooms allow for a sanitized relationship with the outdoors and act as a display case for plants. With glass block, depending on the variety you choose, the showcase becomes impressionistic, as views of the plants are warped by the shape of the glass. 3. Create an outdoor shower enclosure Outdoor showers are great, especially for beach houses. They cut down on the indoor sand-to-floor ratio and bathroom traffic. But theres always the question of making it private enough to feel usable when a bunch of people are around. Glass bricks, especially along with good green shrubs, are perfect for the job.5. Fill them with lightsFill a glass brick with holiday lights. Set it on the counter. Boom. A fun and quirky light source that casts a pretty pattern on walls and counters. 6. Replace an entire wall with glass brickIts not exactly a recasting of the original idea, but once youve seen the new varieties of glass blocks out there you might be more inclined to give it a go. Many of you might feel an aversion to the particular type of glass bricks used in the former time. Today, the shapes and shades make it feel like an almost entirely different medium. 7. Make a light fixtureSimilar to the fill-the-brick-with-lights idea, the concept here is to build a small sheet of bricks and hang it so it becomes a sconce or shade. (Kind of like this.)8. Paint the grout Small changes, big impact. A lot of the glass bricks used in 80s came with a sickly gray grout that did the wall no favors. Try a shock of vermillion or teal. If youre hand painting, make sure to read some dos and dont of painting grout. Theres a method. 9. Divide a kitchen with a glass block wallIt can be risky to divide the cooking space from the living spaces with an opaque barrier, especially for less than roomy kitchensyou lose light and flow. But not with glass block. With proper expertise, they can be stacked right on an existing counter. 10. Put them in the gardenJust as they allow light to flow in a room, glass blocks can be used as retaining walls in the garden that add texture and topography without compromising views. Terracing is a great place to start your glass-brick garden adventure. Shop Glass Blocks8x8x3 Alpha$8 at qualityglassblock.com1919/8 Pink$12 at qualityglassblock.comQuality Glass Block Cross Ribbed Glass Block$13 at Amazon