When our friend photographer Aya Brackett and her family moved into a house just across a shared courtyard from their former place in Oakland, California, they gained more space. But they found themselves missing one detail in particular: the handmade tile floor in their bathroom, an existing feature that had sold them on the house in the first place. Fortunately, they knew how to track down its creator, Sarah Myers—and understood it was a project worth the time, effort (overall bathroom touch-up included), and expense, to do right.
And so Myers was summoned and the many-months project got under way. A West Marin, California, artist and art teacher who grew up in Northern England—and has a masters in painting and drawing from Ohio State—Myers specializes in the ancient art of mosaic. And that involves cutting each tiny glass tile by hand. Here’s a look at the room’s various stages of transformation.
Photography by Aya Brackett.
After
![wanting to inject a bright, clean look to their master bath, brackett and her h 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bathroom-glass-mosaic-floor-by-Sarah-Myers-Aya-Brackett-photo-3.jpg)
Brackett told us, she and her husband had been so taken by all the color options Myers showed them that they had initially picked a trio: white, blue, and gray. Myers then made a sample maquette, and seeing that—and all the nuances in each color—made them decide to whittle their choice down to white.
![myers does most of the tile work in her studio in inverness. but before that co 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bathroom-glass-mosaic-floor-by-Sarah-Myers-Aya-Brackett-photo-2.jpg)
After considering custom sink vanity options, Brackett decided to simplify matters by buying Restoration Hardware’s Marten’s Single Vanity, which came with a Carrara marble counter (the exact model is no longer available, but the Martens Single Extra-Wide Vanity Base could be fitted with a marble countertop). It’s fitted with a sink from Kohler’s Purist line, and there’s also a new Kohler toilet (added after the mosaic was installed for a clean look).
![a tiled step neatly separates the mosaic from the subway tile, which was added 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bathroom-glass-mosaic-floor-by-Sarah-Myers-Aya-Brackett-photo-1.jpg)
Before Myers could get to work, the remodeling crew’s crucial final step was the laying of a three-quarters-inch mortar bed of self-leveling poured concrete. “It had to be as even and as perfect as possible,” says Brackett. “On the floor, where it gets walked on, if there’s any tiny pebble, it can decrease the strength of the glass,” explains Myers. After it was fully dry, Myers made detailed measurements of the floor, which she took back to her studio to create a template and do the tiling.
The Process
![glass tiles, known as tesserae, are handcut from sheets of pressed glass of uni 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hand-cut-glass-tesserae-for-tile-floor-by-Sarah-Mysers-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![in her studio, myers adheres the pattern onto a fiberglass mesh that she t 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Artist-Sarah-Myers-plan-glass-mosaic-floor-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![\2\20;though i deeply enjoy transforming large, rigid sheets of stained 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Artist-Sarah-Myers-with-tile-mat-for-mosaic-floor-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![myers can transport all the sections at once in the back of her prius and loves 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Sarah-Myers-mosaic-floor-in-progress-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
The Installation
![myers jigsaws each of the pieces together leaving no trace of borders, som 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Sarah-Myers-making-a-herringbone-patterned-glass-mosaic-floor-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![myers uses a no voc industrial adhesive by eco bond to adhere the tesserae to t 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Sarah-Myeres-glass-mosaic-floor-in-progress-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![as needed, myers cuts tiles on the site. the yellow tool is her japanese pistol 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Artist-Sarah-Myers-cutting-glass-tile-for-mosaic-floor-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
Grouting
![once the tile is taped into place, myers works section by section applying sand 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Artist-Sarah-Myers-grouting-handmade-glass-mosaic-floor-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![before and after the grout is added. 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Sarah-Myers-glass-mosaic-floor-in-progress-Aya-Brackett-photo.jpg)
![once the grout is in, myers says there are no exposed edges and the overa 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bathroom-glass-mosaic-floor-by-Sarah-Myers-Aya-Brackett-photo-4.jpg)
Go to Sarah Myers Design to see more of Myers’s work, including at Pizzaiolo and the pre-fire Manka’s Inverness Lodge; she’s available for commissions.
Before
![the room is in a \1980s addition to the house that brackett describes as & 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Aya-Brackett-bathroom-floor-Beforeshot.jpg)
See more of Aya Brackett’s home in Kitchen of the Week: Aya Brackett’s Hippie House Update in Oakland.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original ran on December 16, 2016.
Go to Bathrooms to see more projects, including:
- An Ethereal Bath in White Concrete
- A Vintage-Inspired Bath in London (Made with Salvaged Materials)
- An Artful En Suite Bath in Copenhagen
Wanting to fix up your bathroom? See 10 Things Nobody Tells You About Renovating Your Bathroom.
Finally, get more ideas on how to evaluate and choose the hardware items for your bathroom in our Remodeling 101 Guide: Bath Hardware.
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