When I bought my house two and a half years ago, I barely had time to pull up the carpeting, clean, and set up my art studio before I had to get back to a commission. I knew this tiny powder room would be my first real project when I finally had time, which turned out to be about a year later after finishing my public art commission in Washington. It was the first room I wanted to tackle because it was the worst room in the house. It was an ugly mess with damaged walls, patched floors, a hole from old plumbing, and carpeting! Ick! My six year old niece called it the scary bathroom. After the renovation was complete and she came to visit the following summer, she loved it and wasn't scared anymore. That's probably my favorite review of the whole project.
The powder room before renovation. Yes, that's carpet.
I knew from the start I wanted something bold. I love super saturated colors and Art Deco design, and this 3 by 3 foot room felt like the perfect opportunity to go all in without it being overwhelming. As I started making design decisions, one idea kept coming back to me: I wanted it to feel like a little Art Deco jewelry box. Every decision I made after that was in service of that vision.
Designing the Art Deco Mosaic Powder Room
The wall color came first. I chose Perfect Pout by Valspar, a deep magenta that I have always loved. I wasn't sure whether such a dark color would make the tiny room feel even smaller, so I painted the ceiling magenta as well to keep it from feeling cut off. Everyone who has seen the before and after has commented on how much larger and brighter the finished room looks, which still surprises and delights me.
With the wall color decided, I designed the mosaic floor and backsplash above the sink. I created a digital floor pattern in the Art Deco scallop style.
Perfect Pout by Valspar, the wall and ceiling color.
First floor design with smaller scallop pattern.
Because the room is so small, I built a cardboard scale model to see how all the elements would work together before committing to anything. I don't usually build models for my projects, but this room felt like it needed one. It turned out to be essential. The most significant change I made after building the model was switching to a larger scallop pattern for the floor. The smaller design was too busy for the scale of the space. The larger scallops read as more elegant and more clearly Art Deco. Before printing the floor pattern full-scale to create the mosaic, I added in markings for the pipes and toilet.
Cardboard scale model of the finished room.
Second floor design with larger scallops, the final choice.
Final floor design with toilet and pipe cutouts marked.
For the fixtures and accessories I wanted everything to feel cohesive. I chose a crystal sunburst mirror, a three globe brushed nickel vanity light, and brushed nickel hardware throughout including the toilet paper holder, towel bar, robe hook, and switch plate. The floating shelf I found I spray painted silver to match.
Crystal sunburst mirror.
Three globe brushed nickel vanity light.
Brushed nickel hardware and accessories.
For towels I found these magenta Turkish cotton towels almost immediately, which felt like a small miracle since I had expected that to be an impossible search. I had been searching for an Art Deco dancer sculpture for the shelf for a couple of months without finding the right one. I finally decided to broaden my search beyond dancers and found these black and silver swan sculptures almost immediately. They were exactly right.
Magenta Turkish cotton towels.
Black and silver swan sculptures.
Creating the Art Deco Mosaic Powder Room
The mosaic floor uses iridescent stained glass in white and magenta, with smooth molded vitreous glass tiles in grey and black for the scallop midsections. The glass that reads as magenta is actually red stained glass, but the iridescent sheen makes it appear to match the wall color almost perfectly. Stained glass is not typically used for floors because it can be slippery when wet, but this room is so small that no one is taking steps across it, just standing and turning, which made it a practical choice for my own home.
Before any mosaic work could begin I had to level the uneven floor and patch the holes, including the one left from old plumbing going into the basement. I built the floor mosaic in reverse using plastic mosaic tape, but found it easier for most of the installation to place the glass pieces individually rather than in sections, to make sure each piece was properly seated in the mortar and that no white mortar crept into the joints where the black grout would need to go. White mortar was essential here, just as in my kitchen commissions, since the white and iridescent glass would have looked dull and grey with a darker mortar underneath.
The trickiest part of the floor installation was working behind and around the toilet base. I was doing this project on a budget and couldn't justify paying a plumber to remove the toilet, so I had to fit the glass around it precisely while barely being able to see or maneuver. At one point I was essentially hugging the toilet to reach the back. The edges were more forgiving since I added quarter round edging and a transition strip after the floor was complete.
The backsplash was installed before the floor and turned out to be the most difficult part of the entire project. I noticed that the sink was not level, which the previous square tiles had hidden by running at an angle. My mosaic pattern couldn't accommodate that, so I had to detach the sink from the wall to re-level it. The moment I detached it, the pipes started leaking. I turned off the water and set the plumbing aside to deal with later.
The walls had so many old patches and repairs that I couldn't get screws to hold at a level angle. After many attempts I managed to get one screw to hold and used a substantial amount of Apoxie Sculpt epoxy clay to secure the sink in place and level. The challenge was finding a way to hold the sink steady while the epoxy dried through multiple attempts. For the better part of a day I was holding the sink in position with my head. I had a bruise on the top of my head for a month afterward.
Once the sink was finally secured, the backsplash installation went smoothly. I used a malleable metal edging around the perimeter rather than grout or caulk alone, which gives a cleaner finish and is much easier to keep clean. I also managed to fix the plumbing leak myself with only a few trips to the hardware store, which I was genuinely proud of since I know very little about plumbing and find it a bit intimidating.
The order of everything, for anyone curious: patched and leveled the floor, leveled the sink and installed the backsplash, sanded extensively (my house was built in 1916), painted the walls and ceiling, installed the mosaic floor, added the quarter round edging and transition strip, painted the trim and door, then installed the light, mirror, and fixtures. Start to finish it took about two months.
The finished room still surprises me a little every time I see it. It is bold and jewel-like and exactly what I hoped it would be. The scary bathroom has become my favorite room in the house.
