Beneath the Surface—Crafting an Immersive Underwater Glass Mosaic in Seattle
“We really wanted the space to feel as though you were standing underwater looking up. When the workshop integrated those reflective and iridescent tiles near the ceiling line, it instantly captured that magical feeling of sunlight hitting the surface of the water.”
— Jeanne, Homeowner
Bringing the underwater world to life, this hand-cut glass mural features reflective glass tiles, adding a striking detail of natural light sparkling through the ocean’s surface. Flowing effortlessly across three shower walls, this 160-square-foot mosaic artwork was constantly polished to ultimately capture the ocean’s depth in the most realistic manner.
Client Brief
It all started as a simple discussion regarding a customized kitchen backsplash which ultimately turned into something very interesting and ambitious. MEC was initially contacted by Calista Munnell, the main designer of Calista Interiors. She wanted to inquire about a unique kitchen design for clients Kent and Jeanne.
Expressing that they loved our famous ivory and gold tree mosaic art, the homeowners first wished to replace the palm trees with foliage that seemed suitable for the Seattle area. Later, the clients wanted to completely change the orientation of their original vision.
They shared a very striking underwater wallpaper with us, which was used as an inspiration for an extensive custom bathroom mural. Here is the interesting part. This very first collaborative project of ours eventually guided MEC to another property, building a completely different mosaic story down the road.
Inspiration Moodboard
Before our artisans proceeded with cutting any glass manually, we made arrangements for and shipped a physical tile mood board straight to Seattle. What this vital step did was that it enabled Calista and her clients to take their time to compare the new glass shades with the current tones of their bathroom.
Calista immediately approved the sample once she received the package, she told us that the samples looked ideal for her space, showcasing a diverse range of elements. This physical mood board encapsulated the soothing aquatic feel perfectly. It had:
- Subtle aquatic greens and teals to capture the sunlit areas of the water.
- Deep ocean blues to create shadows, contrasts, and a feeling of true visual depth.
- Simple neutral background tones to balance out the very vibrant colors.
- Reflective finishes in order to replicate natural light hitting the water.
Although a mood board is a nice starting point in terms of setting up the general style, a glass mosaic artwork, especially one that is handcrafted, requires several more colors to blend smoothly. The wallpaper for reference was a great creative starting point, but a hand cut glass mosaic and a printed picture are innately quite different, needing thoughtful adjustments.
Design Development
Initial Sketches
At first the underwater mosaic was only being considered for one shower wall.
Briefly, the team talked about adapting the current pastel Koi fish mosaic, which would have saved time. However, they eventually went back to the underwater artwork that they were initially drawn towards.
With the project gradually developing, Calista and her clients intended to extend the artwork further. MEC was requested to take into account a few new possibilities for the room layout. This included:
- Scaling the underwater mosaic design to make it easily wrap around the entire shower enclosure.
- Repeating the core design identically after duplicating it on the two smaller side walls.
- Using plain tiles to fade the design out on the sides through a subtle ombre fading method.
Being committed towards providing dedicated design consultancy, MEC suggested that a continuous wrap would result in the strongest visual appeal. If the pattern was repeated, it would have felt quite crowded. Also, an ombre fade could interfere with the visual language of the mosaic artwork.
Within her team, Nada advised wrapping the pattern around the central wall and two side walls. She explained that this option would help the artwork to flow in a natural and smooth manner. It would also make it fully immersive without any visual interruption. This approach turned out to be very helpful as it ended up becoming the foundation for the 160 square foot space.
Designing Around Architecture
The architecture of the room was quite unique, which also played a very main role in terms of shaping the final artwork. Given that the wallpaper was just not big enough to stretch across the whole area, a lot of compositional work and layering was required from our end.
In this context, another important aspect was the corner where the shower met the next wall. It was pointed out by Calista that the first design went from dark to light a bit too quickly.
To fix this abrupt effect, our design team reworked on it in order to make sure that the artwork flowed more naturally. After this, Calista wanted more visual attention on the central shower wall instead of the side window wall, which was not clearly visible.
Therefore, the required changes were thoughtfully incorporated accordingly, in order to address these concerns. Calista was happy with the revised design, stating that her clients would also be very pleased with the new changes.
Color Palette & Materials
The color palette contained soft shades of green, deep blues, and neutral tones.
With reference to the materials, we entirely relied on hand cut stained glass with special accents. Here, Jeanne came up with a lovely idea, which seriously enhanced the entire look of the artwork, once the upper portion of the mural was refined.
Right near the top, she wanted it to seem as if the natural light was reflecting through the surface of the water. MEC made sure to inform her that this creative input from her end would certainly be incorporated into the final composition. As our team utilized the natural reflective nature of glass to bring the underwater environment to life in the best manner, this concept became a central part of the material direction.
Color Correction During Fabrication
Client evaluation continues even after construction has begun. As the pictures of the workshop were forwarded, Jeanne and Calista saw warm shades like yellow and orange in lower botanic parts. The color tones coordinated from the initial mood board earlier were not this warm. Instead of keeping the creative art fixed, MEC offered a choice of colors to be reconsidered.
Calista gave a different color combination, changing orange shades to pink, maroons and reds and keeping greens and blues the same. The colors were revised by the production team and Jeanne liked pink shades over browns. Moreover, there was a visible layer at the intersection of two walls that came to MEC’s notice. Instead of hiding it, it was completely revamped so that it looked natural after installation.
“Translating a printed wallpaper graphic into hand-cut glass is all about artistic interpretation, not mechanical replication. We have to consider how physical glass textures, specific color placements, and the room’s ambient lighting will interact to bring the aquatic scene to life.”
— MEC Design Team
The Final Site Adjustment
“Wrapping the artwork continuously across the shower walls and carefully softening the color transitions the mosaic felt like a true environment rather than just a picture hanging on a wall.”
-Calista Interiors
Finally, as mosaic tiles reach their destination, Mike and John, the LZL construction team opened it to begin the installation. Then, they learnt that two new supplies were needed.
Extra tile was needed along the lower edge, and another panel was required to complete a niche. To address these issues, MEC was quick to coordinate with Calista as well as the construction team. The purpose was to find the best solution.
It wasn’t practical to return the pieces to the workshop, hence MEC invented the extensions needed and supplied new glass tiles as well. This new material offered skilled installers the flexibility to allow little adaptations and changes.
A New Chapter in Virginia
With Kent and Jeanne connecting us with Rosehill Design’s Amy, the interior designer working on their Virginia property, this collaboration naturally continued beyond this project. Now, we are collaborating with LZL, Amy, and the clients, on another bathroom. This involves a celestial shower wall and bathroom floor in marble with gold accents.
What began as a simple kitchen-related inquiry translated into a memorable underwater masterpiece, and a lovely continuation in Virginia. The Virginia project, however, is a story for another day.
FAQs
How did this underwater bathroom project actually begin?
Surprisingly, it started with a completely different room! The clients initially reached out to customize one of our Ivory and Gold Tree mosaics for a kitchen backsplash. They later changed their minds and decided to focus on a much larger, custom underwater mural for their primary bathroom instead.
Can a wallpaper pattern be exactly copied into a glass mosaic?
We treat reference images as a creative starting point rather than something to mechanically copy. A printed wallpaper and a handcrafted glass mosaic are very different mediums. Our artisans interpret the digital artwork using physical tile, texture, and light reflection to make it work beautifully in real life.
Is it possible to adjust the mosaic colors while it is being made?
Yes, client review continues even during fabrication. In this project, the clients noticed some warm rust and orange tones in the lower coral areas that they wanted to change. We easily adjusted the palette right in the workshop to feature the softer pink, magenta, and rose hues they preferred.
What happens if the construction team needs extra mosaic pieces on site?
It is common for field measurements to shift slightly. For this Seattle home, the installers realized they needed a back panel for a shower niche and a slight extension along the bottom. We quickly hand-cut the extra sections and shipped them directly to the site along with loose colored glass so the team could blend the edges perfectly.
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