When Sarah Sherman Samuel's eye for design meets Fireclay Tile's colors and patterns, it's a match made in heaven. We're not the only ones who lust over her effortless style — she's known for transforming celebrity spaces into coveted sanctuaries. Read on to get a glimpse into how she creates her unforgettable designs.
Want to bring Sarah's style home? Sample her favorite Fireclay colors, featuring Calcite, Dawn, Mesa, Halite, Sand Dune, Feldspar Gloss, Rosemary, and Akoya. Want even more inspiration? Check out her Pinterest Board.
Meet Sarah!
Image: Stoffer Photography
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how you got into design?
I always knew I wanted to do something creative. In high school, I took any and every class they offered, and when I took them all they even made up one for me (an independent study). In college, I first went to school for fine art and painting but after discovering graphic design I switched majors. After graduating I got a job at an ad agency but quickly realized designing solely in one dimension wasn’t for me. I left and dipped my toes into interiors first by working at a furniture showroom doing sales and merchandising.
From there my next job married graphic design and product design and I jumped right in at a start-up and fell in love with product design. I didn’t get back into interiors until my husband and I bought a cabin and renovated it ourselves. From there it snowballed.
Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
What made you choose the 8 colors in your palette? What do you like about these glazes?
The color variation and soft sagey green of Rosemary is the first Fireclay Tile color that I used and it’s still one of my favorites.
Tile Shown: 3x6 in Rosemary // Image: Tessa Neustadt // Architect: Emily Farnham Architecture
Halite is the perfect warm white:
Tile Shown: 1x1 mosaic tiles in Halite and Akoya // Image: Joseph Bradshaw
I’ve used Calcite quite a bit which is a lovely very clean white:
Tile Shown: 6" Hexagons in Calcite // Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
This bright and cozy A-frame kitchen gets an uplifting boost thanks to the vertically stacked 2x6 backsplash in Calcite.
Tile Shown: 2x6 in Calcite // Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
The new Desert Collection palette is stunning. I fell in love with Mesa and Dawn right out of the sample box.
Tile Shown: The Desert Collection
Akoya is a warm charcoal color that reads as black but not too dark of a black:
Tile Shown: 1x1 mosaic tiles in Halite and Akoya with 6x6 in Akoya trimmed in 1x6 Flatliners // Image: Joseph Bradshaw
Why do you love tile? How do you like to use tile in your designs?
There’s nothing like the materiality of tile to elevate a space. In bathrooms the more tile the merrier up the walls on all the walls.
Midcentury modern details make Mandy Moore's Jack & Jill bathroom sleek and streamlined, but it's Rosemary's high variation and crackled detailing that lends it a luxuriously organic allure.
Tile Shown: 3x6 in Rosemary // Image: Tessa Neustadt // Architect: Emily Farnham Architecture
I also love using tile in places you wouldn’t necessarily expect. Like as a threshold transition between a room of carpet and wood. Or on furniture like a coffee table.
Brick Shown: Cascade // Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
How would you describe your aesthetic?
It’s relaxed but edited and modern but warm. I like to work in contrasts, combining refined with raw and new with old and play with scale in unconventional ways
Brick Shown: Olympic // Image: Jessie Webster
What are your top five personal design tips?
1. Measure twice, cut once (or if ordering tiles is concerned... measure twice then have someone else measure and then add 15% overage and THEN order).
Please note: we always recommend you add 15-20% to orders!
Brick Shown: Olympic // Image: Zan Passante
2. Get creative with your brick or subway shaped tile layouts and think outside of the box with different patterns.
This Brick clad bath features straight-set Brick from the ceiling to the floors:
Brick Shown: Olympic // Image: Jessie Webster
Abounding in effortless luxe, this kitchen is anchored by a stunning herringbone Thin Brick floor:
Brick Shown: Cascade // Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
3. Grout Matters. Choosing grout is one of my least favorite parts of the process and I’ve defiantly chosen wrong in the past. As a general rule, it’s better to aim slightly darker than the tile color if you’re between shades.
Tile Shown:6" Hexagon in Overcast // Image: Zan Passante
Tile Shown: 1x6 Mosaic Tiles in Calcite with 2" Hexagons in Overcast // Image: Zan Passante
If the grout goes in and you hate it Isn’t the end of the world. I’ve had a grout that was far too light for the tile and we used a grout colorant that dyed the grout darker and have us the look we were originally going for.
Tile Shown: 2x8 in Calcite // Image: Tessa Neustadt // Architect: Emily Farnham Architecture
4. Things don’t need to be symmetrical to feel balanced. Asymmetry can often be much more interesting.
Tile Shown: 6" Hexagons in Calcite // Image: Sarah Sherman Samuel
Paying homage to Mandy Moore's Pasadena home's midcentury modern roots, Sarah Sherman Samuel resurfaced the fireplace in white thin Brick and added a terrazzo floating bench to make it the focal point of the family room.
Brick Shown: Lewis Range // Image: Tessa Neustadt // Architect: Emily Farnham Architecture
5. PLAY!
Balancing out the aesthetic of the new creative studio Light Lab, our white Triangle tiles around the kitchen island to add the pattern it needed to make it pop.
Tile Shown:6" Triangles in Calcite // Images: Jeff Mindell
You've worked with us on a number of projects, do you have a favorite (or two)?
Oh, I don’t think I can choose a favorite. That’s like choosing a favorite child so I will just pick the most recent. The Nashville bathroom with the black and white mosaic floor OR the NYC bathroom with the brick that echoed the original architecture of the 1890 built building.
Tile Shown: 1x1 mosaic tiles in Halite and Akoya with 6x6 in Akoya trimmed in 1x6 Flatliners // Image: Joseph Bradshaw
Brick Shown: Lewis Range // Image: Nicole Franzen
Loving Sarah's style? Shop her favorites. Need some help? Simply call, chat, or fill out our Design Assistance Form and one of our talented Design Consultants will get back to you shortly.
