Apartment 34 – Office Inspiration

August 13, 2014

At work, we’re growing crazy fast right now, which is awesome, but it also means that we’re experiencing some growing pains – space being one of them. Our LA office is BEAUTIFUL architecturally with three floors, tons of natural light and an amazing screened in patio/conference room/studio, (all white!) kitchen and glass executive office. What I’m not thrilled with though, is our serious lack of storage. We have 1 (ONE!) 6×7′ “closet” space downstairs that also houses all of our utilities including our electrical box and we therefore can’t store ANYTHING within 36″ of it or it’s deemed a fire hazard. We’re also not allowed to build out a storage unit under our stairs unless we install a sprinkler system because storing anything “combustable” (did you know that IKEA furniture is a “combustable”?!) under stairs is prohibited. EFF!

That being said, we’re now cramming way too much stuff and way too many people on the third floor of our office which is where everyone seems to prefer sitting. It’s also where our marketing team needs to be and almost our entire LA office is comprised of marketing people so we have to figure out a way to make it work. Over the course of the next week, we’ll be re-arranging our current furniture and getting some new pieces to hopefully configure everyone comfortably and in a space they can love 🙂 Until now, I’ve been totally stumped, but the Apartment 34 office reveal came at just the right time and has me really excited. I mean, how beautiful is this space?! Super light and airy, but with just enough color and warmth without feeling busy or overwhelming to work from. I’m feeling totally inspired to hop on CAD and figure this whole thing out. Take a look at some of my favorites shots below.

All images by Aubrie Pick on VSCO film for Apartment 34.

I want to be here…

March 6, 2014

This week has been nuts. We’re gearing up for a huge work event on Sunday so I’ve been crafting, glittering everything, painting… all while keeping up with the normal flow of sourcing and basically accumulating everything from paper samples to wine bottle tops and electrical tape on my desk. My space is COVERED in stuff right now! Ugh!

This space, however, is the complete opposite and its simplistic palette yet elegant, warm and welcoming aura floored me when I came across it today. In the home of Sarah Gibson exists a hallway (beautifully wallpapered in Joy Cho’s line for Hygge & West) that leads to a sunny, clean and bright room, which in my mind I have presumed to be a guest room that I just want to dive into. Couldn’t you just spend the weekend there? It makes me want to leave my computer at home and head on over with a book and lay in bed until Sunday. Ohhh to have a guest room like this one day… 🙂 What I absolutely ADORE about this space, however, is that the wallpaper literally makes the hallway come to life. When you look at hallways from a conventional standpoint, they are just a means of getting you from one room to another, but they don’t have to be that way. A beautiful light fixture, a perfectly accessorized niche, statement flooring or a simple gallery wall can and will breath life into a hallway, transforming it from a means of getting from one space to another, to a spectacular space of its own that you don’t have to simply rush past when getting from point A to B. Bravo, Sarah!

I’m off to finish my crafting extravaganza in prep for this weekend! Be sure to stay tuned on Instagram (@onehopeweddings and @megrobins) for some exciting updates over the course of the next few days! Wishing you a wonderful remainder to your week 🙂

xoxo

Meg

ONEHOPE Holiday Party

January 8, 2014

Helloooo! Are you staying warm out there?! I can not believe the news coming out of the midwest and east coast! I’m slightly jealous that I’m not there to witness the biggest snow storm in DECADES (my inner 10 year old self would do anything for a snow day), but I’m also thrilled at the fact that I’m not there to experience the super cold temperatures. I think the lowest I’ve experienced is a wind chill of 18 below and I never want to face that again. I feel you, ‘Merica! Stay warm!

I REALLY wanted to share all of our ONEHOPE Holiday (#ONEHOPEHoliday) images before Christmas for anyone searching for last minute inspiration, but as I detailed previously, that just couldn’t happen this year. Since half of the country is facing winter to the max, I thought I’d still share this little winter wonderland transformed office conference room in case you’re planning a snowy get-together. The second half of the images are of the DIY we did that day where we gold-leafed our own glassware. It was really fun and the results were so unique and gorgeous… definitely something creative and different to do with your girlfriends if you ever feel like having a ladies night in 🙂 I apologize in advance for there being tons of pictures, but I just could not narrow them down further. We had an absolutely amazing photographer, Jen Wiley who crushed it for us. I usually shoot most of our content, but knew that we needed a professional for a project of this magnitude and Jen was SO nice, so receptive, so creative… I could not have asked for anyone better. She captured the day perfectly and didn’t miss a SINGLE detail. If you’re on the market for a wonderful photographer, hire her. Now 🙂

PS: If you’re new to Design Wine Dine and are interested in the background story of why I planned this little holiday get-together, check out my reasoning and inspiration board for the party and decor here. Also, I had this crazy vision in my mind that included a pallet wall, but we didn’t have one at our office… so I made one. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to get it done that I didn’t document a lot of the process, but will break it down step by step and put it up here soon. Stay tuned!

DIY Information

Supplies

Flutes or Champagne Coups – We used these and these to give our guests a little variety.
Gold leaf, adhesive and sealant (available at craft stores)
Paint brushes

Directions

Using a paint brush, apply adhesive to the glass. Get creative with shapes and stripes!
Wait a few minutes until the glue gets tacky (2-5 minutes). We had the best luck when the glue was almost dry.
Place your gold leaf on the glass and press down to smooth out any bubbles or inconsistencies. Allow your gold leaf to set for 15-20 minutes.
Carefully remove excess gold leaf from around the glued areas.
Once all excess gold leaf is removed, brush your sealant on over the gold leaf. This will allow you to drink out of and handle the glasses. Since your glasses are hand crafted with love, please hand wash them with care

Wine: Hope at Home
Coffee: ONEHOPE Coffee
Linens: La Tavola
Gold rimmed glasses and ghost chairs: Classic Party Rentals
Deer Head: ZGallerie
Frames: West Elm
Event/Floral Design and Production: Me!
Calligraphy: Beth Phillips at ONEHOPE
Photography: JWiley Photography

Holiday Table Inspiration

December 29, 2013

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Happy, Happy Holidays!!! I hope everyone is having some much deserved down time and rest while gearing up for 2014! I think it’s going to be a big one and I’m actually super excited to see what the new year holds 🙂 So, without getting too distracted, I REALLY wanted to get this published before Christmas, but if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen what a ridiculously chaotic yet successful December we had over at ONEHOPE Wine. We more than quadrupled our sales over last year and we had an all-hands-on-deck situation for most of December. Instead of dabbling in anything creative, I was with the majority of our team in our warehouse packing boxes, sourcing product that we’d run out of (eeeek!) and helping to load hundreds upon hundreds of boxes onto multiple UPS trucks daily. The experience of seeing our company grow like that and watching all of our hard work finally pay off was nothing short of incredible and I wouldn’t change being there, smack dab in the center of it for anything in the world 🙂

In early December, I posted a few sneak peeks from our ONEHOPE Holiday party (#ONEHOPEHoliday) at work. Since the wine industry is absolute madness in December every year, in 2012 we didn’t plan anything fun during the holidays. It was the first year that I really felt that the holidays just slipped through my fingertips and it bummed me out beyond belief. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again this year and planned an afternoon for the girls on our team to spend some time together outside of the work madness to decompress and do something fun. We played Christmas music, did a little wine tasting and gold leafed glasses to give away as gifts… It was just what we needed. Since we were going to have a photographer there to capture it as a DIY, I wanted to make sure that we gave our conference room a little TLC and turned it into a winter wonderland. I am SO HAPPY with how it turned out and can not wait to share the images our amazing photographer captured. In the meantime, take a look at my inspiration board for the project 🙂

PS: I know Christmas is over, but I truly believe that so many Christmasy pieces can be carried into New Years Eve/Day parties. So, recycle that garland, grab some gold confetti and wintery fur and enjoy your seasonal decor for a few more days! If you’re not diggin’ it, keep this in your back pocket for next year 😉

xoxo

Meg

Photo Shoot Inspiration

November 18, 2013

Image via

Oh hello! Happy Monday! I’ve been a little MIA and apologize there. My best friend from high school got married over the weekend and her sister, who was the maid of honor, is very pregnant with twins and couldn’t travel last minute. She asked me to step up to the plate and it was such a whirlwind of a weekend. There were some stressful moments, but everything ended up perfectly and I could not be happier for my friend and her amazing new husband. They met during our first week of college and are truly a perfect match. I’m such a sucker for love and seeing them so happy on their day made my heart burst with joy. Eeeee! Even thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes. I’ll be sure to share more there as soon as we get some pictures 🙂

On the work front, this week is going to be a big one as we plan a holiday crafts + cocktails photo shoot. I’m SO excited for it. I’ve pretty much been using the above image for every ounce of inspiration for styling this thing… everything about it is perfection. The rustic textured table, the simple rosemary place settings and green + gold + white/neutral is my FAVORITE color palette on the planet. So many ideas flowing… Time to get to work!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

xoxo

High Low: Gilt Mirror

October 17, 2013

While scanning the pages of Domino, I was FLOORED when I landed on the above vignette. From the herringbone wood flooring, to the original fireplace and gorgeous ceiling detail – I could not take my eyes off of it. The focal point of the room however, is the beautiful gilt mirror with its elegantly rounded corners and perfect patina. It adds such an incredible richness to the space that plays off of the luxurious, gold tones in the floor and the brass lighting above the book shelves.

My boyfriend and I just moved into a new ~~little~~ apartment (more on that later) and I’m learning first hand what a tremendous impact adding mirrors can make. It’s amazing how such a simple addition can draw your eye up, brighten up a space and make it appear so much larger than it actually is. You almost don’t notice that the above room is pretty tiny, with room for just two chairs and a small table. I also couldn’t help but note that I’ve been seeing this classic French mirror EVERYWHERE these days and being that the above version was $1,300 – now reduced to $1,088 (still yikes!), I sought out to find another alternative. Enter the French Gilt Mirror from Wisteria at a whopping $700+ less. Success! Adding that to my wish list 😉

Team Thanksgiving Dinner

November 21, 2012

Last week I posted about our chic Thanksgiving Table inspiration for my company’s HOPEgiving celebration. It’s the first time we’ve had a Thanksgiving dinner together so we really wanted it to be special in terms of food, wine pairings and decor. Our Online Marketing Manager has been making Thanksgiving dinner for her family since she turned 18 so she planned (and cooked!) an insanely delicious feast for us while I took control over the tablescape. The head of our Foundation has been wanting to write a new company manifesto, so we used the Holstee Manifesto cut up into bits to give everyone some inspiration with their place card. We all wrote a line that we live by and pieced the puzzle together over dinner which made for some wonderful team bonding. Lastly, our next big venture is ONEHOPE Coffee so I made sure to include some coffee beans mixed in with the florals as well as on everyone’s place setting as a reminder to be thankful for the incredible opportunities we have ahead. I have to say, it was an absolutely magical evening filled with amazing food (and wine of course!), ONEHOPE family cheer and excitement for 2013! What a great beginning to the holiday season!

PS: View Lauren’s to-die-for menu here and more on my tablescape and decor here 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Oh Monday!

November 19, 2012

The weekend was completely insane! I painted, prepped for our company’s Thanksgiving dinner, painted again, went to an event and then painted some more. I can not believe it’s Monday already… where was my weekend?! On a lighter note, here’s a sneak peek of our #HOPEgiving dinner (follow us on Instagram and Twitter) tablescape. I ran to the flower mart this morning and snatched up the last of the peonies along with some vibrant tulips, pin cushions and coffee beans. LOVE. The colors were just the warm yet modern punch of color we needed and I’m dying over the gold vessels, tapers, chargers and votives I was able to find over the weekend. My vision came to life 🙂 More details to follow! Hope you’re having a great Monday!

Executive Office – Paint it Black

November 13, 2012

After posting about our office yesterday, I got a few concerned comments (primarily from my mother) about my decision to paint our executive space off-black. “Are you sure you want to do that? You do realize that black is one of the hardest colors to paint… right? What if you hate it and want to paint it back? Do you know how hard that will be?” Not going to lie, I panicked for a moment and jumped back on Pinterest at the first chance I got. True to my stubborn self, after taking a 10 minute break to re-evaluate the images of black offices I’ve been ~~stalking~~ collecting, I decided to move forward with off-black plan. Tomorrow I’m picking up paint chips to make a final decision on the exact hue and we’ll finally get this show on the road.

{This space, designed by Atmosphere Interiors is so beautiful that it warrants three pictures. Those walls definitely aren’t painted (I’m certain it’s a wallpaper – not paint/stencil), but the black, white and gold are so gorgeous together I could die}

{The lamps. The mirror. The chair… GAH!}

{Simply perfect}

{Check out this stunner by Amy Morris for the Atlanta Homes and Lifestyle show house. Black, gold, lucite, cognac leather… and that fixture!!! Done and done}

{From the home of Adam Straus as seen in Lonny Mag. Pretty much obsessed on every level here…}

{Not as formal – love the integration of the wood and textures of the roman shades. Perfection featured in Lonny}

After doing some extensive research on rooms with black walls, there are two primary things you need to have in order for the space to succeed: Great architecture and a ton of light. Being that this space is a glassed-in loft (with two whole walls of glass, leaving only two to be painted), I’m certain that we have both of the above. The architecture of our office space is gorgeous (pictures to come soon) and being that daylight enters from both the east and west glass walls, we have plenty of light to keep the space from feeling cramped. I can’t wait for it to be done 🙂

Executive Office Inspiration

November 12, 2012

In July my company expanded and moved into a new sales and marketing office in LA which was a huge step for our little startup. Previously, we had a tiny executive suite in Manhattan Beach (in addition to our Orange County headquarters) that housed two of our LA team members who worked there daily. While the other 4-6 of us rotated in and out, used the floor’s conference room when it was available and primarily worked from home, it quickly became apparent as our team expanded that we had outgrown our one-room office and needed a collaborative environment for our company culture to really thrive. When it came to designing the office, being that I was the only one with a design background, I spearheaded the project and it has been SO. MUCH. FUN! It was a thrill to get back into AutoCAD (NEVER thought I would say that) and finding creative ways to work within our tiny budget, albeit extremely challenging at times, has been more fun than I could have ever anticipated. It’s been a work in progress for months and we’re finally getting ready to finish our executive office which is one of the final items on the list. Take a look at my inspiration board and sources below.

While the rest of our office is a combination of white, lucite and neutrals, I wanted this space to have a darker and slightly more masculine feel while remaining in line stylistically with the rest of the office’s modern aesthetic. Currently we have a donated white sofa, the above rug (also donated) a white Ikea Expedit and desks to start. The next steps are to paint the walls this color and start moving things into place. Obviously we’ll never have anywhere close to the budget for the Chieftians Chair, but I would love to find something similar (and for 1% of the bill) for some casual seating. I love the combination of the black leather and the exposed walnut frame to really warm things up. I foresee a few DIY projects in the near future! Stay tuned 🙂

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