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While there are myriad retailers and brands whose furniture and decor pay homage to perhaps the most beloved design era, midcentury modern, there are only a handful of brands reproducing the actual pieces that defined that era. One such brand is Design Within Reach, which sells famed midcentury-era brands such as Knoll, Herman Miller, and Louis Poulsen, along with a multitude of others. DWR’s authenticity is one of the many reasons that actor, producer, and entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross hired them to design the offices of her haircare brand, PATTERN Beauty.
Her office, which encompasses both PATTERN Beauty and Joy Mill Entertainment (Ross’ production company), is located in West Hollywood, where some of the best relics of both midcentury modern design and architecture are on display. That said, Ross’ office was not one of them, and transforming it into a design-centric space that honors midcentury modern design was a challenge, admits Alyssa Lewis, the lead designer on the project. “The space needed a lot of work,” she says. “It was quite cold, and besides keeping some of the structural elements, such as the glass walls in the executive offices, conference rooms, and meeting spaces, we invested in a lot of touches that warmed up the environment.” Those elements included a completely renovated kitchen, for which Lewis enlisted Reform, new lighting, and new flooring.
As for the rest of the space, it’s a well-balanced trade between modern and contemporary. “She had a specific vision when it came to comfort and creating a calm space that could support and keep up with the entire team,” adds Lewis. With that in mind, there are no aggressive patterns, competing palettes, or uncomfortable textures. Everything—even the color of the walls—is meant to inspire both creativity and serenity.
What’s more, both Ross and Lewis didn’t want this space to feel gimmicky, like they were trying to recreate a specific midcentury scene. Instead, they opted to use a collection of the most beloved pieces from a variety of decades. “Throughout the office, you’ll see a curation of designs from various eras: icons from the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, in addition to bold pieces from today’s leading designers,” Lewis explains.
To masterfully mix so many famed pieces from such a wide variety of time periods, Lewis and Ross needed to make the space feel grounded, so the first order of business was deciding on both a color and texture palette. “The palette is rooted in rich, warm hues that complement the PATTERN Beauty brand. This is beautifully reflected in the ochre, caramel, toffee, mustard, sand, and tobacco hues that are paired with navy accents, rich walnuts, and organic Carrara marble,” Lewis notes. Next came the furniture and decorative details.
One of the best areas to take a seat and get comfortable is the lounge, which is located just off the café. “The lounge offers a more casual, residential space for employees to take a break, have a brainstorming meeting, host town halls, or review a new campaign,” Lewis explains. There’s even a projector installed on the ceiling for anyone eager to share what they’ve been working on. When the projector is not in use, the lounge boasts a living room feel, which, of course, was the intention.
Perhaps less conducive to a relaxing break is the conference room, which was designed as a classic meeting space, but not a boring one. In fact, one major driving force behind Lewis’ process here was the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows that make up the entire back wall. “Due to the direct sunlight from the windows, we chose to envelope the room in a Maharam fabric that allows for a more focused and grounded option,” she says. Having too much natural light was, Lewis admits, a good problem to have. “The combination of the dimmable glass lamp, the fabric on the chairs, and the slightly sheer curtains creates this really special glow within the room.”
As is the case with a home, an office’s entrance is hugely important for setting the tone of the space. It’s the first area guests, colleagues, and potential clients see upon entering, so getting it right was paramount. “Creating that warm, layered, and residential feel in this area was crucial. It’s an energy that you immediately pick up on, and it’s intentional that you feel it upon arrival,” Lewis insists.
This space has a moodier feel than the rest of the office, and that was hardly an accident. Ross and Lewis sought to generate a feeling that could only be achieved with the correct cocktail of lighting, texture, and color. “When you enter the office, we want you to feel grounded, calm, and inspired. Lighting, drapery, rich organic tones, and sumptuous textures helped us achieve this,” she adds.
The open storage space is smack-dab in the middle of the office, and it’s intentionally kept more minimal compared to the rest of the office. It’s a celebration of the simplicity that is often associated with the early days of the midcentury modern movement, when furniture designers and architects rejected the unnecessary ornamentation of the pre-war days. "PATTERN needed a mix of flat surfaces for viewing materials, filing cabinets, closed storage, and also open shelving for merchandising," Lewis explains. "Framing the view with the configuration was very intentional, and we purposely chose to put the shelves that didn’t have backs closest to the open view so that it felt like a continuous experience across the horizon."
It’s hardly a surprise that Ross, a regular on most best-dressed lists, was immediately drawn to the fashion-forward New Canaan Leatherwrap desk by Geiger, a furniture company founded in 1964. After the furniture and decor were moved in, Ross and Lewis moved on to the art. “We knew the general concept while working on the project. The art is all from PATTERN Beauty’s campaigns, so there is an incredible library that the PATTERN team pulled from for the walls,” Lewis explains.
