A Hip and Colourful Ode to Playful Cookware

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Cookware brand Our Place quickly rose to fame following its founding in 2019 for its sleek, colourful, and multifunctional Always Pan—a staple in the picture-perfect kitchens of Instagram influencers across the world. With its new store in Los Angeles, where it is headquartered, Our Place wanted to capture the spirit of its cheery and on-trend products while also honouring its founding mission of encouraging connection and inclusion in the kitchen.

To bring it to life, the brand tapped Brooklyn-based firm Ringo Studio, founded in 2020 by Madelynn Ringo and known for its work with other colourful and contemporary labels including Glossier and Bala. Ringo Studio’s resulting 1,200-square-foot retail space on West Hollywood’s Melrose Avenue embraces 2020s aesthetics for a design firmly rooted in the here and now.

Photo by Elizabeth Carababas

Photo by Elizabeth Carababas

“They wanted the store to be an immersive physical experience that would generate excitement and intrigue, encouraging customers to stop by the store, test out the products, and better visualize them as part of their cooking routine,” Ringo explains. “Having a physical retail location allows brands to engage in conversation with customers, getting to know their interests and providing personalized product recommendations. Designing the store in a way that allowed their merchandising team to create product storytelling was a must.”

Photo by Elizabeth Carababas

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Inspired by beautiful houses and apartments filled with eclectic and personal touches, the store features scenes that showcase products with stylish domestic backdrops that customers move through, much like the rooms of a home. “We wanted the customer to feel as if they had stepped inside their chic friend’s apartment and were shopping directly from their kitchen counters.” Ringo says the design narrative her team built is one of her favourite aspects of the project.

Customers enter a room with large arched windows, curving tile-wrapped counters that display products, and checkerboard ceiling tile, which combine to “convey a sense of being inside a warm and welcoming kitchen,” she explains. Cabinet knobs are mini versions of the iconic Always pan’s lid.

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Colourful ceramic tiling, sourced from Fireclay and Helen Levi and used throughout from statement walls to tables to countertops, was a particular learning opportunity for the team. “Colour matching was something we spent a significant amount of time on to get the right balance that would showcase the brand’s colourful product line,” Ringo says. “Design is in the details, and our team was very focused on perfecting all the grout colours, alignments, and orientations that make up the tile patterns.”

In the next room, separated with flowing curtains, terra cotta limewashed walls match sheer panels of fabric that hang from the ceiling in a wave, and darker-hued flooring and trim. On one wall, eight arched cutouts reveal lilac and green tiles, a cheerful backdrop for the wares displayed within. In the middle of the room, a curving custom table sits on chunky scalloped legs, setting the scene for an inviting tablescape. “The details and proportions feel as if you are in an open-air courtyard and the large table is already set for the perfect dinner party,” the designer notes.

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Photo by Jenna Peffley

Colourfully painted arched door frames lead to the last room, dubbed the Small Room of Wonders, which Ringo describes as “the most unexpected.”Mirrors on three walls give the illusion that the squiggly lavender tiled table is endless, a nod to the brand’s mission of “building a bigger table.” Sheets of sheer cloth in the same purple flow from the ceiling, and arched modern lilac chairs are pulled up to the table.

With extra care given to adding personable elements like the pan-lid knobs and checkerboard ceiling, the Our Place store is a physical embodiment of the brand. “The use of soft fabrics, warm woods, and colourful ceramic tiles was a visual catalyst that transports you to that familiar feeling of domestic space,” Ringo says.