Moorea Seal is a Seattle shop owner, author, entrepreneur, and designer. This fall has been a big one for Moorea — her second book was released and her shop got new digs. We’re delighted to be offering a peek into the newly reopened and designed Moorea Seal (the shop), all of which is gorgeous, but we’re particularly smitten with the enviable dressing rooms! Moorea’s business initially grew out of her massive Pinterest following; she began her online shop with the same style people had come to know her for from Pinterest, opened her brick-and-mortar shop (which is now in its new downtown Seattle location) and authored two books. Moorea describes her books, The 52 Lists Project series and Make Yourself At Home: “I like to think of my books as beautiful objects that trick you into knowing yourself well, loving yourself on a deeper level, and tricking you into giving yourself therapy with your own internal wisdom.” With so many titles personally, it’s no doubt that the shop Moorea Seal also has a myriad of offerings — there’s still the online site, the newest storefront, a jewelry line, desktop products, and over 150 handmade items curated from across the country. And since her shop’s beginnings, Moorea Seal has given 7% of all proceeds to non-profit groups (you can even shop by cause on their site).
When it came time for a new location after outgrowing the previous one, Moorea Seal teamed up with the design team at Flint, first with branding in the beginning of last year. That branding was then used as part of the inspiration behind the design of the new space. Flint wasn’t just a good design match, Moorea and Tyler (one of the founders of Flint) have known each other since college. Brooke, the other founder of Flint, was a perfect fit, Moorea explains, “Brooke was honestly the only person I could trust to bring to life the vision I had hoped for with our store. And her interior design turned out perfectly.” This isn’t the first time Moorea Seal has expanded, but it’s the first time they’ve had to do a complete build-out, with the new space being a true blank slate — so much so that it didn’t even have electricity or HVAC. The 100-year-old building space began at 4,000 square feet; it was split in half for the Cone + Steiner store, then the Moorea Seal team made 1,400 square feet the storefront, 1,000 square feet became the shipping and inventory section in the back, and then a second floor was added to accommodate offices above.
Arguably, the biggest challenge was installing the HVAC for the building. After being installed in the wrong place, twice, it was finally installed a third time that enabled the offices to still be usable. “Needless to say, it took longer than we expected, was a major learning curve with HVAC, and electricity and more,” Moorea admits. “Building out an entire space from scratch meant a lot of headaches along the way, but thankfully, the result was exactly what we had dreamed of. So for now, the storefront is perfect.” There were also other big projects that thankfully were less stressful, like the enormous piece of custom-made arched pink glass on the front window. It acts as a literal rose-colored glass that you can take photos through from outside, and it’s also one of the special elements that sets Moorea Seal apart on the busy Seattle street. “We are beyond thrilled with how everything turned out. It was lots of work from our whole team to make happen — we were merchandising the space up until the last half hour before we opened, eek! But we made it happen. And we have been amazed at the response from customers, fans and press thus far,” Moorea shares. If you can’t visit Moorea Seal in person, hopefully these photos can transport you to their new, warm and inviting space! —Rebekah
Photography by Moorea Seal
Image above: The Moorea Seal nook is a favorite among staff and customers alike. Whether they’re taking a short shopping respite, or a selfie, it’s the perfect corner for a break.
from Design*Sponge http://www.designsponge.com/2017/11/shop-tour-moorea-seals-new-space-in-seattle.html
from Home Improvment http://notelocreesnitu.tumblr.com/post/167558057609
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