Color connoisseur: Doug Meyer for Lace Beauty Labs

Designed by Doug Meyer, Lace Beauty Labs is old-school 1950's Miami glamor with Mediterranean and Moroccan accents. There are two locations: Lace Nail Lab, and Lace Beauty Lab.

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In Meyer's own words, "It’s like a jewel box. I would describe it as Miami Beach 1968 meets Dorothy Draper meets Tangier of the 1970s."(source)

Each area has its own color scheme and lighting goal. Everything from blowouts and facials to massage and makeup. They also have a changing room/lounge.


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Lace Nail Lab is  ultra-pink, pink, pink, resplendent with pink, patent-leather stools and chairs surrounding white tables in the manicure area, and elegant white Barcelona chairs for pedicures.

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“People always say it’s like a cyber Barbie Dream House. It’s very slick and very modern, even though it’s girly,” says salon owner Anna Elizabeth.

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Lace Beauty Lab, also designed by Meyer, is decidedly much less pink. Noticing the well-groomed men in the neighborhood, Elizabeth says, “I had the feeling that we were going to have a bigger male base here and wanted to make the salon more appealing to them.” Of the Beauty Lab’s clients, 30% are men. Who would have thought so many men were into that? Although there are a couple of walls patterned with pink, there are also blue, green, and silver walls lined with Venetian mirrors.(Source)

A surprising tidbit about Doug Meyer: he doesn't subscribe to following trends. He advises,
"The one thing I stay clear of for interiors is a trend. Reason being that it is so costly and time consuming to create a room that when you base something on a “trend” it becomes so cliché and out of date before anyone has time to sit down in the space." (source)
I love this quote from the NYT, "[Doug] Meyers's hot tropical style — [his] own version of Miami's flavors — quenches eyes parched from so many years of earnest, Eamesian good taste." Isn't that fabulous?

Meyer generally won't take on a project unless the potential client is familiar with his unique aesthetic and will grant him complete control of the design. Ah, wouldn't that just be wild, to have that kind of freedom of self-expression? Of course, that's completely counter-intuitive to what I do, working with primarily residential clients to enhance their surroundings with color by encouraging their own personal tastes and ideas.

Do you feel completely at ease expressing your most dramatic design ideas within your own home, or for clients?

All Photography by  Mark Roskams