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Alchemy Collective || Lauren Martin-Moro

@alchemy_collective_

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Custom builds, full renos & furnishings. Warm, character filled homes: LA/CA & beyond. 512 Main St, #1, El Segundo, California, 90245

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Alchemy Collective was born from a love of transformation, of texture, of history, of meaning.

I believe homes should feel like stories. And that design works best when it listens first.

So whether you’re here for inspiration, a future project, or just passing through…
I’m so glad you found your way here.

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #southbay
#westside #interiordesign #homedecor #renovation #designbuild #homeremodel #losangeles #lifestyle #design
#manhattanbeachhomes #realestate #brentwoodhomes #creativeliving #decor taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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a year ago

Thank you for all the lovely messages as we’ve been rolling out our studio renovation on stories… see Alchemy highlight for all the #bts we’ve shared in the past week. Here’s a beginning look into our new studio, shoppable gallery space, and new website to follow! We’ve been knee-deep in projects since we renovated earlier this year so we’ve been taking our time to do it right and not rush our flow. The time is HERE… we welcome you to come stop by, say hello, and shop!

512 Main St, Suite 1
El Segundo, CA 90245 by @alchemy_collective_

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3 years ago

Transparent Tuesday: A rare sighting on the feed... a warm hello to both the new faces we see popping up here and our tried and trues who have followed our journey for years. I'm Lauren, Creative Director and Founder of our budding studio & new shoppable gallery space in the heart of downtown El Segundo, Los Angeles. After being in the interior design world for over 20 years, a VERY intimate and personal industry, I believe the connectivity and humanness (ie: imperfections) in each of us, are what bring us together. I'm a firm believer that, what one emanates, one attracts. I try my darnest to live by it. After crossing the threshold of my fortieth last month, I've had a LOT of reflection happening... equal part lessons and looking forward to how I really want to LIVE. How I want to feel in my daily life, what fills my days, how I feel in my own skin, the quality of my thoughts, whether alone or in a crowd. The quality, not quantity of the people in my life (pers & biz) are key. In similar fashion to how we as a creative studio dig deep with clients to unearth their comforts, their pain points, their dream bucket list boxes for their home... I've been doing a self-exploration in my own life for this next decade as it lies at my feet. Surrounding myself with like-minded people . . those filled with passion, perspective, a penchant for making mischief & core memories are IT for me. Oftentimes finding a new layer of oneself, means saying thank you and so long to an older version and the limiting habits & beliefs which lie within. I'm here for it and you'll be seeing a lot more of it to come. A shout out to all our incredible clients, my team and support system who make it worth giving everything we've got. ⁣Life is too short, long, simple, complicated, beautiful and brutal to play small & not be 1000% unapologetically yourself. xxL

Design: Our new studio, hello, us!
Photography: @public311design taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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3 years ago

Why horses? While they’re certainly having their year in the spotlight, it runs deeper over here.

For me, it’s a lifelong love story of freedom, a wild spirit, finding a sense of place within oneself and connectivity to nature. The tiny slivers of joy from a little girls heart. Being in the presence of these ancient, sentient souls is the closest to ‘source’ I’ve ever found. They take me out of my head and into my body. They quietly awaken the essence of my spirit that gets dimmed with the complexities of real life. Their energy invites me to return to my highest self, every single time I’m among them.

It’s hard to explain to non-horsey people. If you imagine your favorite place on earth, why it makes you feel that way, and who you are in those moments. The way your soul dog evokes an unbreakable, invisible bond to your heartstrings. The way putting noise cancelling headphones on finds the purity of the rest from the silence. The way an old friend visits you with your self entirely undone with no expectation other than you being you. It’s kind of like that.

To move in sync with a powerful animal 10X your size. Two separate beings connecting in a moving meditation partnership. It feels like you’re floating, flying, yet so very grounded and part of the earth. Horses feel your inner energy before your body ever shifts. Their physically enormous heart, slows down yours, to sync in harmony as one. They absorb your stress energetically and release it. The feeling of their warm breath, their velvet muzzle and deep soft eyes; scanning your body for anxiety, your heart for sadness, and asking nothing from you other than being who you really are in the moment with them. No performance, no acting fine, just being. That is the healing power of horses. You don’t have to ride to feel the effect in their presence. All you have to do is be yourself. That’s it.

Our second Healing w/ Horses Retreat dates launching soon. .

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #healingwithhorses #sacredspaces #designprocess taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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10 days ago

If we’re about to renovate your home together, there are a few things I should probably tell you first…
There will be dust. A ridiculous number of decisions. And at some point, you may never want to hear another question again.

There will also be at least one “tiny change” that somehow affects five other things. It comes with the territory.

But somewhere between the floor plans, deliveries, pivots, and plot twists, something happens.

The vision takes shape. You can finally see it as clearly as we do.

The stone goes in. The lighting gets hung. One day, you’re standing inside the home we spent hundreds of hours bringing to life together.

Renovating is messy, exhausting, personal, and so incredibly worth it.

We’re not just changing how your home looks. We’re changing how it feels to live there. And that you get to keep.
  #alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #interiordesign #designprocess #designservices taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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12 days ago

I’ve tried my hand at a trophy-wife life.
There are parts that are lovely.
I visit her sometimes.
But then there’s this other woman in me.
The one with ideas.
The one with appetite.
The one who wants to build something, make something, move something.
The one who won’t stop until she sees all she’s capable of, and so much more.

Some women are simply born from the fire.

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #westside #interiordesign #designmemes taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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14 days ago

Running your own business comes with long days, hard days, a thousand tiny decisions, and apparently a brain that has no interest in observing normal business hours.

There are ideas scribbled down on a notepad at 3pm. Framing problems solved in the shower. Google meetups from the school parking lot.  And kitchens I’ve mentally redesigned seventeen times before anyone else has even seen version one. When I know something is missing, or a layout could be better, I can’t stop until I solve the rubix cube.

My job looks glamorous from the outside, however, building something from the ground up never is. Just like the homes we build from scratch, building a business tests EVERYTHING. Personality. Strength. Character. Patience. Integrity. Grit. Money mindset. Imposter syndrome. Feeling enough. Pushing forward when all one wants to do is quit. Feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

I couldn’t do one lick of it without my incredible all women team, our trusting clients, and our vendors that show up for us time and time again.

As I grow older, the bigger gratefulness I have for each and every step in my life.

Manifestation comes from gratitude. Abundance comes from alignment. Purpose comes from growth. Real alchemy within the inner work.

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #westside #interiordesign #designprocess taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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17 days ago

Ten years has a way of changing what you think success is supposed to look like.

There have been beautiful projects, hard decisions, seasons of growth, seasons of reflection, and more lessons than I could have imagined when I first started. And here I stand, 16 years since starting on my own. Studio and shop, incredible team. Amazing clients. A VERY full life.

Along the way, I learned to trust my eye a little more. To protect my peace. To surround myself with good people. And to remember that building a meaningful business is about so much more than profit margins and what ends up in the portfolio. It’s about the heart work, the shadow side one’s mindset, it’s about becoming so sure of yourself, you cannot fail, only learn. It’s about being so delusional in your vision, your intuition becomes your compass.

  #alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #westside #interiordesign #designprocess taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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19 days ago

A smaller footprint can still hold so much personality.

In fact, sometimes the smallest spaces ask the most of you.

For the Breakwater Bungalow guest house, the goal was to make the main living space feel relaxed, layered, and completely effortless from the moment you step inside.
But effortless takes thought.

When square footage is limited, every piece has to earn its place. Every proportion matters. Every finish is felt. There’s no room for something that’s simply there to fill a corner.

So we layered warmth through texture. Chose pieces that felt substantial without feeling heavy. Paid attention to scale, sightlines, and all those tiny details that subtly change the way a room feels.
And that’s what I love about designing smaller spaces: you’re reminded that a beautiful home has very little to do with how much of it there is.

It’s about how much feeling you can fit inside.

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #designprocess #designservices #behindthebuild taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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22 days ago

Fall has a way of arriving quietly. 🍂

The light shifts. The evenings come a little sooner. And somewhere between the last warm days of summer and the first cool morning, we find ourselves looking at the front porch thinking…

It needs pumpkins.

Fall Foraging is back, and it remains one of our favorite ways to welcome a new season home.

We wander. We gather. Pumpkins in every shade, beautifully imperfect gourds, unexpected shapes and all those little pieces of autumn that make a home feel layered and lived in.

Then we bring it all to you.

Sometimes it’s a quiet scattering along the steps. Sometimes it’s abundant, overflowing and wonderfully over the top. Because there really is no such thing as too many pumpkins.

Either way, we style each space to feel as though fall simply found its way there. Warm. Natural. Welcoming. A little undone.

You enjoy the season. We’ll bring the pumpkins. 🍂

Fall Foraging is now available at alchemy-collective.com

#alchemycollective #fallforaging #autumndecor #pumpkinseason #interiordesign taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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24 days ago

Some things bring you back to yourself without ever asking you to explain where you’ve been.

For me, horses are that special place.

There is something about standing beside an animal 10x your size that has no interest in who you are on paper.

They don’t care how much you accomplished that week.
How many people needed something from you.
How long the list is waiting at home.

They only know the version of you standing in front of them today.

And somehow, in their presence, that noise goes silent.

Your shoulders drop.
Your breathing slows.
You stop thinking about where you need to be next and remember what it feels like to simply be alive.

That is the heart behind HEALING WITH HORSES . . an intimate afternoon created for women to step away from everything they carry and spend a few hours in the quiet company of horses, nature, and one another.

No expectations.
No horse experience needed.
Nothing to prove, fix, or become.

Just come exactly as you are. You’re right on time.

Saturday, September 26 | 1:30–6:30 PM
Win Place Home | Santa Clarita, CA

We’re keeping this gathering intentionally intimate, so space is limited. 🤍

Comment HORSES HEAL and we’ll send you the booking link.

#HealingWithHorses #WinPlaceHome #EquineHealing #WomensRetreat #AlchemyCollectiveEvent taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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a month ago

Renovation really changes your definition of exciting.

A new range? Major event (& mommy’s mortgage).
Countertops installed? Christmas came early (as did the bill).
Cabinetry arrives? Someone break out the champs (and the xanax).

And somewhere along the way, you also become oddly desensitized to money in a new dimension.

A number that once would have funded a very fabulous summer vacation suddenly feels perfectly reasonable because we’re this deep and need to do it right.

Yes, renovations are expensive. And exhausting. And occasionally unhinged. I’m personally in the thick of it and yes, it hurts, even for me. Painfully so!

But creating a home that feels entirely, unmistakably yours?

Worth it. Every 3am wake up.

At this point, I don’t need a holiday anyway (I’m too stressed to enjoy lol).

I just need the install to go exactly as planned . . I mean, a girl can dream right?

#alchemycollective #interiordesignlosangeles #interiordesign #designservices #designmemes taken in Los Angeles, California by @alchemy_collective_

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a month ago