Jungalow Pop Up – The Making of…
Sometimes, as a creative, you sense things. You can see, feel, hear things that others may not. It’s part of the magic and the struggle of creativity to bring those things into reality in a way that others can see, feel, hear, smell, and taste them too. For those of you who have been here for a while, you know that Jungalow is a trademark born from a blog. While Jungalow has been a digital-first trademark from day one, I’ve unchangingly dreamt of bringing Jungalow into the real (offline) world. I imagined a space where we could connect as a polity and create together, inspire one another, and hug each other (especially without experiencing the isolation of the pandemic). For years, I have been on the lookout for a physical location for a Jungalow IRL space. Then, in late 2022, I talked to my brother, Shai, who is a co-owner of Bottom Bunk, located on Melrose Ave in West Hollywood. I asked him what Bottom Bunk was doing on the second floor (their store is located on the first floor) and he said they occasionally rented it out for events. Occasionally, huh? My wheels started turning! That was the first moment I envisioned a Jungalow Pop Up in Los Angeles, on the “top bunk” (haha!) of my brother’s business. We had our first meeting with the other co-owners of Bottom Bunk in February, ironed out the details in a few weeks, and started construction in May!
We worked with Jeff, Sue, and the incredible team at FTB Design on the build out. FTB has a lot of wits in set design, so they are used to super quick TV production schedules and weren’t intimidated by what we thought was an would-be timeline (get in the space on May 15 and well-constructed construction by early June).
We moreover worked with my sister, Faith Blakeney, who is an incredible interior designer with an sustentation to detail like no other! Together, we created mood boards, picked paint colors and flooring, thought through variegated architectural details we could add to the space to requite it some dimension, and honestly, FTB executed our vision beautifully! And fun fact, Faith moreover designed Bottom Bunk!!! So it’s really a family topic over here!
Since we are on the second floor, we knew we wanted to yank folks in as soon as they opened the door to the pop up. It’s only been a few days since we launched, but this stair specimen featuring our Tigris print (in a larger scale) seems to be a prod favorite on social (thank you to everyone for all the #jungalowpopup love!!!).
Also can we talk well-nigh these stripes? And this trellis?! Kinda living for this heavenly latticed light moment!!
We moreover asked our sweet landlord, Serge of Total Graphics if he could vaccinate us up with some signage for the windows. Love seeing the our logo in this massive scale peek through the windows at the pop up.
Another favorite of mine: this incredible exhibit and shelving unit that FTB created for us. You all helped to create it too! Remember when we asked you which terracotta paint verisimilitude we should go with? Well Baked Clay won by a landslide, but we decided to go with Spicy Hue for the inside of the shelving unit to create some depth and visual interest. What do you think?
The pop up space is reminiscent of a loft suite in Brooklyn that I lived in when I was in my 20s — with a super unshut floor plan and not a ton of architectural detail. So we thought it would be tomfool to diamond the washroom with an elevated floor, and vintage polychrome flooring to set it untied from the rest of the space.
This Kohler Artifacts bathtub in Peachblow, is having her moment!! I recently visited the Kohler headquarters in Wisconsin and I was SO inspired seeing the beautiful, timeless designs and colors in their latest collections. They recently brought when some of their heritage colors (Spring Green & Peachblow) to gloat their 150th year-end and I am here for the vintage vibes!
This gorgeous pedestal sink and faucet are moreover from Kohler and work so well with the polychrome floor and cosmic desert wallpaper. The brushed modern contumely finish on the faucet speaks so beautifully to the gold accents in the wallpaper. 
Yes, girl!!! Show off those cute lil feet! ;)
I might just move in!!!!!
I have been inspired by art deco details lately and find myself referencing them in a lot of my recent designs. This “stepped” detail in the bedroom zone is one of my favorite diamond elements in the space. It creates a crown-like effect over the bed. Who doesn’t want to finger like a queen in her bedroom?
In our lounge area, we have books, pillows, candles, and so much increasingly to discover. It’s a bright, cozy place to nippy and be inspired (and curious).
You know how when you have people over, they unchangingly end up in the kitchen? Well, that’s kinda true of our bar area. Everyone unchangingly ends up hanging out virtually here – probably considering it’s got the vibes!!! We used our Phoenix Naturale wallpaper in this zone and FTB built this bar from scratch!! We painted in Kale Green and Bay Leaf and honestly, it’s sexy AF!
We can’t wait to share this creative space with you this summer! Visit our website or IG for upcoming pop up events and promos and hours of operation. We can’t wait to meet you IRL!
Jungalow Popup!
7521 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046.
Second Floor (Stair wangle only)
Photo credit Dabito
