More and more trends have been evolving lately when it comes to jewellery store design.
“The newest thing that I keep hearing from clients for jewellery store design is, ‘I want to look like a Starbucks environment,’” says Leslie McGwire, president of Leslie McGwire & Associates, a Michigan-based interior design company. “What that means is that the client doesn’t want to see a formal jewellery store like in the past.”
In order to achieve this “organic” Starbucks feel for one of her clients, McGwire went for an open space with rustic reclaimed wood floors, design cases and brick and stone walls. One unusual feature that was added to the overall design was a diamond bar with wood planks on the front of the bar, which creates the “coffee shop laid-back atmosphere”—only with diamonds on the menu.
Another inquiry that McGwire got from her client, The Diamond Center, was transforming a 12,000-square-foot jewellery store in Wisconsin into the “Apple Store look,” which meant incorporating a lot of white and grey colours, simple and clean—something untypical of a traditional jewellery store. The result was a beautiful cutting-edge design.
“The new trend that the owners want is to make people feel comfortable in their store,” says McGwire. “It’s not about that formal looking design and image that has been done for years.” CJ
