Project Name: Sweet Laurel Bakery
Project Location: Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Calif.
Project Type: New Boutique Retail
Project Flooring Size: 250 sq. feet
Designer: Claire Thomas
Installation Date: September 2018
Specified Product: St. Moritz from the Chateau Collection, DuChateau

Sweet Laurel is a whole foods baking company, with confections made of just the best organic, whole ingredients going into delicious grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free baked goods. The bakery focuses on indulgent, healthful food with a body positive perspective. All of the company’s treats are paleo, and some are also vegan and raw, with most made with less than five ingredients. and none of them are the wacky gums and stabilizers you'll find in most gluten free and paleo products.

Co-Founder Laurel Gallucci, one of seven children, has baked delicious treats since she could turn on the oven: chocolate chip cookies for her brothers, beautiful layer cakes for community events. When she was struck with an aggressive auto-immune disorder, her doctor put her on a strict elimination diet, and told her "you'll never eat chocolate cake again." Because of her deeply emotional connection to food, Laurel struggled. After months of baking treats for her family and friends she couldn't touch, she started experimenting with the ingredients she could eat. When she shared her grain-free and refined sugar-free goods with friends, they were blown away by Laurel’s tender, moist, and flavorful baked goods. Excited by their reactions and encouragement, Laurel turned her test kitchen into Sweet Laurel Bakery so that everyone can enjoy healthful, simple treats.

Claire Thomas, the cook, writer, and photographer behind The Kitchy Kitchen, knew she was tasting something special when Laurel brought over one of her cakes. Together, Claire and Laurel partner to form the Sweet Laurel brand. When designing their new space in Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, they knew they wanted something both beautiful and durable.

“Sweet Laurel has always had this ‘secret garden’ quality,” said Claire. “Our only form of marketing was through word of mouth, and I wanted the space to reflect that: like stumbling into an English tea room in the middle of LA. It feels like you’re in on a wonderful secret.”

They decided to work with DuChateau, a San-Diego based flooring company, to outfit the quaint bakery with the St. Moritz flooring from it’s Chateau Collection. “DuCheateau creates stunning flooring with a timeless quality,” said Claire. “Our goal was to create a jewel box shop—intimate but beautiful, and DuChateau's floors provided the high impact we were looking for.”

For more information, visit sweetlaurel.com or duchateau.com.