Are you planning a trip to Los Angeles soon? Are you looking for the most Instagram worthy spots in LA? There are so many great photo spots to choose from. In fact, here are 13 Instagram worthy spots just on Melrose Avenue alone.
A few weeks ago, Maddy and I went down to LA to attend Create & Cultivate. We decided to stay an extra day to explore and shoot content around the city. Researching and creating Instagram guides is one of my favorite things to do when I travel. But I was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of the potential Instagram spots in LA.
Like Seattle (which is a third of the size of Los Angeles), LA could have an Instagram guide for each of its sub-cities. But unlike Seattle, driving from one location to another location could take over an hour – especially with LA traffic. So instead of going from the Griffith Observatory all the way to the Santa Monica pier, I decided to find and compile a list of Instagram worthy spots in Los Angeles on Melrose Avenue.
Where is Melrose Avenue?
Melrose
Avenue is one of Los Angeles’ most known streets. There’s tons of shopping,
dining, and entertainment on Melrose. This street runs through West Hollywood.
It’s located south of Santa Monica Boulevard and north of Beverly Boulevard.
Here 13 of LA’s Most Instagrammable Places: Melrose Edition
1.The Paul Smith Building
Address: 8221 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
This pink building is one of
the most photographed places on Melrose Avenue. Paul Smith is clothing, shoe,
and accessories brand. This high fashion and formalwear brand was founded in
1970 by Paul Smith, a British designer.
Maddy and I made this our very first stop in the morning. I’ve heard the crowds at the pink Paul Smith building get pretty busy so we were here before 9am on Sunday morning.
Here are a few tips to get a great photo at Paul Smith on Melrose:
- Go early to shoot: the later in the day you go, the
more people there are. - Shoot on the shadow side of the building: a lot
of people try to take photos at the corner of the building. But typically it’s
sunny in LA, so the lighting is uneven on the different sides of the building.
I recommend shooting in even lighting on the shadow side of the building. - Experiment with taking photos further away: some
of my favorite photos from this shoot were the further away photos. The
rectangular building looked more interesting further away than up close.
2. Carrera Café
Address: 8251 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Right across the street from
the Paul Smith pink building is the Carrera Café. Maddy discovered that you
could print a logo into the foam of your latte. We decided to put the Content
Creatives Podcast logo on the coffee! We also grabbed a waffles before we
ventured out to shoot the rest of the day.
This European style café is Instagrammable inside and out. The outside has floral entrance and inside there’s a pink phone! The printed logos on your lattes are also so cute.
3. Liquid Juice Bar Mural
Address: 8180 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
If you’re craving an organic
juice or smoothie, you can stop by the Liquid Juice Bar. The juice bar was
closed when got to the building but the outside mural was wide open. I loved
the fun, bold graphic mural outside this juice bar!
4. Crumbs & Whiskers | Kitten & Cat Café
Address: 7924 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90048
Crumbs & Whiskers wasn’t
originally on my list of Instagram spots in LA, but it was such a fun surprise.
Maddy and I were on our way to the mural Wings by Colette Miller when we
discovered Crumbs & Whiskers.
Maddy LOVES cats and
practically exploded when she saw this cat café. We went down to Wings by Colette
Miller and then went back to Crumbs & Whiskers. We paid $15 for 15 minutes
but you can reserve an experience ahead of time.
We learned that all kittens and cats were rescued from being euthanized and were available for adoption!
5. Wings by Colette Miller
Address: 7779 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
This was one of the most photographed spots I saw researching for LA’s most instagrammable places. I saw this wings mural all over Pinterest, Instagram, and Google.
The artist who created this mural; Colette Miller is both a musician and filmmaker. She created the Global Angel Wings Project in 2012.
6. Coffee Dose
Address: 8101 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Founded by Jeni and Oscar
Castro, Coffee Dose is located both in Costa Mesa and on Melrose Avenue. Maddy
and I loved the “Fuck Mornings” and “Anti-bitch serum” phrases on the coffee
cups!
We originally wanted to take photos inside but it was packed when we got there on Sunday morning. So we decided to sit at the pink seats and tables outside.
7. Frank’s Chop Shop | GC Mural
Address: 8209 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
As Maddy and I made our way back down Melrose Avenue, we saw people taking photos at Frank’s Chop Shop. We were surprise to find this GC black and white mural right outside of the barber shop.
This mural wasn’t originally on
my list of places to see because I didn’t see anywhere on Pinterest or
Instagram. But we thought it was a cool backdrop so I’ve included it in my
round up of LA’s most instagrammable places: Melrose edition.
8. UN.Plugged by Please Do Not Enter | Butterflies
Address: 643 N Flores St, Los Angeles, CA 90069
As we were walking to the next
location, Maddy noticed the gold butterflies running up the wall of this store
front. This shop isn’t located right on Melrose but it’s on North Flores
Street.
9. Sweet & Spark
Address: 8268 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Maddy and I crossed the street from Carrera Café and found Sweet & Spark’s floral store front. We absolutely loved this storefront and stopped to capture a few photos! This location also wasn’r originally on my list, but I knew I had to add it to my round up of LA’s most instagrammable places: Melrose edition.
We didn’t go inside the store but Sweet & Spark is a clothing and accessories store. They looked like they had such cute things inside.
10. The Crocheted Murals by London Kaye
Address: (on the side of the Paper Bag Princess) 8050 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
One of my favorite stops on Melrose were the crocheted murals by London Kaye. There are 3 different rainbow sizes, a peace sign, and a heart. You can find London’s crocheted street art all over the world.
11. Rainbow stripe wall by Vivienne Westwood
Address: 8320 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069
One place I kept seeing tag on Melrose over and over again was this rainbow striped/cactus wall. After clicking around Google Maps, I found this spot next to Vivienne Westwood’s shop. I loved this little pop of rainbow and cactus on Melrose!
12. Fig & Olive
Address: 8490 Melrose Pl, West Hollywood, CA 90069
We originally were planning to
go to Fig & Olive for happy hour, but after an entire morning of shooting,
Maddy and I were ready for lunch. We walked past the completely packed Alfred’s
Tea room and saw that Fig & Olive had plenty of outdoor seating.
Both Maddy and I loved the outdoor patio seating! We also really enjoyed our lunches (I grabbed a burger).
13. Immigrants Made LA Mural
Address: 702 North Laurel Street Los Angeles CA 90046
There you have it friends! 13 of LA’s most instagrammable places: Melrose Edition!
What other Instagram spots do you recommend in LA?
For more Instagram guides, you can also check out:
Seattle’s Most Instagram Worthy Places: Pioneer Square
10 Most Instagrammable Places in NYC to See
Pittsburgh’s Most Instagram Worthy Places
8 Most Instagrammable Places in Scottsdale
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Emma
Photos: @madcrayy