Yesterday I had the good fortune to invite myself (and be told yes) to a very cool, private tour of Pinterest's headquarters around the corner in San Francisco. Along with two coworkers from New Relic happily bounced along on a two hour tour Pinterest's HQ. Our lead was their head designer, Jen. Pinterest's offices are famous for being inspiring and unique, all thanks to Jen, and it seriously did not disappoint. Luckily they're also just a 10 minute cab ride away. We arrived for lunch (which was all healthy and awesome, and offered daily along with dinner and endless drinks and snacks - it's like a little Google!). While we ate, Jen gave us the vision for the office and how it all came to be. Interestingly, the space was a strongly considered contender for New Relic but in the end NR turned it down, because it's a little too edgy and arty for our crew, but ideal for Pinterest. After lunch, Jen filled us in on all the stories behind each space as we walked along, from the conference rooms, craft table (fully stocked and oh so tempting) bike parking, laboratory, all manner of common areas, desks of course, the "top pinned items" display, a badass garage door conference room, pictures of pinners, a sweet lending library, red English public phone, lunchroom, coffee bar, game room, mother's room, zen room, wine room, yarn bombs... on and on....it was impressive. It was rad not only to hear how each area was conceived, but how the actual scouting of materials went down - auction houses, made-to-orders, commissions, and funny stories like Ke$ha trying to make off with one of their couches at a flea market. A lot of the moveable designs and decorations in the space were created by Pinterest employees, who are all super talented and creative (natch). They do monthly "makeathons" like our "hackathons" where they get together and make what ultimately gets displayed.
Anyway, here are some pics. I obviously had a great time, was really inspired, and would love to do this for a living! I didn't take as many photos as I now wish because I was asking lots of questions and trying to keep up, but I did take some. These are from the first space - which they have already outgrown. I wish I'd taken a photo of the center common area, right when you walk through the main doors, past reception, and where the lunch was taking place. Great space. No wonder it's next to impossible to get a job here.
We also got to check out the unfinished space where they're building out the next offices next door. The second Pinterest building has a lobby so beautiful I think I took about a billion pics. I'll post those later.
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