Local Home Design and Décor Trendsetters

July 27, 2021

Our friends at 5280 featured local home industry influencers recently and we wanted to applaud their achievements even as we marvel at how they’re changing the look and appeal of interior décor in today’s new builds and remodels. 

Anyone who studies organic inspiration, design trends, and supports local businesses, craftspeople and artisans will appreciate the way these influencers are contributing ideas, creativity, passion and aesthetics to the industry. Our thanks to 5280 for these excerpts; taken from the  Dalia Singer piece appearing in this month’s issue.

Award-Winning Designer – and Southshore Alum

Angela Harris, CEO and Principal, TRIO Design is an alumni of Southshore..in a manner of speaking. She’s been involved, along with many of her staff, in the interior design of the amazing new Lighthouse at Southshore, the community’s second rec center and pool. Angela’s inclusion in the 5280 influencer round-up makes us more than a little bit proud – it’s like, we recognized her many remarkable talents before they did! 

Angela has the unique ability to predict what consumers want and through her Denver-based design firm, TRIO, analyzes consumer behavior to create maximum appeal in multi-family and commercial projects. 

Photo by Adrien Tiemen

The TRIO-designed Alas Over Lowry apartment building, is an example of consumers’ desire to live in healthy spaces—regardless of their age—with a wellness wing equipped with meditation pods. 

Last year TRIO made Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country, with Angela’s intuitive creativity guiding the unbelievably successful design firm.

Her extra-curricular projects now include a versatile fabric collection through Premier Prints, and a line of furniture that is set to debut in the fall, in partnership with Charleston Forge.

Unique Artisans and Craftspeople

We love being able to point people to local professionals who build unique furnishings, so were tickled to see Kevin Anderson, Owner, Kevin Anderson Designs among the top craftsmen and craftswomen / top influencers in the Denver-metro area. 

If you’ve a mind to stop settling for run-of-the-mill tables, dressers, cabinets, and more, check out the offerings from this 31-year-old artisan. He’s a one-man shop who carries out every step of the process himself, from designing the pieces to handpicking each piece of lumber. 

Anderson also puts his University of Colorado Boulder film studies degree to work by documenting the entire process (check out his fascinating videos on Instagram @kevinandersondesigns) as a way to “get people to think about their furniture,” he says. “Instead of flipping through a catalog, reach out to your local craftsmen and craftswomen.” 

Anderson’s natural wood furnishings are a reminder that we have choices in how we spend our hard-earned dollars when it comes to furnishing our living spaces. A custom dining table may have a higher up-front cost, but you’ll likely have it long enough to become a family heirloom. “We spend so much time interacting with our furniture,” Anderson says, “it’s worth the investment.”

Commercial and Residential Innovation

You might not expect a former race-car designer to enjoy life in the slow lane, but that’s exactly what inspired Scott Bennett, to create Housefish, a modern furniture company.

“In 2002, I was doing an IndyCar design and the company shut down unexpectedly,” says Bennett. “I ended up cofounding a baby-furniture company, and we were importing stuff from Vietnam.” But, he explained, the endless travel left a massive ecological footprint created by shipping materials and furniture internationally, so Bennett changed course and founded Housefish. 

Photo by Michael Smith/Guest House

With a workshop just north of RiNo, lots of Bennett’s pieces have found homes in Denver’s most notable eateries. For example, if you’ve pulled up a plywood-and-powder-coated-steel chair at Avanti or sat at a rift-cut white-oak booth at Uchi, you’ve been seated in/at Bennett’s designs. 

Housefish furniture can also be found in some 190 local homes, and the company’s reach is destined to grow even broader: West Elm now carries a collection of tables designed by Bennett on its website.

Again, don’t miss the entire, fascinating  round-up of home industry-influencers in contributor Daliah Singer’s July 5280 piece.

Colorado’s Top Home Builders in Southshore!

We have our own collection of influencers in the builders that joined the master-planned community of Southshore. Taylor Morrison, Richmond American Homes, Toll Brothers, and coming soon – Century Communities – offer an array of elevations, floor plans and the latest design choices. If you haven’t yet, check out the brand new homes in several models and styles in this exclusive Aurora neighborhood. Because Life at the Lake is everything you imagined, and more, check out the ranch and two-story options, priced between the $400s and the $700s.