By the JMD Interior Design Team
We’re always on the hunt for just the right detail to accent a room, or inspiration for a brand-new space. Below, we share some local shops that our interior designers love, plus an idea of what you’ll find at each.
Paris Underground, Aspen
Since 2001, owner-curator Laura Blocker’s elegant showroom in town has continued to evolve as a favorite spot for interior designers, architects and “those with discerning tastes.”
We agree! And we certainly appreciate Laura’s great taste and penchant for midcentury and modern furniture, lighting, soft goods, accessories and more. (Check out the bed pillows in our Aspen Bleeker Street interior design project photo below.)
Shopping at the Aspen interior design showroom always reveals new and interesting items, as Laura’s eye and instinct is spot-on. A restored and reupholstered André Putnam settee. 1980s French abstract brass mirror. Woven leather Alicante baskets. And more, more, more!
250 E. Durant Avenue #206, 970-544-0137, parisunderground.com
Explore Booksellers, Aspen
For over 40 years, this delightful bookstore in a former Victorian home on Main Street has welcomed people in search of books on everything from pets to photography, cooking to computers, and bibles to biographies.
But in our book, there’s no better place in town to browse (or, better yet, buy) inspiring books on architecture and interior design, as well top practitioners in their respective fields.
Not on the shelves? The kindly, knowledgeable folks at the front counter will order it for you. Need it wrapped as a gift and a card to go with? You’ll find one (and lots of other interesting items and paper goods) in the little shop in the back. 221 E. Main Street, 970-935-5336, explorebooksellers.com.
Jonathan Berger: The Store at the Aspen Art Museum
Tucked inside the outstanding Aspen Art Museum (designed by famed architect Shigeru Ban, a work of art in itself), The Store is a re- imagining of the museum’s gift shop by American artist Jonathan Berger.
Inspired by Berger’s first-hand experiences “working and shopping in downtown NYC in the ‘90s,” it’s also an exhibition in its own right. Head in through December for ideas and objects to enhance interior design concepts –USSR blankets, cast iron bells, handcrafted jewelry, leather notebooks and map cases, mini storage “compartments” from Czechoslovakia and too much more to name. Can’t make it in? Scroll through the website. 637 East Hyman Avenue, 970-925-8050, aspenartmuseum.org
Decorative Materials, Basalt
It’s an art gallery with a twist. Instead of painted canvases, the artists represented at Decorative Materials International Limited specialize in tile, stone, porcelain, ceramic, mosaic, glass, and other mediums. The works they create are not intended simply to adorn a wall, but to become the wall (or floor, or countertop, or backsplash, or fireplace surround, as the case may be).
That such a place exists in downtown Basalt may be attributed to founder-owner Margot Hampleman and her team. Together, they work from conception to completion of custom interior design projects in all shapes and sizes. Homeowners are welcome and there are Decorative Materials Showrooms in Vail, Telluride and Denver as well.
150 Basalt Center Circle, 927-0700, decorativematerials.com