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Volume 3, Issue 18
STYLEDIFFERENT BY DESIGN
The word 'design' means something different to most everyone. One fateful day recently, I visited two stores that occupy opposite ends of the design spectrum, and was pleasantly surprised at what they had to offer. I landed first at Mod Livin', a retro design specialist at 5327 E. Colfax Ave. From a large and fittingly funky building that counts a pool hall among its incarnations, Mod Livin' beck-ons like Las Vegas. Outside, a friendly lineup of chairs lures the retro fanatic. Inside, the wood is blonde and plastics rule, from squishy soft sticky vinyl seats, to soft-edged melamine dinnerware-- a sea of pink, turquoise, and mint green. Ashtrays fill available niches like air rushes into a vacuum. Everything retro lives here, which is both nice and annoying. Beautiful examples of Art Deco industrial design coexist with a kitschy orange wall hanging that looks like stuff Grandma willed to me, and which I did not hesitate to throw out. While I'm not exactly a minimalist, this store does have a bit much for me to digest. Owners Eric Roorda and Jill Warner have been collecting things Modern for a decade. When Roorda decided to trade his 25-year airline career for retail, they spent two years searching for an appropriate space, then four months sprucing it up. (" Ask me anything about refinishing terrazzo floors," Warner said.) Locating on Colfax was a given. Practically in unison, they proclaim their love for the street: "We will be here until Colfax returns to its original state. And we'd like to think we're an anchor for redevelopment." So far, so good. The day they opened, people lined up outside the door. The day I visited, people streamed in constantly. Roorda and Warner rotate stock often and they offer items at a variety of price points, from, as Roorda describes it, "low-end kitsch," to an Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair that will sell for $4,000. Speaking of kitsch, Mod Livin' currently has a display of Paint by Numbers worth a look and a laugh. My favorite is "Jesus Praying at Golgotha," so nonsensically colored that he is nearly camouflaged ($ 20). 
Hyped up by Mod, I headed for Flairtique, at 2910 E. 6th Ave. I suspected from its address that I'd be entering another design dimension. When I arrived, that was confirmed. Owner Denise Grogan was with a customer, so I poked around among royal blue and gold tapestry, silver tea sets, and scented candles. No vinyl here! But there are nice finds like a Scottish 1850s-era mahogany chest of drawers and a French wrought-iron crib cleverly remade into a daybed. Lovely things lovingly arranged. Things I think I probably shouldn't touch. But Grogan put me at ease right away. "The purpose of this store is to have fun and to take the intimidation out of antiques." She has skillfully mixed contemporary art and weird little accessories with antiques into an eclectic look she believes people can apply to their entire houses. Grogan, who opened Flairtique after a career spent as an insurance executive with a hobby of antiquing, said she really likes to work with people-- and it shows. She is originally from the South, and that shows, too. Her graciousness is genuine; as good as her taste. Excitedly, she talks about the New Orleans-style coffee shop going in next door. The store owners are building a shared back patio so customers can drink in design with their hot chicory brew. Grogan most enjoys helping clients find their own style, using objects they already have, maybe adding a few new pieces in unexpected ways. She tells customers, for the same amount of money you'd spend at Pottery Barn, you can pick up a one-of-a-kind item, something that will hold its value. This echoes the somewhat tongue-in- cheek assertion of Mod Livin's Warner that many retro design items are better investments than stocks. Wonder if I could convince my husband that, instead of a 401k, we should be buying up lots of melamine? Probably not. But I'll be back to Mod Livin' and to Flairtique, because they make design what it should be: fun. --Kimberly MacArthur Graham photos by sean hartgrove |