Colorado, from the inside.
Twenty shops in two towns — nine in Boulder, eleven an hour down in Denver. The ones we actually drive to. This is the state we get to write with our own two feet.
This is the one we can write from the inside — Colorado is where the Hollow keeps its own corner.
Every other page on this directory, we write from a respectful distance — researched, honest, but from the outside. Not this one. Colorado is home. These are the shops we actually drive to, on a first-name basis with half of them, and the ones marked a Hollow favorite aren't a guess — they're where our own bowls and blankets came from.
Boulder is the home nine: Pearl Street's shops, the furniture makers who've been building heirloom hardwood since the eighties, the ceramicists throwing at the foot of the Flatirons, and the Saturday market on 13th. The light up here is different — thinner, brighter, harder on the eyes and easier on the heart — and it seems to make people want to make things by hand, the same way the Oregon rain does.
Denver is the other eleven, an hour down the turnpike and nothing like a single district — Homebody in Congress Park, Miller Lane on Tennyson Street, two furniture makers in Globeville and Englewood, a ceramics studio out in Wheat Ridge, a year-round greenhouse in South Park Hill, and both weekend markets. You drive it; you don't walk it.
Fort Collins and the mountain towns come next, slowly, the way we add anything. But if you only trust one state on this whole map, trust this one. We live here.
Cedar & Hyde
Elevated, colorful, un-precious home goods on Pearl Street — rugs, mirrors, objects with a point of view.
Boulder Furniture Arts
Heirloom hardwood, hand-built in Colorado since 1985 — and the famous real-leaf lamps.
Throwing Mud
One-of-a-kind functional stoneware thrown in Boulder — the mugs half our cupboard is made of.
By town
Boulder
Denver
More towns
The slow route: Boulder & the foothills
A home-turf loop — Pearl Street, the Saturday market, and up into the canyon where the towns get small.
Pearl Street, on foot
Start where we start: the walkable heart of it. Cedar & Hyde and Jones + Co for the home things, then a wander with a coffee before the block fills up.
The 13th Street market
If it's Saturday, this is non-negotiable — the Boulder County Farmers Market, mountains at the end of every row. Peaches in August, squash by October. Eat here.
Up Boulder Canyon to Lyons
Trade the town for the foothills. The road narrows, the shops get one-of-a-kind, and the makers who wanted quiet are up here. Bring a layer — the temperature drops with the altitude.
Farm stands on the way down
Come back through the plains toward Longmont, where the produce stands and the honesty boxes line the county roads. This is the part that reminds you Colorado is farm country too.
Colorado, in short
The short answers
Where are the best independent home shops in Colorado?
Boulder and Denver hold all twenty listings. In Boulder: Cedar & Hyde on Pearl Street, Boulder Furniture Arts, Throwing Mud. In Denver: Homebody in Congress Park, Miller Lane Mercantile on Tennyson, Mod Livin for mid-century.
How many shops are in the Colorado directory?
Twenty, across two towns — nine in Boulder and eleven in Denver: furniture makers, ceramics studios, home and vintage shops, plant and garden shops, and the markets.
When is farmers market season in Colorado?
Most markets run April through November. Boulder County Farmers Market is Saturdays April–November plus Wednesday evenings May–October; Denver's South Pearl Street and City Park markets run weekends in season.
Anything to know before shopping Boulder or Denver?
You're at altitude — 5,280 feet in Denver, 5,400 in Boulder. Pearl Street is walkable; Denver's shops are spread across eight neighborhoods, so plan the drive.
How does a shop get listed here?
Listings are free. Shopkeepers can claim theirs to fix it or write it themselves; in exchange we ask for a link back or a small affiliate.