The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is right around the corner! The festival is Colorado’s famous celebration of all things art–there really is something for everyone. The free festival takes place the 4th of July weekend starting on July 3rd at 10 am. CH&L is proudly sponsoring the festival, and we hope you stop by our booth at 3rd and Fillmore to say “hi.” For more info, visit cherryarts.org. And to whet your palate, here’s some work from a few exhibiting artists that caught our eye…

Energy by Julie Havel

Space by Julie Havel

Pottery by John Herbon

Evian Etude by Michael Bryant

I’ve always had a small problem with personification. My imagination (always a little errant) runs wild when it sees things like a tub of peeled garlic cloves (so vulnerable!) or  a lonely little cloud in an otherwise clear sky. But the real tragedy has always been bare walls…poor things, they must be so cold! Which is why I was delighted to stumble across a charming little company called Farrow & Ball. Founded way back  in the 1940s in the English countryside, the company prides itself on using original formulations and raw materials. (Never switching, as others have, to acrylic, or adding plastic ‘fillers.’) What’s truly unique about their papers, though, is that unlike other companies that invariably use printer inks, Farrow & Ball creates their papers using their own paints. What does that translate into for those poor shivering walls? Texture. Layers of vivacious color that you can literally feel.

Farrow & Ball tends to specialize in traditional colors and prints, and while those can be all fine and dandy if you’re restoring a traditional home, I’ve also discovered that some marvelously modern things tend to happen when you take a traditional print, exaggerate the scale of the pattern, and invert the time-honored colors (so the lighter hue goes to the background and the bolder hue takes center stage). Take a look at a gloriously large pattern like Silvergate (below, right), and liven it up with some eye-popping pink, or add a little whimsy with the more modern Vermicelli in sage and silver. Even something as seemingly yawn-worthy as a stripe can look smashing when that stripe measures over 5″ wide, and becomes a gorgeous study in contrast of simple gray and white. They’re generous with their samples, but if you just can’t wait, Brunschwig and Fils in the Denver Design District is an official showroom. Best bet? Go online, find a pattern you love, pair it with the most unlikely color you can think of, and start wallpapering some warmth onto those poor walls!

On June 2nd and 3rd, CH&L in partnership with Roth Distributing hosted the 2nd Annual Inspiring Design Conference, a two-day educational event for home design industry pros at the Roth Distributing showroom (inspiring in and of itself). More than 150 of CO’s top design professionals came out to hear speakers on topics ranging from social media and contract negotiation to finance for small business. Speakers included locally, nationally and internationally recognized architect, EJ Meade of Arch 11, and interior designer Mary Wilson of Nielsen-Wilson Designs. During breakfast and lunch breaks we had the opportunity to mix and mingle with each other and hear from our sponsors (Designs by Sundown, Rio Grande, Decorative Materials, Dornbracht, NKBA, ASID Colorado, and NARI). Dates for the 3rd annual IDC have tentatively been scheduled for June 9th and 10th, 2011—so pencil those dates in! For attendance and/or sponsorship information, send us an email: jwilliams@coloradohomesmag.com; or call us at (303) 248-2060.

We often get people stopping by our offices to drop things off and pick things up. We participate in and sponsor many different types of events, so items like cases of wine, displays, and random supplies are constantly coming and going. So when our Marketing Coordinator ran in asking if we knew about someone needing to pick up tennis shoes, we were only a little perplexed. She asked around but nobody knew about the tennis shoes. Then it all became clear when she went back and asked for more info: it was really TEN ISSUES of our magazine that were required. Just a funny little Monday misunderstanding!

This afternoon, as the clouds rolled west over the mountains, I drove down from Denver to Colorado Springs for an event that reminded me of one of my favorite design adages: Often, simple design is the best design. The event is called Design for Hope, and it’s a project of the Interior Design program at Pikes Peak Community College. The concept is simple (and modeled after the TV show “Design Star” on HGTV).  Each of eight teams of students gets a blank space (three walls and a floor platform) and is assigned a room (kitchen, kid’s bath, art studio, outdoor living area, etc.) Each team gets $1,000. The rest is up to them.

Students were encouraged to use recycled and reclaimed items, and I think they did a brilliant job. As I walked around the rooms (at an empty retail space at the Promenade Shops at Briargate), the student designers talked about how they recycled items they found from places like Freecycle and Craigslist. (You would never guess that these pieces weren’t brand new. These students know how to give second life to furniture, finishes and lighting.) Part of Design for Hope’s goal is to promote sustainability in design practices. Mission accomplished.

Kudos to the program’s director, the talented and tireless Tara Gray, for giving design students an opportunity to learn how to make the most of their resources, use their imaginations and execute fantastic work.

If you’re looking for a design-inspired way to spend tomorrow night (Saturday, June 12), head to the Promenade Shops at Briargate in Colorado Springs for the gala and silent auction from 5:30 to 9:00. Tickets are still available for $35 each, which includes wine and beer tasting, music, appetizers and a silent auction, in which you can bid on all of the objects from the students’ rooms. (I have my eye on a particularly cool chandelier in the dining room…) Proceeds benefit CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, which trains and supervises volunteers to represent victims of child abuse. Volunteers work for the best interest of these children in the court system and in the community. It’s a worthy cause–and the gala promises to be a very fun event. Don’t miss it.

The Alzheimer’s Association is hosting their annual Memories in the Making Art Auction next week on Thursday, June 10 at INVESCO Field at Mile High. The event features a selection of watercolors painted by patients battling Alzheimer’s, and all proceeds go directly to the Alzheimer’s Association. Each of the 50 silent auction and 20 live auction professionally framed paintings offers insight into the minds of those affected by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Some of the paintings will be paired with pieces from renowned local artists, including Anne Aguirre, Jim Becker and Jean Black. To order tickets, go to alz.org/co.

The editorial team is starting to plan for our September/October “kitchen and bath” issue, so I’m on the lookout for lovely things for these spaces. Today, I discovered this gem of a vanity from Hastings Tile + Bath. Called the Ameli, it’s definitely sleek, a minimalist’s dream. I wonder how it looks with toothpaste dripped in the sink basin…