Bring Home A Little (Denver) Handmade

1. Urban Flax

Vita Kacerovskis, Littleton

A former graphic designer who has “made things all [her] life,” Vita Kacerovskis took inspiration from her Latvian
upbringing when she launched Urban Flax, her home-textile business. “I wanted to make something that’s beautiful, practical, that comes from a natural source—and I grew up with lovely linens,” says Kacerovskis, who sews simple tablecloths, tea towels, napkins, and other everyday textiles and sells them through her Etsy shop.

Working out of her home sewing studio in Littleton, Kacerovskis sources flax linen in natural, white, and gray hues—“a palette that goes with any interior,” she says—and fashions the fabric into useful shapes with simple details. “The texture is more important than the form,” she says. “You can make linen very smooth or leave it un-ironed for a wabi-sabi look.” No-fuss design at its finest.

2. Mortar & Stone

Erin Pattullo, Denver

While studying photography and painting at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, Erin Pattullo found herself drawn not to a camera or a brush, but to the ceramics studio. “Ceramics was one of the first classes I took, and there was something so relaxing about the process,” says the potter, who began making Danish wheel-thrown tableware (and other functional pieces) full-time in 2016, in her studio inside Aurora’s Jubilee Roasting Company.

“I strive for a sense of craft,” Pattullo says, “to understand how a piece would fit into someone’s hand and how they would use it.” She brings this design-minded approach to the custom pieces she makes for shops, florists, bloggers, and other clients—and to the work she sells through her online shop, which she stocks and “opens” for one month several times a year. When the next shop launches (in the fall), we’ll be after Pattullo’s perfectly contoured mugs.

“Now that my life revolves around making things, I’ve learned to fall in love with every part of the process, even if there’s something mundane about it.” —Erin Pattullo

3. Plant Inspiration

Robyn Tighe, Boulder

While working a desk job and searching for a creative side venture, Robyn Tighe found inspiration in an unlikely object: a subpar planter hanging in her kitchen.

“I was looking at my favorite plant hanging in this gross plastic container, and I thought, For someone who cares about art and design, why do I own this ugly thing?” laughs Tighe, who launched Plant Inspiration in 2015 to deliver the attractive, plant-friendly containers she couldn’t find anywhere else on the market.

Tighe’s designs, which pair powder-coated steel planters (made locally) with clay pots and saucers, are brilliantly modular: Just mount the planter to the wall or suspend it from the ceiling with wire, and lift out the pot to care for the plant. With clean lines and neutral hues, the planters are intended to “showcase the natural curves and colors of the plants,” Tighe says—which means your herb garden or succulent family becomes the main attraction.