Denver design duo Jim Hering and Ron Werner have never been ones to follow the rules. In 1998, when Ron was an investment banker in Chicago and Jim was managing one of the Windy City’s premier design showrooms, the two decided to trade it all in and start over in Colorado. They opened their first HW Home furniture store in Boulder, taking a chance that the Front Range would identify with their handpicked style. Ten years and four stores later, the duo’s signature organic-meets-contemporary-meets-worldly aesthetic has since come to help define Denver design.

Ron and Jim say the key to their store’s success is simple: They stock it with things they love—even if those things, at first blush, don’t seem to go together. It’s not uncommon to see a Louis XIV-style chair, upholstered in zebra-print fabric, sitting beside a Mid-Century credenza. And the same holds true at home. Inside their contemporary, three-story Riverfront brownstone, the duo mixes traditional with modern, organic with synthetic, Asian with European. Each piece was chosen because, well, they just liked it. The result is totally eclectic and totally them, which is exactly why it works.

5280 December 2008
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This article was originally published in 5280 December 2008.
Cheryl Meyers
Cheryl Meyers
Cheryl Meyers is a contributing writer to 5280 Home, which means she gets to spend her days writing about Colorado’s most beautiful indoor spaces.