RiNo’s Hottest Little Garden Shop

Birdsall & Co., the beloved South Broadway garden shop, debuts a hip, city spinoff—the Urban Nursery—in the heart of RiNo.

Denver’s RiNo neighborhood has a lot going for it—The restaurants! Those murals!—but verdant, it is not. And that’s exactly why the owners of garden-goods destination Birdsall & Co. thought it would be the perfect spot for their South Broadway shop’s first outpost.

5280 Home June/July 2019
More From The Issue

“We have seen a shift in our customers over the past couple of years,” says Morgan Huston, co-owner—with her mom, Annie Huston­—of Birdsall. “We have so many younger people looking to bring even the tiniest bit of the outdoors into their homes, and the Urban Nursery gives us a chance to meet our city customers where they live.”

Located in the Backyard on Blake development, the new shop packs a rainbow of indoor plants and pots—and all the practical tools to help them thrive—plus pretty candles, paper goods, and gifty items, into a sunny indoor/outdoor space. Unlike Birdsall’s Englewood store, known for large-scale garden decor befitting Cherry Hills estates, the Urban Nursery caters to small-space dwellers—see: tabletop bubblers and balcony-scale planters—and what you might call a millennial design eye: “Everything has a biophilic aesthetic,” Huston says, “but our products are fresh, young, sometimes even irreverent”—and right at home in RiNo.

Made in Denver: Colorful Planters

This summer, give stems the star treatment with these beauties.

This planter was crafted by hand by Jon and Deana Ketchum, founders of Denver-based furniture studio New Collar Goods. Photo courtesy of New Collar Goods.

Move over, terracotta pots: The freshest look in container gardening is free-flowing blooms paired with sleek, industrial planters in happy hues. Crafted by hand by Jon and Deana Ketchum, founders of Denver-based furniture studio New Collar Goods, these indoor/outdoor planters combine pot and base in one modern, geometric design made of durable powder-coated steel, and come in two sizes (for $99 and $149) and five zippy colors—citron, mint, coral (pictured), white, and charcoal—so there’s one to complement any batch of blossoms. (Custom colors are available if you order two or more.) Deana’s tips: “Nest the small and large planters together as a pair and let them cozy up an empty corner inside your home, or choose two to flank the front door for an impactful presence on the porch.”

Your New Favorite Home Design Book (by a Denver Style Icon)

The owner of Americana-decor shop Old Glory pens a lifestyle and decorating guide inspired by her pursuit of beauty and authenticity.

Holly Kuhn’s New Americana is available July 30. Image courtesy of Gibbs Smith.

When Holly Kuhn, a 22-year veteran of the antiques and furnishings industry and owner of home-decor shops Old Glory (in Denver and Round Top, Texas), set out to write a book about her signature style, she envisioned a collection of ideas about decorating. But what came out, she says, was a book about “designing a home that reflects who you are and what you value.” New Americana ($35), available July 30, reveals how Kuhn weaves the spirit of Americana (“hardworking, practical, resourceful, honest,” as she describes it) into the spaces she designs—think: casual but classic furnishings with worn wood finishes and textured fabrics. Illustrated with soulful images from Colorado and Texas homes—by Austin-based photographer Ryann Ford—it’s the perfect primer on the artful blending of old with new and on finding the simple beauty in everyday life.