Audio By Carbonatix
Shopping at the light and airy Room is like visiting the loft of your most stylish friend: You wish everything could be magically transported to your own home. “This furniture really strikes a chord,” says owner Merlin Parker, who opened Room two months ago. “Everybody who comes in here seems to have a story to tell. This stuff typically brings back good memories.”
Specializing in mid-century modern and retro 1970s furniture, Room features everything from vintage Italian white vinyl and glass chairs to chrome and glass kitchen sets. There’s even a late-’50s wooden Zenith television set on rollers.
“We’re not just for collectors. We do a lot of mid-American staples, not so much kitsch,” says Parker. “And while we have a lot of original pieces, we also have some newly produced accessories as well.”
Room stocks hip home trimmings like lamps, clocks, pillows, candles, pottery, sushi sets and wine racks, along with original art, jewelry and picture frames.
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“My goal is to keep things reasonably priced,” Parker explains. “This is not stuff that you can order from a catalogue; you have to be out and about and hope you strike gold. I’m a visual guy. If I like something, I’ll snatch it up.”
“This area is really booming right now — we get such an interesting mix of people through the door,” says Parker. “Our inventory really does change pretty much on a daily basis, which keeps it fresh and interesting.”
Room is located in the Uptown neighborhood, at 248 East 20th Avenue. For more information, call 303-832-6273. — Julie Dunn
Bargain Binge
Viaduct Market puts on airs
SAT, 3/27
It’s the time of year when the true root-around bargain shoppers pop out of their holes: Not only do yard sales rev up among the crocuses and daffodils — with fifty-cent feather dusters, mounds of baby clothes and slightly nicked coffee tables on display — but the flea-market season kicks off, too, trumpeting new opportunities for bric-a-brac browsing under the sun. Or, in the case of the clever new Viaduct Market, not under the sun, which can beat down relentlessly on the baking concrete. Shoppers don’t have to fry, because the younger sister of the Larimer Street Ballpark Market camps near the place where Denver began, in the cool shade under the Auraria Viaduct at Fifth and Walnut streets, just a hop, skip and jump away from the convenient Invesco Field light-rail station. Shop today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (or every fourth Saturday through November) and make a quick getaway via mass transit. Happy hunting!
For details and a map, log on to www.viaductmarket.com. — Susan Froyd
