rockin' the suburbs

although at valentine on the side we love to be thrifty, we recognize that sometimes you need to spend money on quality products. we also know that, as much as you may dislike it, you may sometimes need to go to the suburbs (like, maybe that's where your dentist is or something). if these two events happen to collide, the best place to go is compostion at belmar. belmar is a city within a city type of weird alien shopping complex located in lakewood, about a 15 minute drive from downtown denver.

composition is a design heavy boutique, with books, paper products, organizational supplies, bags, laptop accessories and jewelry. they also carry the more kooky items on the high style spectrum like baby sea turtle onesies and earrings made from recycled skateboards. they try to carry as many green products as possible which is why it's a pricer store. it's the type of store you wouldn't blink at to find in new york or berlin or london but it's shocking to find such a place located in denver. composition is also very travel friendly so they have an amazing selection of travel books (including the incredible color-blocked phadon travel series) and books about foreign cities, inciting your travel lust even further while visting this oasis of high style.

it was a delight to visit and here are our favorite bits:

walls and tables abound filled with everything from graphic design and archetecture books, super cool smart magazines for creative thinkers, travel guides, crafting and general hip hilarity. 

composition is maybe best known for having the coolest bags in the denver area. they run pretty pricy but they're high quality and the staff is super helpful when it comes to finding the right one for you.

el's favorite bag is a sleek japaneese design, the allen foldover by RO. ken's favorite bag is an oversized felt number by Carga.

and here we are, at the baby gorilla pillow at last. how amazing is that? we also have featured above the incredible not quite edible egg pants (don't you just have to have them?) and the two thing el couldn't leave behind at the store, a lovely deer card and a new toothbrush holder.

if you dare venture into the suburbs, you have to stop by composition. we love it so much here is all their contact info (they have an online store for those of you not in colorado):

composition 

7180 w. alaska drive

lakewood, co 80226

www.shopcomposition.com

cheers!

DESIGN TIP OF THE MONTH: COLOR-BLOCKING!!!!

turns out that arranging your books by author is so 2008. one way to really jazz up your living space (and what's more stylish than having a cool pad?) without spending a dime is to color-block...well, everything....but let's start with your bookshelf. below is an example of a non-color-blocked bookshelf: messy, disorganized (perhaps a little familiar looking??) but with lots of potential.

does your bookshelf look like this? gross. its a good thing we came along.

so how much of a difference can one color-blocked bookshelf make? check out kendall's color-blocked books below. it cost $0 and took about ten minutes......

much better!!! as you can see, color-blocking adds a certain je ne sais quoi. you not only look semi-organized, but design-savvy as well. and once you start color-blocking books, the obsession only grows... it eventually expands to include cd's, movies (which is really hard), clothes, trinkets, picture frames...oh my god...it goes on and on...

el became a fan of color-blocking back in her early days of boutique retail in fort collins, she then honed this admiration during her time at paper source in mpls--the chapel of color-blocking (check it for yourself www.paper-source.com). after visiting the home of a paper source co-worker who had everything on her walls not only situated in little old fashioned type writer boxes (adorable) but also color blocked, she knew she needed to apply color organization to her home. her book shelf (hard to photo as it is over 6') remains her favorite color-blocked home addition and the one that gets the most attention from visitors. el likes it when she sees other's color-blocked book shelves as she enjoys seeing what color of books people buy the most of. el has more red books than any other color, ken has more black. how about you?

what amazing heights can you reach with color-blocking you ask? we will leave you with a photo we found on the web that made us both gasp with delight, and not just because there is a small dog in the picture. who is the amazing princess who took the time to organize this precious bookshelf? we may never know. but we are in awe.

the holy grail of color-blocking

until next time, cheers!