Showroom

BY KIMBERLY MACARTHUR GRAHAM

>>> Columbine Showroom, Denver, Colorado

Columbine Showroom's furniture lines exude comfort and elegance.

An inviting forest of deep and sultry wood, crafted into furnishings that both look great and feel good, gives the Burchfield family's Columbine Showroom class, character and a feeling of refined comfort. "I'm a guy," says owner Dean Burchfield, stating the obvious and making a little fun of himself. "I like wood and leather and comfortable pieces." What he doesn't state is that, fortunately, he has tremendously good taste. The showroom is in fact a showplace, a rich collection of furnishings, lighting, bedding and accessories, all smartly grouped and coordinated. Columbine, located in the Denver Design District, makes it easy to imagine and realize a complete home design, even to the outdoor rooms.

At Columbine, lines with a deservedly long history and large following share space with pieces by newer, often smaller companies. All offer stunning craftsmanship, quality materials and lots of options, aspects Burchfield fears are being lost in the consumer market. "Higher-end goods are becoming much harder to find," he says, explaining that he sees his role as ensuring choices remain available to discerning designers and their clients. "What we have here at the Denver Design District is a nice alternative." Among Columbine Showroom's bountiful offerings, one might spy a Drexel Heritage four-poster bed aglow in ebony and piled high with creamy, downy bedding; or the Vanessa loveseat from RC Furniture, its generous curves, maple fabric and mocha fringe smoldering with Hollywood glamour. Or perhaps the fringe that will catch one's eye is on Bernhardt's lime green, nailhead-trimmed Martha Stewart Signature Barlow Settee. Additional represented lines include Marge Carson, Hekman, Sam Moore, Pride Sasser, Shadow Mountain and Thomasville.

And then there is the outdoor furniture, an entire floor devoted to it. Columbine Showroom carries haute outdoor lines including Brown Jordan, Lloyd/Flanders and Windham. Beautiful enough to grace any interior, these lookers are also tough, made of materials that withstand sun and moisture. Wrought iron, cast aluminum and wovens all feature deep cushions and colorful, even elegant, fabrics. "The outdoor room is the final frontier," says Burchfield about the trend of extending interior design style from the home to the garden. "Everyone is redoing their back yards and putting in entire rooms."

All this style comes bolstered by excellent service from Columbine's staff of six. Everyone who works the floor understands that sometimes the showroom is a designer's only conduit to advice, information or assistance. "It's a priority, since designers are really on an island," says Burchfield. "We help them with everything they need; we step in and do whatever they need to solve a problem."

Like the look it promotes, Columbine Showroom is a classic. A family-owned business in its third generation, the showroom has been selling for nearly 30 years. Burchfield's father, Jack Burchfield, started Columbine after years of working for Thomasville and, until his recent passing, still came into the showroom several days a week. Burchfield joined the business early on, his wife keeps the books, and now their daughter works in the showroom, too. "She loves it," Burchfield observes happily, adding that his daughter's youthful involvement in buying has given the showroom "a whole new outlook. We're learning to strike a balance between too trendy and keeping an edge."

Burchfield admits that it is a challenge to sift through trends to determine which are fads and which have staying power. And, considering fabric palettes get updated every six months and new lines come out every year, it can be difficult to stay current. But staying relevant is an important part of Columbine's commitment to designers, and so Burchfield expertly picks and chooses new items that meet his stringent definitions of elegance and class. His hard work pays off — for designers and their clients, who count on Columbine Showroom for refined, easygoing pieces with classic lines.

The showroom emphasizes well-crafted furnishings that work well in traditional, transitional and mountain-resort settings.

Looking over the busy showroom floor, Burchfield muses, "Hopefully, there are enough people who still want exactly what they want — furniture made the old-fashioned way, one piece at a time." The level of activity reveals that there are indeed enough such people, but the Burchfield family and Columbine Showroom are always happy to win new converts.

Columbine Showroom, Denver, CO; (303) 722-4400 or www.columbineshowroom.com.