Amanda Larrimer’s small business experience started in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood, where she ran Intrigue Boutique from 2016 to 2021. Between her years of retail experience and putting together rooms in her house, Amanda recognized her knack for arranging patterns, textures and colors.
“I really love design,” Amanda says. That’s why she decided to go to design school in Denver, then opened interior design firm Form Studio in 2020 with two friends that she met in her classes. Amanda is now the sole owner of the business and describes her individual style as a bit quirky, and one that often centers on vintage pieces.
“I love incorporating old and new,” Amanda says, but not just in her own home. Form Studio’s clients often have pieces that they want to feature in a room that has been passed down through their family. “I really love incorporating those family pieces," Amanda says, "those personal pieces, because that helps create your space for you.”
Form Studio’s central philosophy is just that—design individualistic rooms that reflect the personality of the people who live there.
“If people walk into their space, they know it's that person's home,” Amanda says. “It doesn't just look like they just went to West Elm and bought the display set.”
Amanda exercised this self-expression last year in a first-floor remodel of a home in Golden.
“The family that lives there wanted to create one large living space, but still have some division,” Amanda says, all with southwestern and modern elements. The family met with contractor Square Root Construction and architecture firm Fury Designs, then consulted Form Studio for help with material selections and the final layout of their adobe house.
The family decided to open up the kitchen by removing the walls of an adjacent sunroom and replacing it with a long dining table. This divides the cooking space from a spot to watch TV on a cozy sofa.
Form Studio also redesigned the front room into a warmer, more sophisticated lounge spot, plus a bathroom with new wallpaper and a pistachio cement sink. The garage entrance was moved into the laundry room, which was expanded along with the mudroom, to provide better flow throughout the first floor. The family chose a terracotta picket fence floor tile for the laundry room, which complements the adobe house, while the sage green cabinets add a pop of color.
“I really love all their material selections that we landed on,” Amanda says. “I think they ended up with a really pretty home that's going to have a timeless feel.”
Form Studio experienced an influx of clients in 2020 and 2021, during Covid when people who were spending more time at home wanted to revamp their spaces. But that boom brought with it a shortage of certain materials and fixtures.
“It hit the industry in every way,” Amanda says. “Something you picked four months ago, it's no longer in stock, which was a real issue over the last few years.”
But, with such snafus, Amanda says that one of the best parts about working on the adobe house was that the family was open to new developments and creative solutions.
“As you move through the design process, it really is more of a conversation,” Amanda says of personalizing a home. “They definitely had thoughts of their own, which is great, and they were always open to new ideas.”
Last July, Form Studio moved the location of their curated showroom on Tennyson St. to 4315 West 44th Ave. Form Studio is open Monday through Friday by appointment.
