Form Studio started as the brainchild of lifelong designers Amanda Larrimer and Madison Graney, two Colorado transplants who moved to Denver from Ohio and West Virginia, respectively. In a refresher design course they both attended, looking to fine-tune their online skill set and architectural drafting for the current digital age, they became fast friends, bonding over the decision of whether or not to choose interior design as a career path.
Briefly parting ways thereafter, Amanda continued running her clothing boutique Intrigue in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood while dabbling in staging homes, while Madison freelanced for an interior designer in town.
“I didn’t have a big community in the design world,” Madison says. She knew that she wanted to create beautiful, homey residential spaces, ideally with someone she already knew and trusted like Amanda. So the two rented a space at 4234 Tennyson Street in Denver and opened its doors in March 2020, days before the global pandemic hit the news.
Worried about the number of visitors who would come to the retail storefront during the virus outbreak, Amanda and Madison listed home goods for sale on their website. But Form Studio quickly became much more than a space for selling curated furniture and decor.
“Everyone was stuck at home and wanted new furniture and to redo their bathrooms,” Amanda says of their Colorado clients, mainly located in Denver’s Highlands. The Tennyson Street location evolved into a showroom, a portfolio displaying Form Studio’s designing chops.
When Amanda and Madison start redesigning a room, they first visit the home in-person to walk through and analyze the space. During the pandemic, the pair opted for online consultations, which weren’t nearly as effective as face-to-face meetings.
“That’s the way we envision everything,” Madison says of touring a space before starting. “Yes, we can put design boards in an email, but it isn’t the same as touching and feeling materials with clients.”
To most accurately plan for the client’s lifestyle, needs and budget, Form Studio begins with a two-hour client interview to get into the nitty-gritty details of a home’s color scheme, number of live-in family members and pets, capacity to entertain and the way the room’s inhabitants move through it on a daily basis.
“Half of this job is psychology,” Madison says. “Reading people and saying, ‘This is what you want from me, and this is what I can provide for you.’”
Their first meeting post-consultation, Amanda and Madison present the client with several 2D and 3D architectural drawings and renderings of the space with different furniture layouts. The next meeting involves choosing materials, like tile or carpet, plumbing fixtures and lighting. Form Studio designs from the ground up, deciding on flooring first and working up to ceiling fans.
Bathroom Blueprint
When designing bathrooms, perhaps not shockingly, the most important feature is where the bathtub or shower will go and how many people will be using the bathroom. Does it need a double vanity or just one sink? Are the clients willing to have some fun with tile placement?
Function becomes increasingly important in a space as small as a bathroom. For example, Amanda and Madison always consider outlet placement so clients can leave a hair dryer or electric toothbrush plugged in, tucked away in the cabinetry.
Though Amanda and Madison personally love eccentric and modern design elements in every room of the home, they say their bathrooms, and other spaces, develop based on what a client wants to achieve, many times a homey atmosphere based on their own personality.
“Our design is approachable and flexible,” Madison says. “We just want to create a haven for our clients to come home to, while setting realistic expectations in the beginning of the design process.”
The interior design studio enjoys creating and decorating every aspect of a residence and looks forward to helping their community make a house a home in the coming years.
FormStudioCo.com