When it comes to a shade like purple, you have to go big or go home,” interior designer Colin Griffith muses. He put this philosophy to the test in a luxury high-rise residence in downtown Denver, where the hue appears in the furnishings, floor coverings and even the flowers. It’s fitting for an abode overlooking Coors Field, home to the purple-jersey wearing Colorado Rockies baseball team, and for the owner, a woman who, per the designer, is an avid Rockies fan. “She never misses a home game,” Griffith says. “But here she doesn’t have to leave to see the stadium—the living room windows are in line with the famous Purple Row, the team-colored seats that encircle the ballpark exactly a mile above sea level.”
The color palette is just one of many individual notes that are hallmarks of the space. Notably, as the designer considers his client one of the best-dressed women in the Mile High City, his inspiration started in her closet. “I like to begin a project by observing what a person wears,” Griffith notes. “Her clothes are fun and fresh, super urban and modern—and that was the guide for the look of her new residence.”
The abode’s unique moments start at the front door, where a cast-plaster statue of a cowboy and his horse seem to emerge from an alcove, ready to stride down a 32-foot-long sculpted cowhide rug and into the living, dining and kitchen area ringed by panoramic views. “To enter the home, you have to go through a long hall with a slight angle,” the designer says. “The rug leads you down a path from front door to living room.” The passageway has little natural light, but Griffith added a sense of spaciousness with a series of paintings depicting elegant hands holding objects in front of airplane windows. “The corridor almost felt like a long aisle on a plane, and I thought, ‘how can we make this super sexy?’ ” he recalls. “The answer was to install these little ‘windows.’ Each one is colorful and tells a story.”
In the living area, purple appears in cashmere-covered armchairs, the owner’s beloved collection of orchids and a carpet with a cranium motif. “This is another example of going bold,” Griffith says of the latter. “It’s a super-modern iteration of a Persian floor covering—it looks like purple paint has been splashed across it and features big skull images and copper-wire binding. It’s a piece that people will remember.”
Accented with highly detailed black-leather pillows, the same room’s angular, gray-velvet sofa is another unforgettable element. “It’s a four-sided sectional, two ‘Ls’ placed back-to-back,” the designer explains. “The shape of these rooms made furnishing them challenging—there’s nothing square or linear in this home—but this piece allows a person to sit and watch television, read by the fire or face the piano and orchid wall while drinking coffee.”
That orchid wall featuring blossoms ranging from the lightest violet to a dark plum represents the interior equivalent of a grand slam. “The owner loves these flowers. For decades, she’s been receiving them for special occasions, and now she has a lot,” Griffith says. To exhibit them in the home, he designed “something that looks like a chic trellis,” utilizing a series of wall-hung metal shelves for an industrial touch. “It became a living art piece.”
The kitchen island also took an artistic turn with the addition of a metallic-tile backsplash, a row of jewelry-like pendants and a bold, black-and-white-marble island countertop. “I purchased this stone even though I had no project for it at the time—it’s just so gorgeous,” remembers Griffith. “We used it here and made the kitchen island a sculpture, while adding elements that shine.” Meanwhile, the hues soften in the primary bedroom, a space the designer wrapped in a soft, gray-linen wallcovering with a delicate, hand-painted design. “We need to create places for ourselves where we can go for respite when the world is exhausting,” he notes.
In the adjacent bathroom, a large photograph of Stevie Nicks hangs over a shapely, luxurious tub. “The singer reminds me of my client, who is a fan. They are both cool, badass women who are breaking boundaries,” Griffith shares. Adding that these rooms are like a portrait of the owner, he concludes: “They are a reflection of her soul and personality, and they are a haven for her.” In that sense, the project is a home run.
