The holidays are here, and there’s no better time to support the incredible local businesses that make Boulder unique. From handcrafted goods to innovative products, we’ve rounded up our favorite brands that inspire us year-round. Whether you’re shopping for loved ones or treating yourself, these Boulder-based businesses offer thoughtful, one-of-a-kind gifts that celebrate community, craftsmanship, and creativity. Let’s dive into the ultimate local holiday gift guide!

Selecting the perfect paint colors, finishes, and stones for your remodeled home is not for the faint of heart. There is a dizzying array of options to choose from and yet is one of the most important design choices you can make. This season, we are turning the spotlight on the color white.

The Tectonic Studio is a space of impeccable design, but it is also a place thoughtfully intended to connect us with our Boulder community. So much of what we do is focused on how we can uplift other local Boulder businesses and the incredible creatives and entrepreneurs driving them.

Transforming this craftsman-style Boulder home into a luxurious and elevated sanctuary was a process of creativity, customization, and communication.  The Bluff House was built in 1946 with a unique quality and character that we paid homage to throughout our remodel. Our goal with the client was to create a modernly-appointed family home with functional storage and more spacious interiors that still felt intimate.

This project was done in close collaboration with Kate King, Tectonic’s Interior Design Director, to bring the client’s vision to life with striking detail. Together, we brought our architectural and design perspectives to the table to create cohesion from the exterior to the interiors. The outside of the home features smooth, white stucco punctuated by black metal standing seam siding, along with a dark wood from ReSawn Timber in the color Nero from their Adobo collection. 

Last month, we had our inaugural debut of the new Tectonic Design Studio, welcoming our beloved Boulder community into our world of sustainable luxury. Located in the heart of town on 30th and Pearl Street, the studio is both a place of ideation for our home design projects and a place to connect with clients and the community.

Good architecture is the bedrock upon which great design is built. It transcends aesthetics to encompass functionality, comfort, sustainability, and personalization. For every project that Tectonic takes on, whether it's a transformational whole home remodel or a custom new build in Colorado, we practice four foundations to build our homes with exceptional quality and timeless design. As Tectonic’s lead architect and a Passive House Certified Designer, I work collaboratively with the whole team, from our interior designers to carpenters. Adhering to the same design practices and ethos is essential for our vision to align.

Recently, we invited Madison Moorhead McCabe, co-founder of the vintage and secondhand store Apocalypse, into the modern sanctuary of Bluff House. The whole home remodel was transformed from a craftsman-style home built in 1946 into a bright, transitional residence that honored the original home’s character. Furnished and decorated by the local staging company, Ivy Lane and the Tectonic Design team, the home is set with every contemporary essential, but with enough space for a little magic to be made. 

In 2024, luxury living transcends the use of exquisite materials and smart home technology. The new defining luxury of a home prioritizes the health of its inhabitants by building high-performing and energy-efficient residences. At Tectonic Design Build, we focus on conscious construction, from frame to finish, to create comfortable interiors far superior to a standard build.

People are becoming more aware of the impact of their purchases and how it affects the environment. Home decor and bedding is no exception. When selecting sustainable products for your sheets, towels, and comfy at-home attire, it’s important to consider a brand’s ethical practices as well as their quality of materials and how they are sourced. Ultimately, supporting brands that are conscious of their environmental impact means you are supporting a healthy home space for you and your family.

Our partnership blossomed after meeting Boulder Blooms’ Creative Director, Lily Kelly, at Boulder’s organic nursery, Harlequin’s Garden. Lily and her partner, a local flower farmer, were selecting plants and after learning about their connection to the land and creative work in florals, we became fast friends with an interest to create together. And you know we just wouldn’t miss an opportunity to work with a female-driven team that is as obsessed with beautiful things as we are.

Balancing contemporary design with a cozy, warm ambiance helped guide the design process at Newlands and led us to our selections of colors and finishes. Our goal was to create continuity throughout all of the spaces by applying a color scheme of white, black, grey, deep rich browns, and lighter warm wood tones. We chose wood flooring with an earthy grain and detailed characteristics that reflect similar tones of the cabinetry and countertops, while the brushed nickel finishes were carried through the home’s plumbing and bath hardware selections in a true black color.

For the Spring Gulch home remodel, we carefully matched all of the selections and finishes to the historic centerpieces in the home, including a large antique stove and the original flooring. We loved the challenge of updating the amenities and materials throughout, including the kitchen and six bathrooms while honoring its original patina and personality. Beginning in the kitchen—The heart of the home—we created a space of rustic regality, incorporating Typhoon Bordeaux granite countertops from The Stone Collection and a two-toned Alder in Aged Cola + Taupe from Wedgewood Cabinetry. The creams and reds of the wood helped to tie in the colors of the existing flooring. For the hardware, we chose pulls and knobs in an Umbrio finish from Top Knobs that balance traditional and contemporary. By adding polished nickel plumbing and hardware in the kitchen and across

Anna Butler is the founder of UnClutterCO., a luxury organizing service designed to create visual continuity and optimized functionality for an elevated home experience. Anna is excellent at internalizing all of your needs and goals when it comes to decluttering and re-arranging your space to transform residential homes into havens of order and serenity.

Transforming a family home from outmoded to clean and contemporary means elevating their everyday home experience and offering more possibilities for what’s to come. At Newland’s House, we had the pleasure of remodeling the entire home from an underwhelming Tuscan-style space into a contemporary, sleek, smart home that emphasizes light-filled interiors and an open-concept floor plan for seamless living between each room.

Our recent remodel at Newland’s House in North Boulder was the perfect stage to shine a light on the brilliant designers, stylists, and female founders whose work we so admire. We invited the plant design experts over at Root by Design, the fashion savants at Jones + Co., the floral artists from Boulder Blooms, and Süti & Co. for their artisan homewares. Together, we wove a story of modern elegance infused with the personalities and artistic thoughtfulness hand-delivered from each of these female-led businesses.

At Tectonic Design Build, we conceptualize and execute high-performing homes with consideration of the health of the inhabitants. We carefully select materials that offer long-term durability and are energy efficient. We also employ cutting-edge technologies and systems that are clean, comfortable, and yes, luxurious. We execute this by choosing non-toxic materials and mechanical systems to purify the air and reduce a home’s pollutants. Our dedicated team of designers and architects is committed to building healthier home environments that prioritize well-being through impactful design that goes beyond aesthetics.

Tectonic headed to the scenic mountain town of Nederland, Colorado for a whole home remodel of a stunning mid-century modern estate set on Ridge Road. Designed by Boulder’s famed architect Hobart D. Wagener in 1968, the hexagonal-shaped home was built as a summer oasis and not as a year-round residence. What we love about a remodel are the unexpected challenges that demand creative solutions. Due to minimal insulation in the walls, a leaky roof, and consistent drafts, the project required us to gut the full interior and bring the home to a higher standard.

In the more traditional design-bid-build model, architects, contractors, and subcontractors often work independently from one another. That means separate contracts and entities that execute the design and construction of a project. This fragmented approach can lead to discrepancies in budget, time, and communication. Architects and designers often design without a budget in mind, which means many times you have to return to the drawing board to redesign with your set budget. This back-and-forth is uneconomical; wasting time and money.

Our most recent collaboration is especially exciting. Bridging artistry and craftsmanship, Sheepdog is a local furniture designer/maker whose bespoke dining tables, sleek bed frames and floating credenzas are true works of art. Just up the road from Tectonic in their studio near Denver, founder Eric Asche, alongside his design team, is busy transforming their visions into tangible and functional furniture.