Urban Southwest Furnishings and gifts Home Page

Welcome

Urban

1016 East Camelback Road
Phoenix Arizona 85014
602 266 3311

Palm Wood Furniture

URBAN

Think green

Our merchandise is typically made from
recycled materials, recyclable materials
or renewable materials.
Most of our wood furniture is made
from used lumber. We strive to
purchase furnishings that are friendly to
our environment and our planet.

URBAN

All pictures are actual showroom
photos.

We have a large selection of unique hand crafted furniture made from recycled lumber.

New "Urban Southwest" home store a true hidden treasure in many ways
Nov. 18, 2006 12:00 AM
I'm not sure why I even turned around and drove back. A Nancy Drew wannabe I am not.
I am, however, wildly inquisitive about every sliver and slice of life and it often leads me to some
fascinating places, like the one I was pulling up to now.
There wasn't even a sign up yet, but as I was driving by some workers in the back warehouse
were uncovering giant wooden objects that I'd never seen before. My curiosity got the best of me.
I'd just discovered Urban Southwest, one of the newest and most charming home furnishing
stores in the Valley. When you're trying to get your building ready for business, the last thing you
need is a curious columnist tagging behind you.
But owner Nick Colamartini couldn't have been more accommodating.
"Wait till I show you this," he said, and proceeded to share one of the best "oh my gosh" stories
ever.
Hidden Treasure
More about the store's home furnishings in a minute.
The real story is the home itself. When he signed the papers, Colamartini thought he was buying a
building badly in need of repair. Once he started ripping into the walls he discovered something
different.
"Inside the walls, we found an entire home that someone had just built walls in front of,"
Colamartini said. A two-week remodel turned into three months of renovation and restoration of
the past. (I keep thinking I should be writing about the shop's merchandise, but I couldn't take my
focus off Colamartini's treasure.)
"Behind every wall was a surprise," he said, as he pointed to wallpaper from the 1940s and an
original light bulb in a newly discovered closet. "Look! It still works, and it's 30 years old," he
added, clicking the light on by pulling down on a dusty, shredded chord.
Nice Mix
Each room, like the tiny rustic kitchen with exposed brick and original concrete floor, provides a
unique backdrop for Urban Southwest's eclectic mix of furnishings.
You can find a $6,000 hair-on-hide Western chaise lounge, a $3 drum, Persian pillows or a
metal-wrapped glass vase all in the same store.
Giant European trellises, old Mexican doors and massive decorative iron gates
dominate one room while
delicate paper lotus lamps and bark wood purses grace another.
Each item could stand on its own as or be integrated into many different home styles.
Moldy Decor
Remember those interesting wooden pieces that caught my eye and brought me back
to Urban Southwest?
"They're old machinery-part molds," Colamartini said. He bought two truckloads sight unseen
about 20 years ago and has kept them hoisted on pallets in a warehouse all these years. These
are treasures of every shape, size and price range from $5 to $300.
"Years ago, when a piece of machinery would break down, spare parts weren't available,"
he said. So a foundry would cast a new part from a wooden mold.
Then a second cement mold was made into which the hot steel was poured.
"These wooden molds make incredible art pieces, table bases or wall collages all of which we call
'Moldy Decor' " he said.
Not for sale, but on display at the store is the massive shop book that has the numbered shop
order for each wooden mold, many of them dating as far back as 1904.

Watch for Jan from 11 a.m. to noon Monday and Thursday on Channel 12's Arizona Midday.
Hear her show from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on KFYI-AM (550).

Thank you Jan!

Thank you

Show Room 602 266 3311

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URBAN

Southwest

Welcome

Think Urban

Welcome

Peruvian weavings

Old Mexican doors

Welcome

Old worm wood door table

The following is an article written by Jan D'Atri for the Arizona Republic

Southwest

Southwest

Thank you

Amate Paper

Wall Art - Weavings - Gifts - Lighting - Fountains - Vintage iron from the Mediterranean
Old doors from Mexico and Europe - Modern to Rustic Furnishings

Western