Adorned Boutique

Lawrence, Kansas, home to the University of Kansas — the state’s largest university and arguably it’s most liberal bastion, is also home to some beautiful turn of the century architecture that is reflected in stone built sturdy and stout churches, row homes of brick with front porches, and old beautiful Victorian homes sitting on hilltops surrounded by wrap around porches and a variety of foliage and dappled sunrays that just invokes a pleasant place of learning. No where is this more true than downtown Lawrence which has taken great strides to preserve its architecture so that the visitor is greeted with a pleasing visual palette of red brick, beige brick, orange stone and imposing, even if small, buildings with fine stone facades, pillars and windows filled with goodies to entice the college kids to spend daddy’s bucks at bistros and clothing stores lined with the latest in fashion you might find right out of Chicago or New York. We’re a cosmopolitan lot in Lawrence!
Tucked in the basement of a multi-​stored brick building that boasts more than one tenant selling fun wares and the mischief murals of talented local artists is a very cute little find, Adorned Boutique. If you can’t find the perfect gift here for someone who has eclectic tastes than you have no imagination. Though small, and certainly intimate, the store has little corners and pockets that send your mind dreaming into unique corners of the earth where it seems these miracle pieces of nick knacks and jewelry have come forth — bidden to serve your own desires. From homemade Mexican crafts sporting La Guadalupana or Frida Khalo, to an Ethiopian corner with Coptic crosses in filigreed silver and luscious silk scarves to another area dedicated to some upbeat and beautiful jewelry, this is where you want to buy the perfect birthday gift for the friend who already has everything — there is sure to be some handsome little treasure on these intriguing shelves that no one else in the world has until now…

I went to this small store today and bought two lovely necklaces, which I happily discovered were on sale for 35% off (as is a lot of other jewelry). The owner is a very nice young woman and I had a great conversation with her.