When it comes to matters of design and style, the creative possibilities of building or reimagining indoor spaces are limitless, from porcelain artistry to the perfectly crafted kitchen drawer to the way light reflects off a plaster wall. These creative masterminds—architects, home builders and interior designers—are elevating refined spaces across Colorado.
An existing Pedro Barrios mural informed the home’s design. PHOTO BY EMILY MINTON REDFIELD
The home’s artwork includes colorful landscapes from Erin Hanson, a modern master of contemporary impressionism. PHOTO BY EMILY MINTON REDFIELD
BOLD AND BRIGHT
The custom wood design over the bed is a showstopper. PHOTO BY EMILY MINTON REDFIELD
The McDermott house is a sophisticated modern row home in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood recently reimagined by local interior design firm Truss Interiors (trussinteriors.com). The owners, two doctors from New York, tasked Truss with a full renovation, from furnishings to wall coverings to built-in shelves. When they bought the 3,200-square-foot house, the couple discovered a skull mural painted by Denver muralist Pedro Barrios within the dining room’s bookshelves. They loved it. To accommodate the mural, the interior design of the home revolved around it, with bold colors and eclectic vibes throughout the space. Furnishings include midcentury modern pieces from Mod Mood in Wheatridge. Capitalizing on dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that allow light to pour in, Truss custom-designed shelving to create space for the owners’ array of plants. In the main bedroom, they crafted wood slats over a neutral grasscloth on the wall and ceiling, which serve as a dramatic artistic focal point. And because one of the owners hails from Finland, Truss repurposed space from a basement closet and garage storage to make way for a custom in-home sauna.
The wood ceiling in the kitchen wraps up the living room wall, bringing the two spaces together. PHOTO BY DAVID LAUER PHOTOGRAPHY
GATHERING SPOT
HMH added a privacy screen in a warm, neutral wood at the home’s entryway. PHOTO BY DAVID LAUER PHOTOGRAPHY
This Vail condo had been well-loved by the same skiing family since the 1970s, but the dated home was due for a makeover. The family tapped HMH Architecture + Interiors (hmhai.com), the 2022 AIA Colorado Firm of the Year, to modernize the 2,650-square-foot property. The owners wanted the space to be filled with light and to connect with the outdoors. HMH’s architects enlarged the home’s windows to leverage breathtaking mountain views. Interiors were designed to be comfortable, airy and minimalist, with a lighter, brighter more modern aesthetic. Throughout the home, HMH employed liberal use of natural wood in a warm, neutral color palette, including a privacy screen crafted from vertical wood slats at the home’s entry.
The office features a floor-to-ceiling slat wall. PHOTO BY DAVID LAUER PHOTOGRAPHY
Functionally, the family wanted more open spaces where the generations could come together. The heart of the home is an open-concept second level, with a living area, dining room and contemporary kitchen. A large round table sits between the spaces, serving as a place of connection for family at mealtimes. In the living room, ample seating is staged in front of a dark gray Basaltina stone fireplace that’s flanked by mountain views. The original spiral staircase that connects the home’s three levels was updated with refinished white oak treads and a powder-coated steel railing. HMH also added a mudroom with built-in ski storage and a large wall-mounted boot dryer-warmer system.
Georgeson Design Build melded unique details to craft this under-the-stairwell wine storage space. PHOTO BY LAURA OROZCO PHOTOGRAPHY
INGENIOUS DESIGN
Interior designer Kyndra Georgeson and contractor-builder Larry Georgeson are the husband-and-wife team behind Denver-based Georgeson Design + Build (georgesonstyle.com). They also recently opened a brick-and-mortar location for their Kyndred Shop (kyndredshop.com) in the Park Hill neighborhood, where they sell distinctive ethically sourced home goods. Georgeson Style is known for its creative approach to interior design and design-build, offering clients ingenious, intuitive solutions to converting space. The team works with a client’s architect, from design conception through construction on home renovations and full remodels.
Part of a full basement remodel in Denver’s Central Park, this unique wine storage unit built beneath the stairwell is a perfect representation of the firm’s resourceful custom-design expertise. The custom window was a challenging aspect of the project. The design was limited by an existing support across the floor that was holding up the home’s third floor. After returning to the drawing board multiple times, the designers settled on a triangular viewing window, which displays the wine but also creates an open feel in the subterranean space. The window, glass pivot door and metal detailing were custom cut and welded. Stained shiplap, ceramic tile and wine racks from Denver’s Vintage View complete this clever storage space.
Porcelain slabs can be used for designing everything from countertop to backsplash. PHOTO COURTESY OF MODERNO PORCELAIN WORKS
PORCELAIN IS THE NEW MARBLE
North America’s only surfacing company completely dedicated to the fabrication and installation of large-format porcelain slabs, Moderno Porcelain Works (modernoworks.com) opened its first Colorado location in October. The new storefront promises a new medium for both builders and designers in the state. Used in countertops, flooring, wainscoting, wall cladding, and even desks and tabletops, porcelain makes for a stunning finished product. The porcelain, composed of natural minerals, is compressed under extreme pressure, heated at high temperatures, then printed with digitized patterns, including the natural veining of marble. Homeowners like porcelain’s low-maintenance heat-, stain-, UV- and scratch-resistant properties.
Porcelain as a surfacing product has been around for centuries, but fabricating the material is a delicate endeavor. The team at Moderno, stacked with powerhouse leaders in the surfacing industry who saw a gap in the market, came together to revolutionize the fabrication process of large-format porcelain with cutting-edge production techniques. Moderno is able to bring the luxury aesthetic of marble— or wood or metal—to interior spaces at a fraction of the cost of a solid stone slab.
Natural oak flooring runs throughout the home. PHOTO BY BROOKE CASILLAS
50 SHADES OF WHITE
Even in the powder room, the interior design endeavors to bring the beauty of the outdoors in. PHOTO BY PETR WIESE/MOUNTAIN HOME PHOTO
“When you’re planning your furniture and lighting package, you need to make sure every corner is lit up,” Dittmar says. PHOTO BY BROOKE CASILLAS
Interior designer Kristin Dittmar’s work on this stunning 5,581-squarefoot, five-bedroom home designed by David Johnston Architects in Aspen’s West End neighborhood was recently featured in Modish: The Book of Great Design (Benton Buckley Books, 2022). The large-format hardcover coffee-table book showcases the creative designs of 25 soughtafter interior designers from across the country, and Aspen-based Kristin Dittmar Design (kristindittmardesign.com) fit the bill. Dittmar’s style leans toward a modern mountain aesthetic that taps into natural elements and contemporary finishes. “With this home, I really embraced a spalike environment with pretty finishes to create a relaxing atmosphere,” Dittmar says. She used a textured palette combining natural stones like travertine surrounding the home’s two fireplaces and a charcoal open-face stone entryway wall. “I use natural textures to translate the outside beauty of the surroundings to the home’s indoor spaces.” To bring in natural light, Dittmar used white plaster on the walls and ceilings. “Wall color is a big deal when you’re playing with light,” she says. “Every project needs a different color white. I joke that it’s like ‘Fifty Shades of White.’” The plaster has a subtle texture and marbling that creates a little bit of movement and more interest than a flat painted wall.
Denver’s IDC Building is filled with luxury design showrooms. PHOTO COURTESY OF IDC
SHOW TIME
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARIA CUSTOM DESIGN
The International Design Collection, known as the IDC Building (idcbuilding.com), opened in 2019. The modern window-clad exterior, high ceilings and grand staircase of this sprawling 60,000-square-foot home design collective stand out in the mostly industrial surroundings at I-25 and Sixth Avenue East. Filled with luxury design showrooms, the IDC creates a centralized space where designers, architects, builders and homeowners can browse for inspiration for home build or remodel projects and connect with the 10 purveyors of home design housed under one roof. The showrooms display the latest designs in kitchen, lighting, designer rugs and hardwood flooring, wall treatments, fireplaces and more.
Chris Lobato of Aria Custom Design, which crafts wall art projects and fireplace mantels, has a showroom at IDC. Over nearly two decades, Lobato has become a master in crafting authentic Venetian plaster. The plaster artwork above the fireplace mantel in this Vail Village condo (at left) took two years to complete and was part of a full fireplace remodel. “I’ve never taken an art class except for grade school,” says Lobato, “but I’ve developed into an artist.” For the project, Aria installed a new firebox; designed, fabricated and installed a new mantelpiece employing architectural limestone; and installed the intricate plaster artwork above it all. The installation is an example of how Aria creates contemporary designs employing classic Old World styling.
Good Property and Henrybuilt took a holistic approach to designing this Aspen home with integrated, flexible systems throughout. PHOTO COURTESY OF HENRYBUILT
FUNCTIONAL ELEGANCE
Completed in 2020, Prospect House in Aspen’s East End, a 6,800-square-foot, five-bedroom residence with a chef ’s kitchen, media room, outdoor spa and fire pit, is the vision of Good Property (goodpropertycompany.com), a developer that focuses on functional design as its craft and real estate as its medium. It turned to Henrybuilt (henrybuilt.com), a Seattle-based build firm known for its innovative kitchen and whole-house furniture and storage systems, and landscape architect Design Workshop (designworkshop.com) to realize the project. The home represents the first time Henrybuilt served as interior and exterior architect. For two decades, Henrybuilt has been tailoring award-winning contemporary systems for clients in the most interactive parts of their home, from kitchen to wardrobe to wine cellar.
Henrybuilt masterfully converts wall spaces to functional surfaces. PHOTO COURTESY OF HENRYBUILT
Blending elegant functionalism with a handcrafted feel, the company’s systems are perennial winners of design awards. In the kitchen, the cutting board fits seamlessly over the sink to expand counter space, then slides neatly into a nearby under-the-counter space. In the mudroom, ski boots hang on a wall-mounted boot dryer, and there are dedicated open locker systems for everyone in the family, with shelves, hooks and drawers of walnut. To inform its design, Henrybuilt studies how tasks unfold in the home. Wet gloves at the end of the ski day? The washer and dryer are integrated into the mudroom. Wish we’d thought of that.
With this grand Crested Butte home, interior designer Kara Adam sought to reinterpret the quintessential mountain house through a contemporary lens. PHOTO BY MICHAEL HUNTER
THE ENTERTAINERS
The palette of Crested Butte informed the textiles and furniture. PHOTO BY MICHAEL HUNTER
Wiley Fine Art Advisory helped curate the home’s collection of artwork. PHOTO BY MICHAEL HUNTER
Interior design firm Kara Adam Interiors (karaadaminteriors.com) is based in Dallas but has clients who look to its expertise on second-home projects in Colorado. Crested Butte’s mountain locale was the inspiration for the design of this spectacular 9,000-square-foot, single-family home set on a large parcel on “the bench.” The palette of the surrounding environment informed every design decision, from the textiles and artwork to finish selections and furniture. The homeowners, a prominent family from Dallas, love to entertain when they’re in Colorado, so three bars were incorporated throughout and living spaces feature multiple seating arrangements for guests to mingle. “They have young kids, so there are also plenty of ‘crash spots,’” Adam says. “The homeowners had no fear of pattern or color, which helps when you have young kids running around who are spill-prone.” Adam collaborated with Dallasbased Wiley Fine Art Advisory (wileyfineartadvisory.com) to decorate spaces with pieces from notable artists such as Lois Dodd and Denverbased Derrick Velasquez. To execute on the family’s overall vision for the remodel, Adam worked with architect Jim Barney of Freestyle Architects (freestylearchitects.com) and builder Jack Huckins Construction.
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