Before & After: Snow Cloud Chic
A Beaver Creek remodel results in some seriously cozy slopeside style
This ski-in, ski-out home—part of the Snow Cloud Lodge condominiums in the Vail Valley—underwent a dramatic transformation from drab to fab.
What once was an early-2000's-style condo dominated by brown knotty alder woodwork is now a modern ski retreat with cool grays and blues, balanced by warm woods and tons of texture.
“The original home felt dated and was overwhelmed by this sort of peanut butter color,” says designer Elizabeth Basso of Basso Interiors. “It was dark and uninviting; there needed to be some contrast.”
Basso’s vision for the redesign of the ski chalet was inspired by the owners and their three teenage boys, who live in New York state and visit Colorado to ski and enjoy summer activities.
“I wanted to add some strong color and keep the overall theme a touch masculine,” she says. “We incorporated some of the original furnishings because they had a nice, contemporary feel, and to the owners' request, we incorporated fur wherever we could.”
The result is an open, chic space with rich, luxurious textures—the perfect retreat after a long day of skiing on the slopes or mountain biking on the trails.
Entry before:
Entry after:
The active family needed a proper mudroom-inspired space for outerwear, shoes, and skis. The new barn wood background is from Vintage Woods & Metals in Gypsum, Colorado, and Dennis McGillvray of Eagle Custom Carpentry did the custom built-ins and the live-edge bench. Pendants were strung along the hallways to illuminate the space, and the chandelier over the mudroom was an Etsy find.
A frosty bison in Yellowstone (Tony Newlin Gallery) greets you upon entry of the home.
Kitchen before:
“The kitchen before felt boring with speckled beige granite,” Basso says.
Kitchen after:
“Because the kitchen, dining, and living spaces are all so open,” Basso says, “it was important for the kitchen to truly have that ‘wow’ factor. If you’re sitting on one side of the living or dining space, your view is either of The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch ski lift next door or the kitchen, so it needed to be bold.”
The lower cabinets were kept and painted in a graphite gray, and David Arnold of Interior Dimensions crafted the upper cabinets in metal and a vintage-style glass. The countertops were replaced with Arizona Tile New Carrara, and Arteriors pendants were hung over the bar seating, with the barn wood underneath continuing the style of the mudroom.
The showstopper, though, is the Walker Zanger chevron-patterned porcelain and marble tile backsplash. “We decided to take the tile all the way into the corner, appearing almost like wallpaper,” Basso adds.
Living room before:
The original living space included two sofas, dwarfed by the size of the room. “We knew we wanted a sectional and a 12-foot-by-12-foot area rug,” says Basso.
Living room after:
The section was upholstered in a Designer’s Guild graphite-colored fabric, and the upholstered chairs were custom-made in silver faux wool flannel. “The combination of the pops of blue and cool colors go really nicely with the warm wood coffee table.”
Dining room before:
Dining room after:
The dining space backdrop was updated with barn wood, artwork by Ursula J. Brenner, and a Lesley Anton light fixture that Basso had been eyeing for years. “We finally found one online at a consignment store in Los Angeles!”
The table and chairs were original to the home, and the hide rug was custom-made in conjunction with The Scarab in Minturn.
Bedrooms before:
Bedrooms after:
DESIGN DETAILS:
INTERIOR DESIGN Elizabeth Basso, Basso Interiors CONTRACTOR 10th Mountain Builders, Minturn, Colorado FLOORING Pure Wood Flooring FLORAL DESIGN Petals of Provence
