Born to Design: Carol Moore Mink

An award-winning Colorado interior designer creates rooms that tell a story

Carol Moore Mink isn’t just a mild-mannered interior designer. She’s also got some serious mountain credentials: A former ski racer and ski instructor, she met her husband, architect John Woodward Mink, at a Colorado Avalanche hockey game. Today, along with her own design firm, Carol Moore Interior Design, which she founded 21 years ago, she also collaborates with her husband as Moore & Mink, Inc., Fine Architecture and Interior Design, with offices in Edwards and Denver.

Photo by Alec Tremaine Photography

Mountain Living: Do you have a favorite color?
Carol Moore Mink: I’ve always loved reds and greens—I’m a Christmas Carol. Interestingly enough, Vail and I share a birthday: December 15.

Moore Mink created a festive mood at the Colorado Governor’s Mansion. Photo by Passionate Pixels

Tell us about decorating the Colorado Governor’s Mansion.

The Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Interior designers (ASID), in collaboration with Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, has decorated the Colorado Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion for most of the past decade. Last year our theme was Colorado Sister Cities. I partnered with the Beaver Creek Resort Company and the Ski Club Arlberg (of which I am a member) in Lech, Austria, to decorate the beautiful wood-paneled library.

Any great holiday design tips?

Start with a theme, gradually add to it and constantly edit. There are a lot of birds who like to make beautiful nests outside my house in Edwards. They occupy them for two or three weeks and then they leave. So I collect nests, and last year I put them in my own Christmas tree. I also had a collection of little birdhouses that I put on the tree, and some red cardinals that my mother gave me ages ago, so it was a bird-themed tree.  

When did you know you’d become an interior designer?

In utero! While my mother was pregnant with me, she took an interior decorating class at the Des Moines Public School System. Growing up, I spent hours rearranging the furniture in my bedroom. When I exhausted the possibilities in my own room I took on the living room. My mother’s only rule was to have the furnishings back in their original position by the time my father got home.

Viva Terra wood cubes on a Jade rug from Kalaty join a J. Alexander Burl Lounge Chair to warm a cozy corner. The Quattro table lamp is by Charles Eisen. Photo by James Ray Spahn

What’s special about designing mountain homes?

I find people are turning their secondary residences into their true dream homes. Starting with a clean palette, we get to design our clients’ homes by telling a story about who they are and what is important to them, instead of working around furnishings they don’t really care for but feel obligated to keep.

Is there one item of furniture that many people would be surprised to find in your home?

A seven-foot commercial grill I won at the Aspen Food & Wine festival. It was craned in over my house to a deck I redesigned to receive it. Now our favorite room in the house is actually outside on a 500-square-foot deck overlooking the Eagle River, complete with a dining area, bar, chaises and four cozy chairs around a gas fire pit.