How Designer Penny Drue Baird Creates a Signature Symphony of Style
Baird's approach to Intertwining clients' personal style with their home’s location and architecture.
The designer used a wide range of fabric textures, such as the plush, fuzzy seating on Arteriors Home counter stools, to soften heavy wood detailing. | Photo: Trevor Tondro
At an Avon, Colorado residence, designer Penny Drue Baird approached the project with a clear goal: to strike a thoughtful balance between design elements while staying true to her core philosophy—harmonizing the clients’ personal style with the home’s location and architectural character.
Her symphony of elements was intentional. She explains:
CREATE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN FURNITURE AND ART
“We offset the clean lines of contemporary furniture with bold, funky art,” Baird says. Working in the homeowners’ existing artwork also helped to personalize the spaces.
BALANCE WOOD WITH COLOR
“A wonderful aspect of designing a mountain home is being surrounded by so much wood,” she says. “This particular home was embellished with huge ceiling beams and columns, wood-clad walls, woodwork, floating wooden steps and paneled ceilings. The homeowners requested color, which was the perfect antidote to the preponderance of wood.”
USE COLOR AS A COUNTERPOINT TO PATTERN
The designer chose fabrics woven with rich colors but that also display simple designs, a hallmark of Scandinavian style.
ADD LAYERS TO BALANCE HARD SURFACES
The strong architectural statement of wooden beams and timber columns requires layers of textures to soften the design and add more warmth. “We wanted luxurious rugs with palpable texture and a richness of material,” Baird says.
See the full story here.
DESIGN DETAILS
ARCHITECTURE – Morter Architects
INTERIOR DESIGN – Dessins
As featured in Mountain Living’s January/February 2026 issue.
