For more than 40 years, Patti Dixon, owner of Patti Dixon Design, has created beautiful, functional spaces for her clients. So far, so good, but with four decades of clients and projects in her portfolio, how does she keep it fresh?

It turns out that Dixon, an award-winning designer based in Vail, is determined to make each interior as different and unique as each of her very-devoted clients.

That variety, in turn, keeps her as engaged and passionate as when she began working in the Vail Valley in 1981. “I don’t have a single aesthetic,” she says. “You can’t look at any one project and say ‘oh yeah, that’s a Patti Dixon project’. Absolutely not. Diversity is the common denominator. Each project is diverse because each client is so diverse. Essential to me is not doing the same look over and over.”

The key, she says, is getting to know her clients. While Dixon may not have a single aesthetic, there is a consistent element of her approach: learning about her clients’ personalities and priorities in order to weave those wishes, lifestyles and needs into her interior design.

“Beginning the project — and I love this part — is getting to know the client, learning what their parameters are, seeing the project, thinking about timing, budget and their design preferences,” she says. “I also ask the client what kind of mood they want to set — relaxing, sedate or something else — and I consider what could set that mood, whether it’s art or lighting or a rug or something special that the client collects.”

Dixon next injects a little of herself into the project. “Then, I like seeing how far I can go with it. It could be in terms of color, it could be more edgy design. I still want to make them happy, but I want to give them something special too.”

In designing interiors, Dixon notes that taking inspiration from Vail and the Vail Valley includes incorporating the work of local artists and artisans and, of course, the stunning natural surroundings. “We’re in such a beautiful area, so definitely bringing nature in is important. For most of our clients, this is their second or third home, so they need to have that sense of place, that they are in the mountains. Their personal preferences will hold true too, but there will be specifics that relate to here.”

What has she noticed since the start of the pandemic? “I have one client who for years said ‘no, I don’t need to redo my kitchen’,” Dixon recalls. “Then after being at home for three meals a day and having the kitchen not work for him and his family, he was ready.”

Dixon continues, “I have a lot of clients who have moved here [during the pandemic] from other places or purchased a second or third home here because they have realized how important life and spending your time doing what you want to do is. We got really, really busy.”

Dixon also reflects on a long career that began with an interest in interior design discovered as a teenager in Arizona. Even now, she says, she feels a buzz with the completion of each project. “Having my clients say how beautiful their home is and how functional it is — beauty and function; you can’t have one without the other — is still special.”

Collaboration is the key word at Collective Design Group. Not only does this in-demand outfit have a number of talented designers, it also includes a skilled architecture team.

Says the group’s design vice president, Adrienne Rynes, “We have the ability to offer not only fixed finish and furnishings design, but we also have an in-house architecture team that can assist us from the ground up. Our holistic team approach ensures that every detail of the client’s design is considered.” Lisa Yates, lead designer, adds, “We enjoy pushing boundaries and love a good challenge and we have an incredible team of architects, contractors, subcontractors, vendors and manufacturers that can help make just about anything happen.”

That collaborative approach extends to client relations too, one of the group’s senior designers, Nicole Frye, notes. “As a company, we foster the ‘family doing life together’ mentality in all our work. As that relates to our clients, we approach each job by building a strong relationship with our clients, building trust and making sure the design process is fun for all of us. We want our clients to feel heard, inspired by our work and creativity and excited to build a home that is uniquely theirs. Often, you will find us laughing and joking with our clients, celebrating new children, pups and more. We feel this results in a home that is really lived in and suits each of our clients’ unique needs and lifestyles.”

Does the Collective Design Group have a signature style? “It is clean and mountain modern, but not so sleek that it doesn’t appeal to a wider range of tastes and styles,” Yates explains, adding that the stunning natural surroundings of Colorado’s mountain resorts “absolutely influence our designs and materials selections. We love to incorporate materials and finishes that mimic textures found in nature, as well as colors and tones that you see when looking at the gorgeous views that are all around us. We love to make our client’s home a cozy extension of the beautiful outdoors. Whether that’s the view from one of our homes or projects, hiking through the aspen groves in the fall or watching the first snow blanket the rugged mountains, we are lucky to live in an environment for that provides endless inspiration.”

Another of Collective’s senior designers, Rachel Obernesser, emphasizes that this use of colors, textures, patterns and materials inspired by the outdoors is what makes Collective Design Group interiors uniquely Colorado. “This is a major destination area that we work in, and clients want their home to feel and embrace the Colorado lifestyle through all seasons. Our Colorado location immerses us in the beauty of the mountains, where we get to enjoy the outdoors, the weather, and all it has to offer daily. It is exciting and motivating to be able to share that love with clients who want to create an experience for themselves and it is an instant connection we can share with each other.”

Collective Design Group offers full-service architectural and interior design services. It is based in Frisco, but serves all of Colorado. “We chose Frisco because it’s in the heart of Summit County,” Rynes says. “Our physical location in the Basecamp Center shopping area makes it easy for clients to stop by to meet with our design team or browse our showroom.”

A full-service interior design firm and furniture showroom, By Design interiors has grown from a home office to a 4,000-square-foot showroom in Winter Park with a team of three designers.

It’s somewhat of a family affair. Owner Heather Pearce has 21 years in the industry, working for a decade with her mother in furniture before founding By Design 11 years ago. Heather’s husband, Jon, is the warehouse manager and installs the Hunter Douglas window treatments.

Pearce’s dual backgrounds in furniture and design means clients can benefit from a curated selection of furniture to incorporate in the firm’s designs. “Every piece of furniture in our showroom is hand selected and unique,” she says. “My buyer and I also work very hard to be consistently different with art work, accessories and lighting. We want it to be a new experience for a customer when they come into the showroom and see something they have never seen before. We work with many manufacturers who handcraft furniture within the United States using real wood, real leather and real craftsmanship. This is becoming a lost art form. We try to select furniture with character and style.”

In conversation with Pearce, it is apparent that she and her team are passionate about their work and their clients. Pearce agrees that for many clients, the pandemic has made the importance of home more evident than ever. “People are realizing the importance of comfort in their homes and also the need for workable spaces in order to have a separate area to work from home.”

She notes that this realization has brought By Design new business, but has also led to challenges. “There is no doubt that the pandemic has increased business in the furnishing industry — we have never seen a demand like this,” she says. At the same time, though, with demand at an all-time high, waiting times for custom furnishings are also at an all-time high, making for interesting times for design firms. Despite the challenges, Pearce says that she and her team feel lucky to work designing interiors and curating high-end pieces of furniture. “We are so honored to be in this business. The designers and I are very passionate about what we do and love the industry.”

Another love is working with clients, whether it is selecting that one perfect piece of artwork or designing an entire home. By Design has a particular focus on flexibility around their clients’ needs, with a commitment to designing in accordance with varying tastes, budgets, interests, family, lifestyles and even a non-local client’s time zone. By Design is also known for its professionalism regardless of project size, working just as hard on projects big, small and everything in between, from a quick interior design consultation to fully furnishing a home and more.

Says Pearce, “When designing an entire home, our biggest influence is the home itself, the home’s architecture and use of the home, as well as the client and the look and feel they hope to achieve within their home. Our designers get to know their clients on a personal level to make the home the best version of themselves and we sometimes push the client a little to try something new. Current styles and trends come into play with the selections, of course, but at the end of the day we want to design a home that brings joy to our client. We want them to love their home.”

Ask Heidi Sherratt, the owner of Crested Butte design firm Interior Visions, what she does first with a new project and her answer is simple: get to know the client.

Says Sherratt, “At the start, we spend a lot of time with our clients, creating a design inspiration document full of pictures, which we use as a guideline throughout the project. We also work with the architects early on to understand their vision for the home. We really get to know our clients through this process, so we can confidently help them create a home that is unique to them.”

The popular Sherratt must be doing something right, she’s been happily designing homes in the Gunnison Valley since 2004. Her enthusiasm for her work — and her affection for her clients and what they want in a home — shows as she discusses her aesthetic. “People always ask this question and, honestly, we do not have a defined aesthetic,” Sherratt explains. “We actually love that as designers we do not have to work using one specific style. All of our projects are a unique reflection of our clients’ personalities and vision for their house, so every project is different. We do not have a formula that we follow, each house truly has its own character and charm.”

She continues, “Right now, we are working on projects that are modern, mountain traditional, colorful farmhouse, beachy boho and rustic historic. We are so lucky to not be pigeon-holed into only doing one style; it makes it so fun for us.” It isn’t a surprise then to hear that the vibe at Interior Visions is less about appearance and more about feel. “If you were to look at all of our projects, I would say a signature style that carries through them all would be warmth and simplicity,” Sherratt says. “We feel a home, especially in the mountains, needs to have warmth, which we bring in with natural colors and beautiful wood flooring. Our homes are not overdone with too many finishes, and definitely not cluttered. We always want the house to flow and not have too many dramatic shifts as you enter each room.”

Has the pandemic increased the importance of home for clients? Absolutely, says Sherratt. “There is stronger focus on the importance of homes for both locals and for part-time homeowners. We are seeing a lot of long-overdue remodel projects happening, people selling their homes and relocating within and out of the Gunnison Valley and many more families moving here full time from bigger cities. The lifestyle and community are what people love and I think everyone is grateful to live here, especially during the pandemic.”

One thing that hasn’t changed, she adds, are trends. “The design trends we have been seeing have really not changed dramatically during the pandemic here in Crested Butte,” Sherratt says. “The desires that the majority of our clients want in their mountain homes, regardless of design style, are spaces for the whole family to enjoy, pet friendly, comfortable and casual with a natural vibe.”

Is the stunning Gunnison Valley itself a key design element? Yes, Sherratt says. “One of the biggest elements in these mountain homes is the surrounding natural world. The entire Gunnison Valley has stunningly gorgeous views everywhere you look, so the location of the home carries an immediate influence. We always want to capture the natural beauty outside as best we can inside the home by highlighting those views.”