Happiness Is…
The designers at Slifer Designs share a few of the things that make them smile this season.
Snow has arrived here in the Vail Valley and it gets us to thinking about powder days, fresh tracks on the hiking trails, sledding with kids and hot cocoa. This morning, finally, the sun poked through heavy white clouds, illuminating the bright gold leaves and the stark white peaks. Stunning. And that brings us to the next thing that makes us smile: the beauty all around us and still being startled by it. We are blessed to be able to make a living doing what we love where we love to live.
Being able to find beauty here is really not hard, obviously, but we’ve decided to challenge ourselves to find beauty where ever are. It’s hard to be thrilled with a pouring rainy Sunday, the mountains cloaked in clouds, the air heavy with moisture and potential disappointment. But, like with design, we focus on the positive, on what can be done to transform, uplift and create joy.
We love creating joy through design and recently experienced this full-circle process when we photographed a few ‘after’ projects. As we are elbow deep in fabrics, floor coverings, renderings and measurements, it’s easy to forget the big picture. Then we snapped a few pictures, took a step back and found joy – not only in the design but in seeing how thrilled the clients are with their updated homes. From a sweet little 1970’s condo to a home surrounded by national forest property, the designs were very different from each other to xx the client.
The small things. There’s been quite a brouhaha about the lack of pumpkin in a pumpkin spice latte – not shocking news. But that leads us to another love – pumpkin, whether pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie or pumpkin doughnut holes (these exist and one of the designers brought in homemade ones last week. Be jealous). Of course, we love the bright orange the pumpkins bring to our front porches. Teamed with mums, it makes for a sweet homecoming. The kids can’t wait to carve them – how we love the lopsided eyes and kooky smiles they create for the best holiday of all.
Faux fur. We delight in the interesting textured throws on our sofas or side chairs. But even more so, we love the cute puffy vests that are cropping up everywhere. Pair them with skinny jeans and feel very chic – and cozy. The favorite? Light in color, heavy on texture, long on comfort.
The changing light. It’s hard to let go of those last wisps of long summer days, the softer, diffused light creates a warm glow. We nestle inside and get caught up on the all the reading we let slide throughout the summer and pick our projects for the winter – a chevron wall, an updated kitchen backsplash,
a wall-papered powder room or re-done wood floors. Part of the wonder and excitement is in the planning – and we are nothing if we are not planners.
Crunch. Whether the crunch of leaves under foot or the crunch of a perfect apple, the crunch is a clear sign of fall. We discovered our apple tree produces delicious apples – and the perfect size for little hands.
There you have it – a few of our favorite things this season. We’d love to share more with you, so stop by our Edwards’ showroom or visit www.sliferdesigns.com
Yvonne Jacobs is the president of Slifer Designs and has been with the company for 17 years. She’s designed projects in Mexico, Canada, California, the East Coast, as well as right here at home. For more inspiration, check out www.sliferdesigns.com.
