DENVER'S DESIGNING
WOMEN
The good, the bold, the beautiful
Written by PATTERSON NENERO
Photography by KIT WILLIAMS
According to a report released by the Colorado
Department Office of Policy and Research, there are
an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 interior designers
working in Colorado. The majority of these
designers focus on the residential area, and at least twothirds
are members of the Colorado Chapter of the American
Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
Given the highly competitive nature of the business, it’s no
surprise that some dynamic women have garnered respect
and kudos for their unique style and innovative approaches.
DENVER WOMAN spoke with four outstanding designers to
learn what separates them from the pack.
NEVIN NELSON
Nevin Nelson Design Inc.
Nevin Nelson came down from the mountains in 1998 after a two-decade reign in
Vail as “the” designer for
commercial properties and
fabuloso ski chateaus for the
ultrawealthy. Born in
Cleveland, Ohio, Nelson was
the daughter of a well-known
radio personality (mother)
and an executive with Johns
Manville (father). And while
this independent rebel probably
should have become an
architect, the tenor of the
times didn’t allow females to
interpret themselves in such
a manner, preferring safer
terms such as “decorator.”
Nelson attended the
University of Colorado, graduating
in 1964 with a degree
in interior design. In 1966 she
started her own company in
Boulder, and in 1970 she
moved to Vail to become the
administrative assistant to
the town manager, a job she
describes as amazing.
“Lionshead was just
being developed, our parking
lot was mud, the post
office was in the basement
of the hardware store, and
everybody knew everyone
else. This was a wondrous
time to live in Vail and raise
kids, and we were all pioneers
working three jobs
just to exist. We had a
blast!” she recalls.
During her time in Vail,
Nelson established her interior
design business, working
for the town of Vail and
eventually working full time as a designer. She held the distinction
of being Vail’s only ASID designer for several
years. Some of her more notable clients included former
senators, billionaires and local Vail dignitaries.
In 1998, Nelson was selected to design an enormous
home in Evergreen, which turned into a five-year project. “This was a dream job,” she recalls, in which she was working
for “a fabulous guy who insisted on the best of everything
and who wanted to end up with a house that could
accommodate parties that I can’t even imagine. For example,
I believe [rock band] Kiss performed there.”
The home’s swimming pool room has a ceiling painted by
internationally acclaimed artist Karen Kristin of Sky Art,
whose firm just completed the world’s largest casino in
Macao. The ceiling was fitted with 4,000 twinkling fiber optic
lights, including four shooting stars. All doors open upward,
giving people the sense of being outside. This job earned
Nelson the 2006 Colorado Institute of Art Electronic Lifestyles
National Award for best theme theater.
Currently, Nelson is working on the renovation of her own
5,000-square-foot home. The constant drone of mud jacks,
concrete mixers and jackhammers plus dust, dust and more
dust are “driving her mad.” She definitely recommends moving
out during construction.
She also is working for two women attorneys — one, the
mother of two rambunctious boys, who desires an ultra-modern
look; the other, seeking to design a French farmhouse.
How sweet is diversity! “I want the house to look like them,
not me, and my job is to help [my clients] achieve this in a
tasteful manner,” Nelson says.
ANDREA SCHUMACHER
O Interior Design
Greenwich Village is alive and well in Denver, where Platte
Street intersects Confluence Park. This is immediately apparent
to anyone who happens upon this vibrant part of town,
where the street teems with activity — dogs, young children
with their parents, charming boutiques and wine shops, cafes
and bakeries.
Climb up two flights of stairs above the Savory Spice, and
you come upon the atelier of O Interior Design, founded in
1999 by Andrea Monath Schumacher.
She opened her business after amassing an impressive
collection of credentials: a B.A. in interior design, graduate
studies at the University of Colorado in architecture, certification
from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard
University. Next, Schumacher did a set design apprenticeship
with NBC’s Days of Our Lives, then worked for
Columbia Pictures as an in-house designer. The rest, as
they say, is history.
Her business hosts a staff of four associate designers
and administrative personnel, each of whom brings a particular
expertise to the table. Laura Medicus holds a master’s
in fine arts with a concentration in art history; Caro
Williams offers great showroom experience; Lindsey
Garner does all renderings by hand, rather than relying on
computer-aided design (CAD) drawings; and business manager
Liza Aslor relies on her favorite designer, the late
Dorothy Draper, to help shape a business that brings
incredible results and creativity to each project.
O can take credit for highly recognized renovations in
the prestigious Old Cherry Hills neighborhood, as well as
urban projects such as the redesign of the avant-garde
Lime restaurant in Larimer Square. Schumacher’s focus
now is on the Glass House Condos in the nearby Riverfront
neighborhood, where several local celebs are looking for
edgy yet traditional motifs.
She uses a variety of methods, such as lighting, to create
unique looks, including work with a new line that shouts
metro cowboy with its chrome deer antlers. No cruelty to
animals, resin-free and very, very green!
Schumacher says that if you want to know what she’s all
about, her goal is simple: “O is not about imposing ideas and personal taste onto a client. Rather it’s about a client and
designer coming together to create a unique space and helping
the clients develop their vision while fulfilling their
designer requirements.”
KRISTI DINNER
Company kd
Walking through the doorway of the prosaic Sixth
Avenue craftsman duplex in Capitol Hill, one feels a bit like
Dorothy when she realizes she is no longer in Kansas, and
this is definitely not her grandfather’s vintage home. The
startling black-and-white paisley wallpaper, highlighted by
crystal sconces and vermillion-covered chairs, is nothing
short of breathtaking.
These are the offices of Kristi Dinner, founding principal
of the kd design team. And team is definitely the magic
word. Born in Denver and educated in New York, Dinner is
a committed Francophile, with Paris being her favorite
place for so many reasons.
In her business, Dinner has assembled talents ranging
from senior designer Beth Armijo, recently voted “Top Up
and Coming Designer” by California Home; design/project
coordinator Erin Fowler, a ski buff turned professional planner;
business manager Kim Goscha; intern C.C. Creech, formerly
of Oz Architecture; project manager Sherri Winterfeldt;
and design associate Rebecca Kaufman. Keeping the group
in line is Yukon, the office dog, who oversees pet residences.
Together, the group uses its collective expertise to bring innovative
flair to clients.
Currently on the drawing board is a 10,000-square-foot
new construction project being done in conjunction with
neighbors Scott Parker and Dean Lindsay of Nest
Architectural Design. Work also is being completed on
Scribbles, a new stationery store in the bohemian Platte
Street area on 15th Street.
Commenting on her projects, Dinner says she strives to “get a read from what the house tells you, and then what the
client tells you.” She has spent 23 years successfully following
her own advice. Clearly, it works.
MELINDA DOUGLAS
Douglas Associates Inc.
When you meet Melinda Douglas, the old phrase “to the
manor born” springs to mind. Elegant style, no pretense. The
real thing.
Her designs have a timeless quality, reflecting good taste,
durability and meticulous attention to the tiniest detail, from
fabric choice to just the right shade of pillow trim, accented
by a surprising new or antique artifact or treasure that
becomes an unexpected focal point.
Such ingrained talent, the result of countless childhood
visits to museums and exposure to travel and music, coupled
with a well-trained reporter’s eye, has made Douglas the
dean of the Denver decorating community for the past 15 years, following her arrival on the Colorado scene after a
highly successful career in Los Angeles, including a glamorous
broadcast stint with CBS.
It appears that her reporter’s overall view of a given situation
provides her with an edge that few competitors possess.
After so much effort it seems that Douglas may be ready to
slow down and seek a respite from her full-time duties. Does
this mean she is retiring? Heavens, no! But she is more than
ready to present a new and vigorous concept to new and
existing clients.
Douglas has worked for many years with Conni Newsome,
her right-hand person. Now the two have added a new
woman to the mix, Nadia Hartman, a New York School of
Design graduate, who promises to help the team create an
even more dramatic trilogy.
To quote Douglas, “In addition to an enormously talented
group of craftsmen with whom we work, Conni has been the
backbone of Douglas and Associates, and now we have
Nadia, who is equally focused and gifted, which makes what
we are about to do all the more special. Two for the price of
one equals three, and this arrangement is unique in the competitive
decorating world. Anyone who hires these young
women will benefit, and you get two [designers] for the price
of one. They will make a big splash!”
With Douglas as their mentor and continuing to act “of
counsel,” there is no doubt they will succeed, adding to the
test of time just like the legacy of Douglas Associates itself.
On your toes, Denver, because this town is ripe with the
promise of magical things brewing in that delicious, weathered
green gardener’s shack they call home!
