Designing a Mountain Retreat in Vail, Colorado

Nov 9

How Louisville interior designer Bethany Adams brought warmth and refinement to a log home in the Rockies.

Great room of a Vail, Colorado log home with timber beams and layered seating, designed by Bethany Adams Interiors — The great room, Vail, Colorado. Final photography to come.

A log home asks for a particular kind of restraint. Hand-hewn walls, timber ceilings and windows full of forest already carry the room; the design has to honor that architecture while making it feel refined and genuinely comfortable. For a Louisville family, this house was meant to be a true retreat: relaxed, welcoming and rooted in their love of the mountains.

The brief

This was a decorating project, focused on the furnishings, rugs and textiles that would make the home feel as relaxed as the family's life there, while complementing the architecture already in place.

Letting the architecture lead

Rather than compete with the logs and stone, we layered in texture: vintage rugs, sheepskin and leather, in a palette quiet enough to let the architecture take the lead. Nothing was allowed to overpower the natural beauty of the home.

Living area with a green velvet sofa, stone fireplace and timber walls in a Vail log home by Bethany Adams Interiors — The living area, anchored by the stone fireplace.

Primary bedroom with an upholstered headboard and timber walls in a Vail log home by Bethany Adams Interiors — A bedroom softened with an upholstered headboard and layered linens.

Designing from a distance

Every detail was planned meticulously from our Louisville studio. Furnishings were delivered to a receiving warehouse near the home, and the entire installation was completed in a single weekend visit, so the homeowners were thoughtfully involved without ever being burdened.