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When hotelier Erik Warner bought Alpine House in Jackson, Wyoming in 2020, he didn’t know exactly what he would do with it, so he lived with it and observed the opportunities. “Over the years, it evolved into this idea that it could be your home away from home,” he says. Once he’d zeroed in on this vision, Warner knew he wanted to work with Brooklyn-based Elizabeth Roberts Architects (ERA), a studio known for its residential work.
In addition to bringing the dated hotel interiors into the present day, Warner hoped to create an authentic feeling of a guest house. “I wanted it to be collected rather than designed, warm rather than luxurious,” he says. Warner also sought to revamp it in an environmentally-conscious and economical way.
The brief to ERA: reimagine the place with interior design rather than moving walls. Working with ERA’s eponymous principal and director of interior design, Robby Rathmann-Noonan, the hotel got a new lease on life without much change to its bones at all: Paint, wallcoverings, fresh tile, new furnishings, and a few clever built-ins turned the dowdy mountain stay into a chic retreat. Because Roberts used so many accessible, home-like tactics, the property is brimming with ideas you might steal for your space. Here are nine interior ideas to borrow from Alpine House:
Make a Moody First Impression
The hotel’s exterior feels fresh and modern thanks to Roberts color-drenching all the wood in a deep green. It’s a custom-mixed stain from Sherwin Williams’s Woodscapes line: green mixed with 75% black. “It’s pretty matte–it’s not a shiny finish at all,” Roberts adds. A similar paint job can transform almost any house that has seen better days.
Anchor Each Room With More Than Paint
Roberts and Rathmann-Noonan conceived of a shiplap headboard wall painted a deep green (Sherwin Williams’s Laurel Woods) for each guest room. “That vertical line of the shiplap does something important to create height and a sense of focal moment more than paint alone could,” says Rathmann-Noonan. If you want to recreate the look, installing shiplap is a relatively simple DIY project or an affordable assignment for a handyman.
Soften The Ceiling
Another trick that Roberts and Rathmann-Noonan employed to change the feeling of surfaces without adjusting the architecture was to paper the ceilings in a sisal wallcovering. Roberts notes that it is an effective way to personalize the rooms and make them feel warm and finished without taking up precious floor space that other decorative elements might require. If you have a room that needs a little extra personality, consider this a solution.
Make Organization Design-Worthy
ERA opted for a modern take on a classic Shaker peg rail for each guest room; the pegs give guests a place to hang up their belongings in the relatively small rooms. (And if you’ve ever stayed in a hotel room without hooks, you know how essential they are!) A section of peg rail is a smart addition to guest rooms, entry halls, mudrooms, and kids’ spaces.
Weave in Ebony Accents
Look closely and you’ll notice a dash of black in every room. “We love accenting with black,” says Roberts. “It doesn’t always work, but when you’ve got deep colors and natural wood, I think black is just such a beautiful pop.” Rathmann-Noonan adds that the touch “makes it feel more contemporary.” You can use black or another dark color as a visual thread throughout your own home to create an air of intention in its design.
Double-Up on Bedside Lighting
Wanting to create greater interest on the bed wall, ERA opted for both wall-mounted sconces (from Pin Lighting) and Earth and Element table lamps. Roberts notes it’s also a practical choice: “Having the two gives guests more options for the amount of light and type of light they’d like to have.” Improving your own bedroom lighting in this way is easier than ever with the many plug-in and even battery-operated options available today.
Use Iconic Patterns Strategically
Certain prints and motifs have strong connotations. Roberts wasn’t even sure if she wanted to incorporate tartan in this project because it can be such a cliché in a mountain interior. However, ERA successfully wove in plaid by using it sparingly and sticking to a muted color palette. The same strategy works with any expected pattern, like chintz in an English cottage.
Mix Up Your Furniture Sources
Part of what makes Alpine House feel more like a home is that ERA used vintage and independently-made furnishings throughout. In the library, for example, two vintage wood-frame chairs and a rush stool are paired with a new coffee table from Lulu and Georgia and a kilim rug sourced through Etsy. When decorating any room in your own home, mix old and new, plus off-the-shelf and one-of-a-kind.
Build in a Banquette
The main room once held only tables and chairs for breakfast service. When Roberts refashioned it, she strategically employed a built-in banquette to provide a place to sit and eat along the far wall. The custom piece takes up much less square footage; a similar bespoke seat can be a great choice for an eat-in kitchen or breakfast nook.