How to Design a Chic Mountain Retreat—Sans Chalet Clichés

Salt Lake City–based interior designer Susannah Holmberg recommends drawing from a chalet’s surroundings for its color palette too. Find inspiration in “the browns of the earth, the rock tones and the branch tones,” she advises. Sierra Fox, principal designer of Los Angeles– and Sun Valley, Idaho–based Studio Mtn, also advocates for grounded shades of olive, mustard, and rusty orange—or if the chalet, say, is located “near a field of lupine, then lean into purple.” New York City designer Ghislaine Viñas recommends veering away from “stark whites…[they] will make you cold,” she warns. Softer shades, like Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee, will do the trick.

Wood is as central to the vision of a chalet interior as the façade, but mixing different varieties is key. “It feels more gathered over time,” points out Holmberg. Fox agrees, arguing that darker stains can mesh with lighter ones, and even brighten them with painted millwork. Los Angeles designer Jennifer Miller “loves wood carving details,” but she would “avoid anything with overly ornate or faux façades,” she tells AD PRO.

Rather than “the candelabra iron fixtures you see a lot of in the mountains,” Fox adds, spring for patinaed lighting from Apparatus or Poul Henningsen. Or, as an alternative to lamps with “old-school parchment shades,” level up to a Noguchi paper lantern. Juxtaposing new furnishings with vintage pieces is another way to enliven rooms. “Comfort should be the centerpiece, with furniture you can truly sink into,” explains Viñas.

In Jennifer Miller’s Sun Valley, Idaho chalet project, wood gets additional depth via traditional lattice joinery at the room’s seams.

Photo: Michael Clifford

Consider intricate quilts, bouclé poufs, gauzy curtains, and rugs of varying piles, like those layered into Miller’s Sun Valley project.

Photo: Michael Clifford

Tactility is especially vital to a chalet, and a way to break free from default clichés. “Because you are dealing with such extreme weather, you want the space to seem like it’s enveloping you, which heavy, knubby materials are great at doing,” says Miller. “I love creating corners for reading and relaxing, and bringing in patterns like vintage Southwestern woven blankets and rugs.”

Holmberg also avoids the obvious. “A log beam and pillow with a pine tree on it are a little on the nose,” she admits. “Alpine design wants to be cozy, but you can do that with a more minimal aesthetic by going for sumptuous textures. Maybe your floor plan isn’t bursting at the seams, but the sofa is down-filled.”