I’ve always loved to travel. In fact, the love of travel is part of what started our journey into the world of blogs six years ago with our first blog, ForeverWherever.com
So I guess it’s no surprise that when my wife Kim, who blogs at EverythingEtsy.com, was invited to speak at the Snap! conference in Salt Lake City, we decided to make a road trip out of it. And no slouch of a road trip either. From the sunny Southwest Florida coast all the way to the mountains of Utah and back saw a total of 6000 miles roll by.
What was a surprise was the snow. It was nearly May! Being the sub-tropical native I am, I really didn’t think snow was very common anywhere in the US this time of year. I had another think coming!
We ran into TONS of snow. At first it was interesting, then it was incredibly fun, then it actually got kind of scary as we found ourselves driving a remote high mountain pass in what was essentially a blizzard. But we made it down in one piece.
The fun part, the part I’m eventually going to tie into the remodeling theme of this blog, was the impromptu side-trip to Winter Park Resort in Colorado. We just happened to be travelling through the area during the closing week of Winter Park’s season and there was a true abundance of fresh snow.
Kim @EverythingEtsy and Jacob @JTLayton (Instagram) at Lunch Rock in Winter Park, CO
We had a wonderful time on the slopes of Winter Park. It wasn’t at all crowded, which was really nice for the less experienced skier, and almost the entire mountain was open for skiing, which is saying quite a bit. The place is huge at over 3000 acres and Seven Territories of skiing and snowboarding.
We also thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful buildings, well designed public areas, and inspiring mountain architecture.
I even snapped a few pictures of remodeling ideas at Lunch Rock, elevation 11,220’.
Serious Barn Doors
Beautiful Custom Barn Doors and Exposed Hardware
We actually saw quite a few exposed sliding doors on our trip, so these are officially the thing to do now, but I thought these particular ones were just beautiful.
Corrugated Metal Beneath a High-Bar
A cool alternative to wood paneling on a bar wall
The wall beneath any standard high-bar is always a challenge. If you leave it plain painted drywall, it’s going to get banged up. If you cover it with something like tile, it can be hard to find the right material and it’s kind of “permanent”.
I’ve always liked bead-board for those areas, but this corrugated metal is a great option for the right decor. There are chemical agents you can spray on it to get the random rusted look.
Fireplace Ideas
The angle iron mantle support is a nice touch
The fireplace area had lots of cool things going on. The rustic wood paneling, the angle-iron with exposed nuts and bolts, and the nicely stocked firewood niche all combined for a great look.
Angle Iron Corners
an easy and unique way to finish outside corners
Protecting corners isn’t really a new idea. But doing it with a length of heavy steel angle was new to me. I just thought the contrast between the wood and the steel was warm, rustic, and comfortable but the whole thing still just looked classy. If I build a mountain house one of these days, I’ll be doing this somewhere within.
Winter Park Architecture is Beautiful
Winter Park Resort
These kind of details were everywhere if you looked for them. Overall the entire place was really quite spectacular.
If you’re making plans to go play in the snow in Colorado, you should strongly consider Winter Park Resort.
~ Tim
PS – Oh… one more thing… if you’re travelling with your dog, The Vintage Hotel is a short free “cabriolet” ride from the Winter Park base and the hotel is as pet-friendly of a place as I’ve ever visited. They even had a huge “dog wall” with pictures of past guests of the four-legged variety.