Daily Inspiration: Meet Corinne Willis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Corinne Willis. They and their team shared their story with us below:

High Country Home Design opened in May of 2021, residential design was always a passion of Corinne’s. Corinne had spent the last ten years working for a commercial cabinetry firm based out of Michigan and relocated to the Denver area with her family. While still working remotely she began buying and remodeling homes in Denver.

Unlike your standard flipper, Corinne lived in these homes and designed them for her family, and her aesthetic. She quickly found that by using high-quality materials and designing for how she wanted to live these homes were highly desirable. Within 3 years she found herself in her 4th home in the Evergreen area. This project was by far the largest, a full down-to-the-studs remodel.

Through the process, she met and developed relationships with contractors and tradespeople and it was the General contractor who said you have to open a showroom. At his encouragement, Corinne opened High Country Home Design in Evergreen to provide quality cabinets and discerning design to the Evergreen and Foothills region.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Any business owner will tell you there are always challenges, be it finding the right staff, or material shortages but opening a design business in the middle of Covid was a whirlwind. We had been working to find a retail space and secure our cabinet lines for 6 months before our opening.

As someone who lived thru 2008 in the design and manufacturing industry, I had real concerns that Covid would be a very similar situation. I expected homeowners would be guarding their cash and be very reluctant to spend money. To our surprise, it was exactly the opposite. Homeowners were insatiable for remodeling and updating their spaces. With this high demand, like almost all industries we struggled to source products.

Our cabinet lead times went out to 32 weeks, we could not find paint, and clients waited months on end for furniture pieces. Even with the extended lead times, the clients wanted to move forward with projects. Where we could, we would source shorter lead time materials and when we had to wait we did our best to keep on top of the products and keep the clients informed. We had to alter some processes but all in all, I think we weathered the storm quite well.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
High Country Home Design is unique in its aesthetic to the mountain areas. We believe in honoring the mountain aesthetic while bringing in a touch of modern or transitional design to keep it fresh and light.

We are a boutique firm, we pride ourselves on service and unique design. Our clients come to us because they want someone who can not only deliver a highly personalized product but manage their projects and keep things on track. Our team follows a project from start to finish. We start with the layout and floor plan and then move to material selection, and then project management.

We work with the General contractor and Architect to ensure that all the details of the interior are addressed at the planning stages and limit revisions by working collaboratively at this stage. We are onsite throughout construction and ensure that the design details are executed.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am very conservative. I am very calculated with how and when I spend money and I don’t believe in acquiring debt. I think this comes from growing up in a family business. Some years have been record-breaking, but when we had tough years like 2008 it was the fact that we owned all our property, owned all our equipment, and did not carry any debt that kept the business going.

Many competitors did not survive the recession but we were able to survive and grow. I take the same approach with High Country Home Design today. I take calculated risks. For example, for the last year, we were teetering on the edge of needing a third designer. I was hesitant knowing that we could get by with two, but that meant that I would have to turn some projects down.

My goal is to grow and expand and that means investing in that growth. I went ahead and hired that third designer. This allows me to step back from the project work and focus on business development which is what is necessary to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.highcountryhomedesign.com
• Instagram: @high.country.home.design

Image Credits
Andrea Flanagan Photography