Denver-based interior designer, Heather Westcott, takes pride in being able to help create the perfect home for her clients that not only looks amazing, but also utilizes items that are sustainably made, when possible. She has amazing taste, and that’s obvious with one look inside her own home that she shares with her husband and young daughter. In this home tour, she walks us through how they found the perfect home for them and some of her favorite things inside of it. Her decorating tips are spot on, so get ready to take notes. Let’s get started!

Tell us about your home. How long have you lived there?

My family was relocated for my husband’s job from San Francisco to Denver almost three years ago. When we flew out to Denver for our first house-hunting trip, the very first house our realtor showed us was right across the street from this house. But, we proceeded to look at something like 20 houses that weekend, and we didn’t love any of them. This house was still under construction and not at all on our realtor’s radar for us, but it had caught our eye as we drove past, and we kept coming back to the builder’s website. Eventually, we asked our realtors to get us info on this house and we put in an offer on the house while it was still under construction from 1,200 miles away without ever walking through it in person! We immediately flew back out to Colorado to meet with the builder and I had to pick all of the finishes for the house in a one-hour meeting. I had no idea I was going to have to commit to so many decisions that meeting, and for an interior designer who is used to getting to take my time and sift through tons of options until I settle on the perfect finishes, having to select all the finishes from their limited options in a one-hour meeting was a challenge, for sure. Fortunately, I knew all the right questions to ask and where I could squeak in some custom finishes, and about six months later, we moved in!

What are some of your favorite things in your home?

Oh my gosh—where do I even start? I definitely love the Rifle Paper Co. wallpaper that I used in our downstairs powder room (I also have its special-edition Ked’s shoes that match!). The floor tile in our master bath is the Zenith pattern of encaustic cement tile by Clé and it was the one finish I was absolutely intent on using in this house and I couldn’t be happier walking on it every day. As far as furniture, my bedside table, which is a Saarinen Side Table by Knoll, is super special, as it was one of my earlier fancy furniture splurges. The Eames rocking chair that sits in our master bedroom is also special. I found the shell of the chair in a dumpster in college and kept it for several years until I could afford to buy a base for it. It’s an authentic Eames fiberglass shell from the ’50s.

Where do you shop for home décor?

For big furniture items, I love to pair vintage or authentic classic designer pieces with handmade pieces. Design Within Reach is a great place to see a lot of classic and new modern designs all in one place for some of the bigger pieces. I also love The Citizenry for great roundups of ethically made furniture pieces and rugs. If you have great vintage shops in your area, those are gold mines for finding pieces to refurbish or reupholster, but you can always find great finds on Craigslist, Ebay, Etsy, Chairish and 1stdibs, too. If I’m shopping for a client’s house and need to find a lot of décor and accessories all at once, West Elm, The Citizenry, Etsy, Ten Thousand Villages and Made Trade are definitely go-to sources, but I much prefer to layer décor over time rather than buy it all at once. Some other favorite brands to check out are Dims, Armadillo & Co, Coyuchi, Parachute and Rose & Fitzgerald.

What’s your decorating style? Any tips for newbie decorators?

I would say my decorating style is modern, simple, practical and casual. I’ve never been drawn to needless clutter and also hate to dust around it all, but I love to have collections of things that have meaning to me or have been gifted to me by friends and family. I also think homes should be easy to live in with your pets and/or kids if you have them. My number-one tip for decorating is to only buy things that you love…not like…love. Buy things you intend to have forever, things that can move from room to room of your house over time, not things that will eventually get discarded or dropped off at Goodwill. If you do tire of something, it should be something you can resell. If you absolutely love everything in your house, they will all look good together and you will feel so happy looking at it all the time—things absolutely do not need to match. Second, do not go out and buy everything all at once. When you do, your home with look flawless at first, but soon look dated, just like catalog covers look dated over time. And chances are, if you are buying things all at once, you are going to spend less per item than if you space the purchasing out, so likely the quality will be lower as a result. And lastly, be thoughtful about how your pieces were made and by whom. Take care of the planet by buying sustainable products and think about the people making your décor by buying ethically made products and supporting the companies that uphold these values, too!

What’s on your bedside table?

A gorgeous vintage lamp…but also a sunlight alarm clock I’ve had for years that is not cute at all, but legit works to wake me up peacefully when I need to get up before the sun’s up. I also have my essential oil diffuser, and a book out on my bedside table since I’ve been trying hard to relax and read a physical book instead of looking at my phone in the hour before I fall asleep.

What’s your current morning routine?

This is going to sound like such a cliché, but right now, when I wake up, I head up to our roof deck to do yoga while my husband takes care of getting our daughter up and fed breakfast. Next, I shower, dress and head downstairs to walk our dogs while I listen to The Daily podcast. Then I eat breakfast and start the day with our daughter while my husband heads upstairs to get himself ready for the day and to start his workday.

How has your routine changed during this COVID-19 quarantine?

Prior to COVID-19, my husband traveled for work nearly every week, and my daughter was in full-day preschool, so my typical weekday morning was almost always done solo. This includes parenting, getting up and dressed and getting my daughter up and dressed and walking her to school, then walking back home and taking our two dogs for a walk (at least I got time to listen to my podcasts!) before I’d be back home and able to start my workday. My family has been so fortunate that my husband has been able to stop traveling for work and be home with us all the time now, while still staying employed, as his job was easily shifted to a telework situation. Since I work for myself, I have been able to scale back my workload so that I can handle the bulk of the stay-at-home childcare for our daughter. For us, it has been a wonderful change of pace, though it absolutely took some adjusting. I’ve never been a stay-at-home mom personality, but we are all adjusting just fine now. I am definitely aware that what we’re experiencing is not the case for everyone and consider myself so fortunate to be in the position we’re in to weather this storm safe at home.

What are your all-time favorite, must-read books?

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman.

Current read?

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Favorite Netflix binge shows?

We traded Netflix for Disney+, so right now I’m loving catching up on all the seasons of “Life Below Zero.” I’m totally there for all the National Geographic series, they are more my speed. I’ve never gotten into any of the popular series everyone else is binging.

Currently listening to?

Most of the time these days, I am at home with our kiddo, so it’s the Children’s Indie Radio station on Pandora.

Do you have any creative hobbies?

I’ve always loved crafts of all sorts but don’t have a single hobby I fall back on. I love to always have some sort of project on the go—sewing something, cross-stitching, learning calligraphy, making miniatures, it just depends. I’m loving that my daughter is really into arts and crafts now, which gives me a creative outlet to plan and do craft projects with her like my mom did with me as a kid.

Do you have a go-to outfit? What fashion do you gravitate toward?

Since I’ve worked from home for three years now, my go-to outfit is definitely ‘daytime pajamas’—some comfy joggers or leggings and a T-shirt or sweatshirt that I try to make look a little bit cute. I’ve always dressed casually, but working from home for so long has really taken that to a next level. When I do leave the house, I’m always reaching for a maxi dress and cardigan or jacket—simple but pulled together. I’m super interested in slow, sustainable and ethical fashion, which makes shopping a challenge (to find what I have in mind fashion-wise, but that also meets my standards for sustainable and ethical production). Fortunately, so many companies are getting on board with this movement so it becomes easier to shop this way every day.

What’s currently on your wish list?

An Eames lounge chair and ottoman…if only I had the perfect room for it.

What are your thoughts on self-care? Do you have any routines you lean on during tough times?

Self-care for me has really evolved over the past few years. I used to be a really avid triathlete, and my self-care centered around running, biking, swimming, strength training, just generally super active and physical exercise. But around the time I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease several years ago, my body was telling me that those hard workouts just really weren’t doing it for me right now and I got more into trail running, hiking and yoga. I recently realized how much I had been neglecting my mental health, and had my first-ever series of panic attacks. This was a big wake up for me, and self-care for me now, especially in the midst of COVID-19, has really centered around yoga, relaxation and mindfulness exercises, taking quiet baths and making sure I have some moments of daily alone time for myself. I think these are routines I will carry with me for a long time going forward.

Must-have beauty products?

Coconut oil. It’s in the lotion I make, the face scrub I make, I use it to take off makeup…it’s literally the best.

Coffee or tea?

Tea. I love matcha and chai dearly, but I recently cut out caffeine, so I’m trying to embrace herbal teas now.

Do you cook? What’s a go-to meal when at home?

I cook because we have to eat, but being in the kitchen is definitely not my favorite place in the house! Takeout from a local restaurant is my favorite go-to meal—organic, farm-to-table, mostly vegetarian, good for you food…that someone else cooked.

Favorite quote?

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein