Beth Slifer’s mood waxes between wistful and enthusiastic as she recalls the slate-gray winter day when she handed over the keys to the Riverwalk showroom of her eponymous interior design firm to Kelsey Cole and Anne Marie Ostmeyer. “It’s been a wonderful ride, but after 40 years, it’s time to let someone else run it and give me more freedom,” she says of the January transfer of ownership of Slifer Designs, a baton handoff of sorts to the next generation of mountain home aesthetes. “They are both great, young, talented designers with the standards and ethics of the company, and I think they will grow the business more methodically than I did. I’m very proud to have them carry on the legacy. It’s all very exciting.”

The story of Slifer Designs began in 1983, when Beth moved from Chicago to live full-time in Vail Village with her husband, Rod Slifer, a Vail pioneer who founded the resort’s first property management company and served as the town’s mayor for two terms. Beth met her late husband in Washington, DC, in 1978, when he came to testify before Congress as mayor of Vail and she was working as special assistant to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Upon arrival, she was struck by how little thought was given to interior design in the nascent ski village. “There was a lot of orange and shag carpets and handoffs,” she says. “At the time, most people were still acting like Vail was a little tiny startup town that was all about being a ski town. Condos were considered a place to sleep, a ski base after skiing all day. No one looked at their places as longtime vacation retreats like they do today.”

Beth originally furnished their condo with curated pieces from Florida, where her mother owned an interior design firm. “I had no interest in joining her in the business at the time,” explains Slifer, who has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, laughing in retrospect at the inevitability of a now-storied career that in hindsight seems preordained. “It was an eclectic mix of overstuffed sofas, glass and chrome tables, and traditional brown furniture. Very different from the basic ‘ski camp’ decor of locals and second homeowners.” In 1984, Beth opened a store of her own on Bridge Street, in the heart of the village, specializing in chic accessories for the discriminating mountain homeowner. With one assistant and an office downstairs, the fledgling business quickly found its footing as the local real estate market, which had been flat for years, suddenly began to boom.

Serendipitously, a client of her husband who was looking to sell a penthouse at the Lodge at Vail asked Beth if she would redecorate it. With a budget of just $13,000 ($39,250, adjusted for inflation), she says she managed to “fluff it up,” making the property more inviting and comfortable, from a bachelor’s crash pad into a year-round gathering place for families. Within a week he had a buyer—and Slifer Designs gained a loyal following overnight. As business flourished, Beth was inspired to move to a larger space in nearby Avon, followed by a move to a still larger space in Edwards in 1997, then four years later settling permanently into a 23,000-square-foot marquee showroom and headquarters in the Amber Building at the Riverwalk.

Generation next

Fast-forward to Slifer Designs today, and the torch-passing has been remarkably seamless, thanks to the new owners’ backstory with the company—both had worked at Slifer previously, Cole for seven years and Ostmeyer for a year or so. Close friends who had both temporarily left their day jobs to parent young children, the duo serendipitously wound up sharing an office in Eagle Ranch when they reentered the workforce as freelance interior designers. Recalls Ostmeyer: “We were able to bounce ideas off each other, like mutual sounding boards. It was a yin-yang kind of partnership.”

Eventually, that casual partnership evolved into a full-time business, Texture Design Studio, which was founded in 2022 on the belief that every space created should be memorable not just for its beauty, but for the feelings it evokes. “We aim to design interiors that bring joy to our clients and help them feel connected to the spaces they inhabit,” Ostmeyer says.

As an example of that ethos, she talks about a Florida home the duo designed for longtime clients, using minimalist furniture, natural materials, calming color palettes, and open spaces to evoke a beachy aesthetic with modern flair.
Texture Design Studio operated with four employees for a couple of years until the partners began conversations with their former boss, who was contemplating retirement.

They sensed, and seized, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Beth created a wonderful brand, and part of the appeal of buying it was that it was already so established in the valley,” explains Cole. “We aim to expand our reach and influence by creating spaces that are aesthetically beautiful, deeply functional, and resonant with our clients. The retail end is still a bit new to us; we are still figuring it out. Beth showed us the ropes and her process, which will help us navigate it ourselves.”

Like their mentor, both designers take a holistic approach to their work. “We always come into a project looking at the entirety of the home as a blank canvas rather than at individual rooms one at a time,” adds Ostmeyer. As an example, she describes a home the duo recently completed in Crested Butte where the design revolved around their clients’ art collection. “[The artwork] gave us insight into the owners’ tastes,” she explains. Adds Cole: “We like to gather information about a client’s lifestyle, how they entertain, if they have kids—and then create a unique space. They love being a part of the process.”

As the new owners of Slifer Designs, Cole and Ostmeyer recognize and leverage each other’s strengths. Cole, for instance, likes digging into numbers. “I’m very left brain/right brain and can get very focused on the business side of things,” she shares. “At times I have to turn that side of my brain off and go straight to working on design.” Ostmeyer, on the other hand, enjoys drafting and interior architecture work, styling, and accessorizing. “We complement each other, seeing things through a different lens, but having the same visions and goals creates a good balance,” she says. “It adds to the company we have created.”

As for moving Slifer forward, they’ve augmented the showroom to include a gallery populated with unique, one-of-a-kind pieces by local artists, including paintings by Amy Dose and Chelsea Spangler (“Their work really captures the natural beauty and spirit of the Vail Valley,” says Ostmeyer), salt-glazed sculptures by ceramicist Brandon Reese, and contemporary Western-style folk art collages by Denver-based mixed-media artist Dolan Geiman. The goal: “To create beautiful, one-of-a-kind homes that reflect individual aesthetics.”
Just like their mentor did for four decades.

“I still have my ‘Oh my god, pinch me’ moments that we’re here, we’re doing it,” says Ostmeyer. “The space and carrying this torch.... I appreciate all of that so much. We just want to continue to elevate the brand and the work that we do.” 
One early barometer of success: the phone’s been ringing off the hook.
“It’s very surreal,” adds Cole. “Being able to continue a connection with Beth is such a treat. Every time we get together, she shares a little nugget of wisdom of what worked for her.”

As their now-retired mentor once said in the pages of this magazine: “Interior design is about creating a lifestyle as opposed to curating a museum. It’s not about filling a place with stuff; it’s about creating a backdrop for hospitality, because most people have second homes for other people to enjoy, for family and friends.”    

216 Main St, C-100,  Edwards (Riverwalk)
970-766-8061, sliferdesigns.com