“ Even more important than the look of the space is the strategic placement of the right materials so they will perform well both operationally and visually over a long period of time ,” Petersen explained .

The durability extends beyond the floors and walls ; the design team also created specifications for purchasing new commercial-grade furniture with stainrepellant upholsteries that can be easily cleaned but are still comfortable and cozy for guests .

“ The materials and fabrics Ayres chose really stretch out our replacement intervals ,” Rider said . “ They ’ re suitable for this environment , durable , and easyto-clean – way better than if I went on Amazon and started buying stuff . Early in my career , we tried doing this kind of stuff by ourselves and holy cats , did we have some mistakes . We really appreciate having professionals on board to give us a quality result that we could never achieve by ourselves .”

Getting the timing right

One of the biggest challenges was getting everything ready on a very tight schedule . High season at Eagle Ridge falls between the busy summer and autumn months of June-October , and the snow-lovers ’ paradise of November-April . Each season , this meant the resort had a narrow window of time to work with Ayres to design and specify furniture , fixture , and finish selections so that the renovations could be completed by the opening of the ski season .

“ Our window for doing these renovations is so limited , so we have to have everything organized and hit things hard during that window ,” Rider said . “ It ’ s crazy sometimes – it can take three to four months just to get a sofa , and we don ’ t have the luxury of that timeline . Ayres has certainly helped with getting us designs in a timely manner and helping us select furniture that will be available when we need it .”

COVID-19 threw a few curveballs as well .

“ With Covid , at first we really didn ’ t think we ’ d be doing any renovations . But people were looking for a drive-to location for getaways and so we went from wondering if we ’ d be facing bankruptcy to having a lot of business ,” Rider said . “ It caused us to pull the trigger pretty late on this round , but Anne was great and pushed through the design quickly .”

18 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .