Q&A with Victoria Jones
From interview published in Vail Valley Home Magazine September 2022
What is your process and style of working with clients?
New construction and large remodels are what we focus on at Studio James. Our bread and butter is providing a turn-key experience to our clients all the way from selecting materials, sourcing furniture, to putting dinnerware on the table. We also thrive when working with a cohesive team: builder, architect, lighting designer, landscape architect, etc. The sooner we are involved in a project and start collaborating with the build team, the outcome of the project is 10 fold and will always be better. From there, we work to understand our clients’ goals and values of the project and start executing the design with the use of 3D Modeling and Renderings.
What stands out about your studio?
Studio James is not your average design firm. It starts with me: I’m not your average interior designer. I have the nick name “Tomboy Princess” - meaning I love beautiful things, have expensive taste but can always be one of the boys and get my hands dirty, and love to play sports: softball, golf, bowling. I also strive to set the stigma aside that not all interior designers are ego driven and we can be real down-to-earth people. I also believe our design aesthetic is like no one else in the Valley - we curate design uniquely.
How do you keep the process of designing a home as stress-free as possible?
Well, we take all the stress on for our clients and deal with it all on their behalf. The goal is for us to advocate for our clients, making sure their expectations are met by the build team in place and keeping everyone accountable. When something goes wrong – and it always does – we get ahead of the problem and only come to our clients with solutions. I like the saying: there are no problems, only opportunities.
Where do you get a lot of your inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere: traveling, colors in nature, Pinterest, Instagram. When you’re open to inspiration, it literally finds you. It can be anywhere you look.
How did you begin your career (working with a leading interior design firm — who and what did you learn from that experience)?
I was working full time for a Mortgage Company in Denver as a receptionist while going to school at night for interior design. My cousin called one day and said her volleyball coach’s husband was looking for administrative assistant for the interior design studio he was the CFO for and asked if I could send my resume over. I did, landed the interview and got the job. That design firm was Worth Interiors - whom I invested 10 years with. The experience I gained working in the field and going to school at the same time was invaluable and gave me such an opportunity to succeed. Two mentors I’ll be forever grateful for: Eddy Doumas and Lisa Kanning. They showed me the way and are the reason I am where I am today.
What brought you to the Vail Valley?
Interior design! I grew up in Littleton and when my mentor Lisa Kanning left to start a new chapter in Brooklyn, Eddy asked if I would join the Avon office. It had always been a dream of mine to live in the mountains, I said yes and have been here now for just shy of 10 years.
What do you like about living in the mountains?
I'm drawn to the way the mountains make me feel, for example the nostalgia when it starts to snow and the whole world stops.
Your studio is named after your father, James. Tell us a little about him, and how he inspired you.
I am my father’s daughter through and through. He spent his career as a successful civil engineer and I soaked up that side of him – the engineer brain as I like to call it. That way of thinking allows me to look at design differently and understand how to execute what we are proposing. Often times I find myself collaborating with GC’s on how to construct bringing ideas to the table or how to successfully execute our designs. We also both don’t like the word “no”. Ha! I learned how to fight tooth and nail to work around that word and come to a compromise where we all win. I’m proud to be my fathers daughter!
What’s your favorite style/what does your home look like?
Mountain Contemporary. I live and breath the design we create for our clients. In 2022, we renovated our condo, using a black kitchen, white washed ash wood doors, and natural white oak flooring. I’m obsessed with Yakisugi wood, which is basically burnt wood - ha. Our TV wall is lined with Yakisugi wood, with a floating wall-to-wall media cabinet and corner fireplace with exposed ventilation piping. In our master bedroom, we have black plaster walls and it’s just dreamy! I love our bedroom.
Tell us about your attraction to skulls and how you incorporate them (either in your own home, or … where)?
I’ve always had a fascination with skulls, from since I can remember. I think it goes back to my punk rock days - ha, that tom boy side of me. To me, they represent bad ass, which I strive to be. What really draws me though is that skulls house the brain of the soul. Each skull is unique to that one soul, whether that be a human or animal - no other soul will call it home, ever. I find that fascinating.
Who’s your favorite office mate (I’m thinking Penelope; please tell us about her)
You nailed it! She’s my ride or die, my soul dog. P will be 10 in April, she’s been through it all with me. She has been coming to the office with me since she was 8 weeks old. It’s really her office - let’s be real. She keeps us laughing at the office, and she’s our 5th office mate for sure. P loves it when UPS comes, treat time. I love that little dog to pieces.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Summertime is my jam. My fiancé and I golf - a lot. I also play slow pitch competitive softball and travel around the state playing in tournaments on the weekends. I love to travel whenever I can. We typically keep that to the winter to get out of the cold. I find myself becoming a snowbird, flying away to warmer places.
