Alpine Ski Chalet Interior Designer in Switzerland

Where we work in Switzerland

We work across the Swiss Alps, including Verbier, Gstaad, St. Moritz, Zermatt, Davos, Klosters, Arosa, Lenzerheide, Crans-Montana, Grindelwald, Engelberg, Andermatt and smaller ski towns too. If your chalet is elsewhere in the Swiss Alps, please do enquire.

Working with us from abroad

Many owners of Swiss chalets live abroad for most of the year, so we’ve consciously built our process around that. After one site visit to measure and understand the building, the design is developed in 3D modelling software and presented to you whole, in person if you happen to be in the area or, more frequently, online by video call.

Managing a renovation from another country is difficult to do well, so for our international clients we build regular site visits into the scope. You have a reliable partner on the ground overseeing tradespeople, checking the quality of the work and keeping you up to date on progress, without it becoming a burden on your week. We then handle procurement, warehousing and delivery, and install everything before you arrive for the start of the ski season. Installation is deliberately planned around the season, as access and deliveries in ski villages are far easier outside the winter months, especially in car-free, cable-car-only or cogwheel railway-only access resorts such as Zermatt, Wengen, Mürren, and Saas-Fee.

Travel to the chalet is billed at our hourly rate, with other travel expenses at cost. Being based in Switzerland, with every ski resort within driving distance, keeps the travel portion of your project modest compared with a designer travelling from abroad for each visit. How fees work.

Designing an Alpine chalet is different

A chalet is intensively occupied for a few months of the year. We understand that when the season starts, you want to be on the piste, not still settling into your property; it should feel like a complete, liveable Alpine home the moment you arrive. We design, and plan our timelines consciously around that.

There are a number of other additional considerations we make for every Alpine ski chalet project.

Sleeping and guests. A generous number of bedrooms, bunk rooms and en suites are planned so when hosting a full house of family and friends, everyone still has private space and plenty of storage.

The arrival. A comfortable boot and ski locker room, with somewhere to dry ski kit, store boots and skis and hang coats and helmets, so the rest of the house stays warm and clean.

Materials. Timber, stone, wool and linen, chosen to suit the building and to wear well.

Designing a chalet with part-time lets and rentals in mind

Many chalet owners let or rent out their chalet for the weeks they won’t be occupying the property themselves. Knowing this potential creates a number of important design considerations from the start.

Knowing a client may let out their property for private rentals in future means we design the space with many more use cases in mind. Every chalet which is let out must be designed with the following in mind.

• A secure area for owners to store personal belongings

• Separate locked storage for guest amenities for the housekeeping teams to access

• Designing bedrooms with the ability to join or separate beds so room can be used in versatile way such as two single beds or one King size bed

• A larger linen storage closet than usual — a rental chalet needs two or three full sets per bed plus towel sets for each guest

• A separate laundry with a commercial-grade washer and dryer, which has a great enough capacity to allow the cleaning staff to wash every beds linens in a short changeover period

• Performance or washable fabrics on sofas and dining chairs, loose covers where the style allows, wool or flatweave rugs rather than silk or viscose.

• Lockable drinks or wine storage for owners who like to keep a cellar

• Smart locks or a key safe, and a plan for how the local property manager or housekeeper accesses the chalet.

• Designing with photographs in mind so the property looks its best in an online listing

How an Alpine Chalet interior design project works

1. Getting acquainted. With an understanding that clients are often abroad, we tend to do our meetings via video call. For that scoping and quotation meeting, we like to drive out to the property and will video call you from within the property to talk through the chalet, how you use it, who stays and what you would like it to become. If the property is still in the process of being purchased, this can happen before completion of the purchase and instead we’ll speak while consulting the floorplans.

2. Site visit and survey. One visit to the chalet to measure, photograph and understand the building: its construction, its access and the condition of what is there. Where a renovation is involved, we meet your architect or builder, or introduce local tradespeople, on the same visit.

3. Design. Every room is built in 3D modelling software to its exact dimensions, so you can walk through the whole chalet before anything is ordered. The design is presented to you complete, with a full specification, budget and timeline, by video call or in person if you happen to be in Switzerland, and is refined over one focused month.

4. Procurement and warehousing. We order every item from suppliers in both within Switzerland and abroad, track each item, and manage any returns for damaged items. Everything is received and inspected at a warehouse in Switzerland and held there until the chalet is ready, so nothing sits in an empty property or on a mountain road.

5. Works on site. Where building work is involved, we visit as needed to oversee tradespeople and check the quality of the work, and send you photographs and a short update after each visit. You are kept informed on progress without needing to visit yourself.

6. Installation and handover. Furniture and decor are delivered together, assembled and placed, packaging removed and each room styled. We finish with professional photographs for our portfolio, and if the chalet will be let, a set of images suitable for the listing. You may then arrive to a live-in ready space.

7. When to start. To be ready for the December season, a chalet that needs paint, wallpaper and furnishing should ideally begin by early spring. A renovation involving kitchens, bathrooms or building work should begin a year ahead, as tradespeople in the resorts are currently booked several months out and access for deliveries is far easier before the snow. If your timeline is tighter, please do enquire; we will tell you honestly what is achievable.

What it costs

To get an idea of what an interior design project costs in Switzerland, do visit our complete article on “How much does an interior designer cost in Switzerland?” which includes details on how every interior design project phase is typically priced and which includes a sample living room budget to provide a practical, initial estimation.

Questions

Do you work entirely in English? Yes. We work in English throughout and coordinate local tradespeople and suppliers on your behalf.

Do we need to be in Switzerland during the project? No. One site visit at the start is all we need from the building and often a property manager is able to grant us access so we can simply call you by video call once in the property. Everything else for the duration of the project is presented and discussed by video call. Many of our clients see the finished chalet for the first time when they arrive for the ski season.

Which resorts do you cover? Verbier, Gstaad, St. Moritz, Zermatt, Davos, Klosters, Arosa, Lenzerheide, Crans-Montana, Grindelwald, Engelberg, Andermatt and the smaller villages between them. If your chalet is elsewhere in the Swiss Alps, please do enquire.

Can we start before the purchase has completed? Yes, and it usually helps. Design work can begin as soon as we have access to measure, so that furniture with long lead times is ordered early enough to arrive for installation week.

Can you work with our existing architect or builder? Yes. On renovation projects we work alongside your architect, or can introduce local firms we know. We take responsibility for the interior design and furnishing and coordinate closely with whoever is managing the building work.

Can you source furniture from the UK, US or elsewhere? Yes. Much of what we specify comes from British and European suppliers. We handle import, customs and delivery to the warehouse for holding and then to the chalet.

Do you design chalet-style apartments as well as whole home freestanding chalets? Yes. Many of our clients own apartments within a chalet building, and the same approach applies.

How is travel to the chalet charged? At our hourly rate, with other travel expenses at cost. Being based in Switzerland keeps this portion of the project modest. For more on investment expectations, do visit our complete article on “How much does an interior designer cost in Switzerland?”

Do you offer online-only design for chalets? Chalet projects are undertaken as full-service, in-person work, as they depend heavily on site visits and local coordination when clients are living abroad. Our online design service is available for other rooms and properties.

Tell us about your ski chalet

Visit our full service design page for more details and to enquire.