When we imagine the showpieces in our homes, we can usually picture them in our mind’s eye. But what if we can’t visualize them because they’re functionally invisible?
Making things virtually disappear is half of Leigha Natzke’s job as Owner and Designer at Aspen Design Studio.
“You can make cabinetry really stand out,” she said. “Or you can make it just…go away.”
Different kinds of cabinetry lend themselves to different overall home styles, she explained. A hyper-contemporary home, for example, calls for a sleek, seamless, and minimalist cabinet design in kitchens and bathrooms. These lean toward the disappearing act. A more traditional design asks for framed overlay cabinets in the home design, which draw more attention.
In the Durango area, homes frequently lean into what Leigha calls “mountain transitional.” This falls somewhere between those two ends of the spectrum, with a vibe that’s right at home in the San Juans and La Plata Mountains.
“We’re getting away from traditional design, but we have a large demographic that doesn’t want to go super modern either,” she said. “We’re getting away from rustic wood species on cabinet doors. We’re getting away from heavy molding. We’re seeing more calming, soothing colors, a little bit less detail. We’re incorporating more clean lines, while keeping a softer, more cozy feel.”
Take this mountain transitional home in the Edgemont Ranch housing development, east of Durango. In working with the home designer on this project, Aspen emphasized the light-stained woods in much of the bathroom cabinetry, playing off the hardware and creating a sense of spaciousness and relaxation. Yet, other bathrooms play with contrasting dark-stained cabinetry, tying into the rest of the build, with rich tones and exquisite depth.
The real challenge for Leigha and Aspen, however, was the cabinetry in the kitchen. Here, the distinguishing feature is the absence of uppers—meaning no cabinetry above the counter.
“We have windows all around that kitchen,” Leigha pointed out. “Obviously, they’ve got these amazing views. We wanted to capture those views and let everything else disappear.”
So the dark-stained cabinetry here has to make way for the real stars of the show—the pine trees and the mountains out the window—while providing bespoke functionality so that no one, especially the homeowners, ever feels the lack of uppers.
For situations like this kitchen, Leigha designed a custom adjustable glassware insert for drawers. This customization enables easy access to glasses that, in most homes, are easily reachable on a higher shelf.
“You just have to get really creative with these kinds of things,” she said.
About half the projects Aspen takes on align with this Edgemont home’s aesthetic, which incorporates some of the detail work that defines the mountain transitional style. The other fifty percent of her projects are more contemporary.
Lest you think having such a dream home is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Leigha emphasized that she works with most any budget and project, from big custom builds to one-vanity bathroom remodels. The smaller spaces, she said, open up her creativity, which she finds rewarding no matter the scope of the work.
“I want people to know that we are here to serve every single person at every single price point,” she said. “Your home can be magical. It does not have to cost you a million dollars.”
As a kitchen and bath showroom, Aspen specializes in cabinet design and layout. Customers can get custom cabinetry built, as well as tap into numerous lines of pre-manufactured cabinetry that is then constructed according to Leigha’s specifications. No matter the budget, customers benefit from specialized attention to detail.
Where you can go into a big-box store and get big-box cabinetry with a click, Aspen offers an alternative: Leigha and her team work directly with clients’ wants and desires.
“We want to know how people work, how they clean, how they cook, how they live,” Leigha said. “We want to know how you fold your socks. All those details go into the design.”
Aspen works with individuals and families, as well as collaborating with interior designers and home builders. No generic results work here: those who work with Leigha undergo extensive client meetings to ensure their cabinetry aligns with their lifestyle, both functionally and aesthetically.
In the end, Leigha puts her skill to use to fulfill her clients’ dreams—whether the cabinetry is a visual centerpiece or pulls off a disappearing act.
“We’re not here to push the most popular thing on the market,” Leigha said. “We’re here to give people a space they want to work in, be in, and live in for years and years to come.”
By Zach Hively
