About Us
Design Matters is a full service residential interior design firm serving the Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield, and Longmont Areas. We specialize in new construction and remodeling.
Helly Duncan is the Principal at Design Matters Home. With more than 20 years of residential and commercial design experience, she is a professional member of the American Society of Interior designers (ASID) and the National Kitchen and Bath Association. (NKBA).
Our goal is to guide our clients through the design process by managing projects from start to finish. This is accomplished by working closely with our clients to give them smart, creative choices that will create beautiful and functional interiors. We pride ourselves on giving our clients amazing choices crafted just for them facilitating personal design that is a true reflection of each individual client. We thrive on active interaction with our clients which creates a collaborative effort of new and fresh ideas from the client and the designer for a truly custom and original design.
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AWARD WINNING INTERIOR DESIGN COMPANY THAT LOVES AND APPRECIATES THEIR CLIENTS AND LOVES DESIGN'
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Our Team
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Services
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Kitchen Design
Bathroom Design
Lighting
Window Coverings
Space Planning
Flooring
Upholstery
Project Management
Curated Art
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Helly Swenson Duncan, Principal, Allied ASID, ASP
I love working through design challenges and the constantly changing and evolving world of design. Advising my clients on design that will serve them well is very rewarding. I am involved in my community in many ways including having served as Director of the Denver City Center and as Vice President of Membership for the International Interior Design Association/Rocky Mtn Chapter, being a guest instructor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, serving on the Louisville Chamber Board, and volunteering with Kids Ministry at my church.
Outside of being an interior designer, I live a very active lifestyle spending time traveling, cooking, and wistfully wishing that she could still run marathons.
Jan Swenson, Design Assistant
Jan is Helly's mom, who plays in integral role in creating drawings for clients, estimating and ordering products, and is our window covering expert.
Shaina Jacobs, Design Associate
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Portfolio
Raintree Bathroom
We tore out a dated pink bathroom with a poor layout for these clients to enjoy and also sell in the near future. A small stall shower was replaced with a large shower with bench and large focal point created by tile. Using one field tile installed on the vertical, we carried it along the shower and tub wall. The tub was turned to create a more cohesive and more functional space that was also placed to take advantage of the existing skylights for night viewing of the moon. The old pink palette was exchanged for a new soothing spa like palette.
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12th Street House
The remodel of the AXO House in Boulder required us to make sophisticated, fun, and durable interiors for these young women. This house needed to be designed with entertaining, studying, and living in mind so there was a lot to consider. We custom made the railing with AXO on it as well as incorporated lyres to into the musical sorority's home.
Grant
The kitchen and bathroom remodels involved contending with the large amount of wood in this home that already had a totally open concept. Wood columns, beams, flooring, and cabinetry was everywhere. In the kitchen and bathroom, we selected light painted wood cabinetry, and tile to tie in the wood elements. The locally made custom kitchen tile is a blend to coordinate the darker smokey finished island and medium gray countertops. Dark cabinet hardware and smoke glass pendants provide balance to the wood too. The island was moved closer to the wall ovens and refrigerator as they were too far apart, and we added seating to the island.
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This client loved color which afforded us the chance to create a gorgeous glass back splash in the kitchen as well as a custom penny tile mix up the wall and on the floor (not pictured) for a striking and dramatic effect. The master bathroom was toned down to create a more relaxing yet glamorous space with beautiful 1/4"iridescent tiles combined to contrast dramatically with dark custom cabinetry.
Euclid
Fresh
MARKET
Falcon
Bitterroot
St. Andrews Lane
Sweetwater
Fairfield
Testimonials
"Helly partnered with us on our remodel. She quickly picked up on our design style while still pushing us outside our comfort zone. She had great recommendations for a GC and other vendors. Helly was also really easy and fun to work with. We would use her again on future projects."
- Alison Meadows, Client
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"What I appreciated the most about Helly and Jan was that they were able to guide me through what seemed an overwhelming number of choices. My favorite example was the counter-top selection. Jan and Helly visited our kitchen, talked with my family about our preferences and a few days later supplied us with three excellent selections to choose from. This sort of work helped our kitchen project move along smoothly."
- Alice Thomas, Client
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"We have worked on several of Helly's projects, including an award-winning bathroom remodel. Her clients are always happy and have fun working with her team. We enjoy her attention to detail and professionalism. We are booked on a few more of her projects in 2018 and am excited to work with Helly and her team in the future. I highly recommend Design Matters Home!"
- Velocity Built, Client
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"Helly is a fantastic decorator. She tapped into my style immediately and brought in new ideas quickly to help update my current home and accommodate furniture/textiles from a previous home. She was thorough in her furniture search-- covering all price points. She is always available for questions/concerns/advice. The contacts she has in the industry do great work and are very professional also."
- Colette Fisher, Client
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"Helly's taste is impeccable! Not only is she a fine stager, but she knows how to get bang for the buck on a remodel, and with style. When the going got weird with the contractor, she (and Jan) helped us in a big way to get things back on track and finished. Our house sold in a day, for asking, after languishing a year earlier. Thank you!"
- Craig Bueltel, Client
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"Helly did a fabulous job in helping to remodel and update our family living space and kitchen. She recommended the best contractor, and she brought awesome samples over to us instead of having us schlep all around town looking at millions of choices. She was prompt, timely, and very responsive in each and every request we had. She has a knack for just "getting you and your ideas." She understood that I was overwhelmed with too many choices and ideas. She helped to visualize our vision in a very easy and simple manner."
- Tara K, Client
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"Helly helped us with the remodel of our family room, including replacement of our original fireplace. She did a great job helping us narrow down choices of materials as well as with furniture selection, plus helped us to find great contractors. She's fun to work with and we're really happy with the final results of our remodel!"
- Carol G, Client
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"Greetings locals - a quick shout out for a fabulous interior designer who resides in the heart of Louisville. Helly Duncan of Design Matters Home, guided us through a kitchen remodel. It looks fabulous, has stellar function and was affordable. Helly = taste and value. She took the time to understand out style and needs, making the process easy with contractor recommendations. Quality work all the way around."
- Kathy Smith, Client
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Awards/Media
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Voted Best of Houzz - Client Satisfaction 4 years in a row.
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2016 CARE award winner - Gold for Standard Bathroom Remodel
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2017 CARE award winner - Gold for Basic Bathroom Remodel
Silver for Basic Bathroom Remodel
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Want to see more pictures? Follow us on Instagram @designmattershome
