The secret to a calm December? It starts in September.
DURANGO, CO, UNITED STATES, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Lorrie Boone had a picture in her head. A mountain home glowing with a beautiful tree, garland and candlelight, family gathered by the fire, everything feeling exactly like Christmas is supposed to feel. What she got, that first December at her new mountain home, was a dark house, an empty fridge, and a grocery run for just enough milk and creamer to get through the morning — with family arriving in less than a week and a design pulled together from what she had on hand, because she didn’t have the time to properly source for it.
“It was pretty,” Boone says. “It just wasn’t the ‘Wow’ I had in my head. And underneath all of it was an exhaustion I hadn’t planned for — because on top of decorating, I was cooking, hosting, trying to make everything feel like Christmas in a place where nothing had its spot yet.”
It’s a specific kind of tired that a lot of vacation and second-home owners know well: the gap between how you pictured the holidays and how much time you actually have to make it happen once you get here. Boone has spent the years since figuring out how to close that gap — and she’s sharing what she’s learned in a new post for her blog series, Life Lessons of a Durango Homeowner.
“I’m not trying to make it sound complicated,” Boone says. “I’m trying to save someone else the year I had.”
Some of what she’s learned may not be news to anyone who’s lived in the mountains a long time. But for a vacation homeowner — especially one coming from a warmer climate like Texas — there are things you don’t realize you need to know until you’re already dealing with them. Small steps that offer real peace of mind, like keeping mice from treating your crawl space as a winter refuge, or protecting outdoor faucets before the first freeze. Knowing how far in advance to book a family-favorite holiday train ride before the good dates and seats disappear. Even hiring a professional to have the whole home ready before you arrive — Boone’s own specialty — has a real deadline. Most designers are already booked solid by fall.
For cleaning, Boone recommends Royal Gold Cleaning Co. for arrival-ready homes — Michelle Hill’s work is well known among Durango Mountain Club members and other luxury clients in the area. “I love pointing people toward businesses I believe in,” Boone says. “Especially women-owned ones doing excellent work in this community.”
For homeowners who’d rather hand off the whole list, Boone points to Nicole Byrum of Elevation Home Management, a property management firm serving dozens of luxury vacation and second homes throughout the Durango area. Byrum, who has fielded her share of last-minute holiday requests from clients, says a dedicated holiday design service is something she’s wished existed here for a long time. “There’s nothing like that in Durango,” Byrum says. “I’ve put up a tree myself more than once, just because there was no one else to call.”
Those recommendations, along with a few more Boone has collected over the years, are all in the full post.
“None of it is complicated on its own,” Boone says. “But together, it’s the difference between walking in and feeling like you’ve arrived ready to relax — versus walking in and immediately starting a to-do list.”
For homeowners who only get a few weeks a year in the mountains, that difference matters more than it might elsewhere. “This is the place you escape to,” Boone says. “You want that short window to feel warm and relaxed and a little extraordinary — especially when you’re sharing it with the people you love most. Nobody wants to spend the first two days of a trip like that fixing a frozen pipe.”
It’s the same thing that led her to open Durango Holiday Home, her holiday design studio. She knows what it feels like to want the beautiful version of the holidays and not have the time to pull it off alone — because she’s lived it, more than once.
The full September checklist is at durangoholidayhome.com/blog, along with the rest of the Life Lessons of a Durango Homeowner series.
If you’re interested in talking to Lorrie about mountain homeownership or holiday planning, feel free to reach out to the contact info on www.durangoholidayhome.com.
About Durango Holiday Home
Durango Holiday Home is a premium seasonal décor studio founded by designer Lorrie Boone, providing Christmas decorating services in Durango and Southwest Colorado to private homeowners and vacation property owners. Lorrie brings more than 12 years of experience creating custom holiday décor for residential homeowners and private clubs, including multi-year work at the Birmingham Country Club in metropolitan Detroit.
Contact: Lorrie Boone | 970-844-4850 | info@durangoholidayhome.com | www.durangoholidayhome.com
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