LKW Design Team
Meet dynamic duo Kayce Newell and Jamie Critchlow, Principal Designers and Founders of LKW LUXURY INTERIOR DESIGN in the beautiful Vail Valley of Colorado. Combining our team's, education, creativity, and expertise with clients’ needs and personal tastes to create beautiful results.
Get To Know Us
Kayce Newell, Principal Designer
Kayce Newell is a founding principal and lead designer at LKW Luxury Interior Design, where her belief in building lasting relationships with clients has helped shape the company's mantra to bring creative solutions with quality client service to every project. Kayce’s ability to develop client relationships based on respect, trust, and confidence has been the key to her success as a leader in her interior design firm. With more than 18 years of experience as an interior designer in Vail, she possesses an innate desire to create and design interiors that exceed clients’ expectations. With an eye for quality, a superior sense of style, and a client-centered approach to business, Kayce Newell has proven herself as an innovative designer.
After graduating from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Interior Design, Kayce moved to the Vail Valley in 2006 and was honored to be awarded the ASID Crystal Award for Emerging Designer in 2010. Kayce also earned her NCIDQ Certification that same year. Kayce and Jamie’s work is regularly featured in leading design and lifestyle publications including Luxe Interiors + Design and Mountain Living. They were named to Luxe’s inaugural class of Next In Design, a new signature program celebrating the freshest, most exciting young firms around the country, and will be featured in the September/October 2023 “Ones to Watch “edition of Luxe.
Beyond her accomplishments, she embraces the Colorado lifestyle in nature and precious family time through skiing, mountain biking and camping. Kayce grew up riding horses on a ranch in Texas, but now you can find her and son, Finn, riding the mountain bike trails in Eagle, CO. Kayce knows how to embrace the “NOW” and is known for occasionally heading to the ski slopes before work with her husband, Jason, on an epic powder day. Hayden, her daughter, and Kayce’s “mini-me” loves to dance and her favorite snack is veggies. The Newell family also indulges their curiosity for travel, by exploring diverse cultures and local cuisine.
Fun fact about Kayce – You never have to guess what she is thinking. Kayce thinks out loud and her facial expressions tell the rest of the story. She is very proud to be part of one of the top interior design firms in Vail and Colorado.
Jamie Critchlow, Principle Designer
Jamie Critchlow has been designing interiors since the age of 5 when she started rearranging the furniture in her childhood home, a penchant she maintains to this day. Jamie moved to the Vail Valley in 2008 after studying Architecture and Design at the Architecture College at the University of Nebraska. Prior to moving to Colorado, she studied Interior Design in London and worked at an Interior Design Firm in Chicago. In 2010 Jamie went on to earn her NCIDQ.
In 2013 she co-founded LKW Design Associates with best friend and business partner Kayce Newell, with a vision of creating inspired spaces with their signature look - approachable luxury with clean lines and a welcoming vibe. The design duo focuses on making clients feel at home in their spaces and excited to entertain family and friends, not unlike their own propensity for hosting a good party.
With her “can do” spirit and a sense of fearlessness, Jamie brings her unwavering entrepreneurial spirit to LKW Design allowing the business to accelerate its growth through creativity, strategic risk-taking, and hard work. She loves the collaborative process of each project between Client, Designers, Architect and Builder to explore the best possible solutions for spatial configuration and finishing design details to make each project personalized for the end user.
When she’s not in the design studio or working late from her home office, Jamie loves spending her free time exploring the outdoors and traveling as often as able with her young family. The Critchlow family does everything together, and they enjoy taking advantage of the many activities available in Colorado through each season. Their son, Lachlan, is sharp as a tack and at six years old, has the vocabulary of someone twice his age. And daughter, Graelyn, loves to climb and can often be found at the top of the bookshelf ladder in Jamie and Kayce’s office. Jamie and her husband, Taylor, have a ‘tiny’ art addiction and love buying unique pieces to hang in their home at local art shows and while traveling.
Fun fact about Jamie - In a different life, she would be a travel blogger with a specialty in planning once-in-a-lifetime vacations for clients.
Anabel Johnson, Assistant Interior Designer
Anabel Johnson grew up in Edwards, CO and fully embraces the mountain lifestyle that this beautiful Vail Valley provides. When she isn’t skiing, hiking or paddleboarding, she is probably looking through Architectural Digest, Pinterest and Instagram for novel design ideas.
Anabel was immersed in the world of interior design throughout her childhood when her mom worked as the Marketing Director for Slifer Designs. She spent hours in the design office after school and would use leftover fabric scraps and discarded materials to create various arts and crafts. Her passion for design never faded and she knew she would end up in a creative field of work.
After attending Boston College from 2016-2020, Anabel graduated cum laude with a BA in Theatre Arts and a minor in Business Leadership & Management. She moved back to Vail intending to start a career in Event Management. Although planning weddings, corporate dinners and community gatherings was invigorating, Anabel quickly learned that her true passion lay in the design aspect of event management; the florals, the decor, the process of setting everything to look picture perfect. With this realization, she shifted careers in 2022 to become an Interior Designer.
In the office, Anabel is known to be enthusiastic, innovative and collaborative. She believes in an adaptable and dynamic design process - the first answer is rarely the best one! Her ability to remain highly organized within a fast-paced, creative environment has allowed her to thrive.