Let the spirit move you

BOULDER — Seth and Stacey Smith Chernoff want to enhance your life.

The couple owns Spirit Elements Inc., a catalog and online company, which sells home and garden products that Seth says are designed to “enhance or enliven any area or room in your home.”

While house hunting in Boulder, Seth and Stacey encountered numerous properties that needed renovation. This prompted them to research the kinds of products necessary to revamp each home. Seth says there was a hole in the market for “a high quality, affordable and easily accessible” place to get all of these renovation products.

After purchasing a house that didn’t need renovation, the couple founded Spirit Elements in 2001. The name of the company comes from the idea that “one of our products can alter the entire feeling of your home,” Seth says. It was debt-financed and had only four employees.

Today, the number of employees has more than tripled. Seth also says the annual revenue has doubled the last three years, though he declined to disclose specifics.

In its fledgling stages, Spirit Elements sold only a few products. Today it features a wide variety of products, including garden sheds and gazebos, custom doors, patio furniture and water art.

The sheds and gazebos arrive in six or seven pre-assembled pieces and are available in a wide range of sizes. They are designed for easy assembly so customers with little or no carpentry experience can assemble the pine, cedar and aluminum structures in an afternoon.

Spirit Elements works with about 100 manufacturing companies, some of which are overseas.

Many products are designed specifically for Spirit Elements.

Spirit Elements offers free shipping on every item. A manufacturer in Canada ships the sheds and gazebos duty-free. Seth explains that imported lumber in Canada is taxed heavily, but once incorporated into a product it’s taxed much less or not at all. Seth says this is how Spirit Elements is able to offer free shipping.

In mid-March, the company moved to a new building that it purchased. The new facility doubled its space and allowed it to customize the office with hand-carved doors from its catalog and a cascading wall of water behind etched glass. Seth says the new location embodies the spirit of the company. His office features a view of the Boulder Country Club golf course while the other side of the building boasts a view of the Flatirons.

Some of Spirit’s corporate customers include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, The Boeing Company, city of Lafayette and Louisiana State University.

Spirit Elements recently was contacted by the American Broadcasting Corp. to be featured on its television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The show completely renovates viewers’ homes in just seven days, using products donated by various companies. The families selected generally have circumstances, such as an ill family member or a single foster parent, that contribute to the lack of funds for remodeling. Seth says they donate their products because “it’s a good cause.”

Spirit donated a cabana and a wall waterfall for the March 29 episode. Spirit products will continue to be featured on the remaining six episodes of the current season of the show.

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