Design firm's name keeps goal in mind

Climbing the K2 Himalayan Mountain is a goal that Jenny Carter wanted to keep right in front of her as she opened her first award-winning architecture and interior design firm.

She named the company K2 Design Group because of her love of skiing and the idea that climbing a large mountain like K2 is similar to opening and sustaining a successful business.

“I love to travel. I have been all over the world and sometimes you have to keep a goal in front of you to keep you motivated and saying K2 all the time, I figured that I would eventually get there,” said Carter, who is president and owner of the company that specializes in residential and commercial projects in the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, the Bahamas and Panama.

The last 14 years have proven that Carter has what it takes to climb her own version of K2 and expand the business to include a second design studio in Bonita Springs.

“This expansion feels like a natural evolution. Anytime we create ways to serve our clients, we are moving in the right direction,” said Carter, who has two daughters whose names begin with the letter “K.”

But moving a company in the right direction takes experience, which Carter picked up after receiving a bachelor's degree in architecture in Montreal, where she owned and operated a Canadian architecture and design firm.

“In our field, we are such a service-oriented business that being where the client is is very important,” said Carter, who grew up in Fort Myers. “The growth is moving north so we are going north and wanted to be able to properly serve them.”

The new 3,850-square-foot office space, located on Old 41, will serve as K2’s Lee County headquarters, design studio and showroom.

“The showroom space will show our clients some of the furniture lines, kitchen cabinets and some of the specialty finishes we supply,” said vice president Stuart Jones. “The design studio lets us serve our clients who want to build from when they have a piece of dirt until they are ready to walk in and move in which includes furniture and everything.”

K2 Design Group’s new space will include several world-class artists’ paintings in the showroom and gallery.

“We have an influx of residents that are moving in and a lot of people are buying their third or even fourth home to retire and in one place they can get it all so they aren’t having to go to multiple places and the end product is more streamlined,” Jones said.

In an effort to make the building process seamless, the group will also offer kitchen cabinets and Italian furniture exclusively for Bonita Springs.

“We are doing a lot of work in Lee county and as high as Charlotte County. The work just keeps going up so we are following it,” Carter said. “I haven’t finished climbing K2 but we are working on getting there.”