Carter Unfurled

Designing a Living Home
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-80065-541-6
Verlag: CICO Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 176 Seiten

In his sixth-and most personal-book, Hilton Carter reveals his creative process for transforming his Baltimore house into a true home. In this behind-the-scenes tour, from the tranquil master bedroom to the plant-filled sunroom, he shares the inspiration behind each space, talking the reader through the mood boards he creates when embarking on a room renovation and explaining the thoughts behind a design, both functional and decorative. Hilton shares how each room has 'unfurled' beautifully over time, discussing how to choose color and texture, offering practical tips on room layout, and showing how to use plants to breathe life into the home. Alongside personal stories and design insights, Unfurled shows how recreate these looks in your own home-whether you're working with a guest suite or a compact shower room. With Hilton's guidance, you'll learn how to incorporate thoughtful styling, select the right plants for your rooms, and cultivate a home that is personal, nurturing, alive, and dynamic.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Carter, Hilton

Leseproben

The exterior

The day you consider purchasing your first home is a special day, but the day you know you’ve found the home of your dreams, your “forever home,” is a day you’ll never forget. I know this because for Fiona and me, it feels as if it was yesterday. It was 2020 and we were in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. At the time, we were living in an apartment and life felt so uncertain. We had made an offer on another home earlier in the year, before the pandemic hit, but once everything shut down that March, we decided to pull out of the deal. This wasn’t a decision we made lightly and we were anxious we wouldn’t find anything else that we loved or even liked. However, at that moment, my work was on pause and Fiona, who is a dentist and has her own practice, had to close her doors.

A few months passed, life seemed to open up again, and we felt comfortable looking at houses. On a warm evening in July 2020, we decided to view our future home on a whim because it was close to Fiona’s dental practice and if we’re anything, we’re a family that believes in convenience. I mean, Fiona and I originally met because we were next-door neighbors, but that’s a story for another time.

The house had been on the market for a while and beyond the fact that we were deep in a pandemic, the only other reasons I can think it hadn’t sold were that it wasn’t easily viewable from the road and the online images of the home didn’t show the true charm of the interior and the incredible silhouette of the façade. When we pulled up on the driveway, it was early evening, and the sun and clouds were collaborating to create the most magical sunset. Between the trees I saw the front of the house and I was transfixed.

I can’t say that it was exactly love at first sight, but I could see the potential right there in front of my eyes. Now the house did have some cosmetic issues. The mixed flagstone entry terrace hadn’t been maintained in a while and was covered in moss and algae. The stucco facade was patchy and peeling. We liked the windows, but while they looked pretty from a distance, close up some of them were inoperable or broken. Book-ending many of them were shutters which, in a few cases, like the ones on the sides of the living-room window, served no purpose. The front yard was pleasant but many of the shrubs were sparse or dying back. The one plant that helped woo us was the sweet bay magnolia, or Magnolia virginiana, directly in front of the house. While the house had a great silhouette, many changes would be necessary to restore its glow.

THE BLANK CANVAS

This is the view that greeted us on the day we first drove up to the house. We were instantly pulled in by its charming silhouette and the lush greenery of the garden.

Concept and moodboard

When considering the look of the home from the outside, I appreciated the vibe that already existed. After all, it was the front of the house that pulled me in when we first saw it. The color palette was fine, but I wanted to turn the original colors from cool to warm, so the house felt welcoming and cared for. I decided to repaint the facade in a warm white (Greek Villa) and refresh the shutters, gable end, and front door with a brighter, warmer green (Basil) for a subtle lift. For the windows, I chose black frames to add a modern touch to the home’s timeless style.

When it came to planning the garden, the idea was simple—make it lush. In keeping with the style of the house, boxwoods and topiary trees felt like ideal partners for the sweet bay magnolia. We added more mixed flagstone and, at the back of the house, a deck of warm-toned wood. The thing we both knew the moment we laid eyes on the house was that it had a vibe, and our job was to enhance this.

MY CHOSEN PALETTE

• The stucco is Sherwin-Williams 7551 Greek Villa and the gable end, doors, and shutters Sherwin-Williams 6194 Basil.
• New boxwoods surround the existing sweet bay magnolia. In summer, I style my tropical plants on the entry terrace.
• The old wooden window frames were replaced with black metal and we replaced the concrete path with new flagstone.

LOCATION BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

BUILT 1915

STYLE AMERICAN COLONIAL

SQUARE FOOTAGE 3,600 SQ FT/335 SQ M

BEDROOMS 4 (5 BEFORE RENOVATION)

BATHROOMS 2.5

Plan and layout

Many old, established neighborhoods like ours have a homeowners’ association that enforces the principle of keeping all the homes in the community looking as they did when first built. If you want to make alterations to the exterior of the home, you must submit a request, detailing your list of changes, and hope that those on the board will approve them. When we began house-hunting around Baltimore, neighborhoods with strict regulations on what could be done to the homes made it difficult for us to find our dream house. Luckily, in what has become our neighborhood, the rules weren’t as inflexible and mainly focused on the front and sides of the house. This meant the exterior paint color would have to stay close to the original, and any existing shutters would need to remain in situ.

The shutters on the living-room window didn’t fully cover the window when closed, so we requested permission to have them removed. The biggest ask that we put to the board was to replace all the windows with modern, black-framed ones, while adding a window to the front of the house and accordion-style doors at the rear, plus a raised deck. To improve our chances of selling this idea to the board, we hired architect Mark Mobley to design the windows. We went with Andersen Windows because of their ability to make any idea you have come to life. Mark drew up the images for the new windows, and added our request for the new paint colors and the deck. We submitted our request to the board and, after a week or so of crossed fingers and toes, received their approval. Now work could begin.

HOME GROWN

We knew we’d need to make a few cosmetic changes to the exterior of the house but wanted to keep its original shine. With new windows, fresh paint, and more greenery, you can really see the difference. Plans for the new windows.

BACKYARD BLISS

The back of the house felt a little unloved and unattractive to us when we viewed the home. Our exterior architect Mark Mobley sketched out the plan for the new exterior look of the house. The back would now have a deck and new windows—real bliss.

Knowing our limits, we hired professionals to do the building, the millwork, the general contracting, and project management. After considering a few options, the company we used was Guerrilla Construction. When they started work, it was so stressful to see a “move-in ready” home get torn apart, but what was to come would change our home and the way we live in it forever.

I’m aware of the debate about removing old windows—in my opinion, if it’s necessary and you have it in the budget, do what’s best for your home. It’s possible to donate old windows or utilize them in imaginative ways, like building a greenhouse. We had a large number of windows that needed to be replaced, so to make sure the look was consistent throughout, we decided to replace all of them. The new windows have transformed the appearance of the house, giving it a new youthful look, plus the light they let into the home is life itself!

Once the new windows were in, the patching of the stucco finish was carried out. There were just a few spots on the back of the house that needed to be fixed, but it’s a process-heavy job. After that we had the entire house—from the doors and shutters to the gable end—painted.

All it took for the flagstone on the entry terrace to look brand-new was a quick power wash. And if you’ve ever power washed something, you know the joy and satisfaction it brings. There’s something magical about watching years of grime blasted away in moments. When we purchased the house, we had no idea what the true color of the flagstone actually was, but once it was power washed, we were floored by the vibrant hues, variations, and sparkle. The issue with the flagstone was that it was only on the entry terrace and not along the entire walkway, so we called on Turner Landscaping to redo this using mixed flagstone, so that it would feel connected to the terrace.

As Turner were on site, we had them help with the landscaping as well. They removed everything except the magnolia and a laurel and used Buxus microphylla ‘Little Missy’ to create planting beds at the front of the house. Here we planted Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), Allium ‘Ambassador’, Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’, a Japanese maple, and a pom-pom juniper. In winter, many of the plants lose their leaves, but from spring through fall, the greenery here is spectacular. During the warmer months, I add a little extra icing to the cake by styling some of my indoor plants on the entry terrace to make the space feel tropical and lush. The large spindle palm (Hyophorbe verschaffeltii), Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa), and Philodendron ‘Congo’ grow wild during their “summer break” and give our house a Southern California look right here in...