Charlin Designs: References & Press

August 25, 2010

Dear Carole,

Just wanted to thank you with all my heart for the work you did a few months ago, visualizing, organizing, and making manifest the huge undertaking of moving my entire houseful of stuff from the piano and fridge, to all my little chachkas into my new two-story garage. The system has stood the test of time and, while I don't go in there to find things often, when I do I am impressed all over again with the sense of order and the sense of humor throughout.

You managed to jam pack every inch of usable space in an accessible and rational manner, and at the same time, express imagination throughout. The way you hung and arranged things, from my giant paper mache giraffe on roller skates to the photo of my Grandma's Plymouth Illinois high school graduation class of 9; to displaying my eclectic collections of vintage costumes, pottery, and vintage record albums, you managed to creatively honor my need for seeing things that amuse me or reflect my personality, my story and my family history -- all in the context of what could have been total upheaval, but isn't thanks to you.

It's helped immensely during this period of displacement while the house is being renovated, an exciting but emotional time, as you know, given I've loved and lived there for 33 years. While still maintaining it's traditional funky 100 year-old farmhouse look, it’s had its longevity extended a few hundred years, I'm sure. It’s materialized before my very eyes stronger, more level, all energy efficient, safer, and most importantly, one-hand friendly! Having been rendered one-handed, I will soon have windows, doors, drawers, closets and so forth I can actually open with ease. Putting things back in those drawers and rooms will be relatively painless, thanks to the orderly fashion in which you stored my things.

Thank you for lending order at a critical time in my life, and that of my house.

All my best.

February 3, 2009

Dear Carole,

I love my new home that would be an empty shell (perhaps with boxes) if not for you. Everything has a place and a purpose. I found many treasures as we worked through my things, but the best of all is the treasure that is you.

All my best wishes for your continued success.

Sincerely,

THE COURIER, Littleton, New Hampshire

Franconia "Handygirl" Has an Eye for Design

A quick look through a local phone book will show that the North Country has its share of "handymen," but until now, what the area may have been missing is a "handygirl."
Carole Charlin, a former Los Angeles, California, native now residing in Franconia, likes to consider herself exactly that.
"You could call me a handygirl," she said. "I source fabric [and] design, cut, and sew it myself. I customize and personalize. What I don't know I learn. If it's broke, I fix it."
Charlin has taken her "handy" interior decoration and design knowledge and turned it into her own business, "Charlin Designs."
After Charlin relocated from California, she purchased an Austrian-style chalet at Mittersill Village in Franconia. Once she started to tackle restoration on the 50-year-old chalet, she realized that her ability to "put things together" and "take a fresh view" on interior design could possibly help other people within the North Country and other parts of New England.
"I come from a family with a background [in design]. We had seamstresses and my dad was an architect," she said. 'I've been involved in design since I was a child. I was immersed in lessons about design, textiles, and color when I modeled for my grandparents, who were designers."
Charlin's knack for simplicity and elegance shows throughout her chalet. Aside from the restored 1950's-style bar, Charlin has unique displays of old glass liquor bottles, a copper-topped fireplace, pine hardwood walls, handmade baskets, as well as Italian fabric pillows.
Charlin's homemade Italian pillows have added significance for her, as some of her designs are on display and for sale at the New England Ski Museum. Each of her pillow designs features a different "Alpine style" scene and fabrics used to create the pillows were hand-selected by Charlin in European countries.
"I found my materials in the Alps between Italy and Austria," she said. "I also have purses made of Italian fabrics."
Some of Charlin's other renovations include a Martha's Vineyard beach house, a condominium at a century-old historic building in Boston, and a vintage Airstream camper in Easton.
Charlin also works as the exclusive in-house decorator for Four Seasons Homecare, the homecare service to Mittersill Village.
To further solidify her status as a "handygirl," Charlin has also become a member of the Women's Rural Entrepreneurial Network (WREN) in Bethlehem.
Charlin hopes that area residents will take advantage of her eye for design, and she also hopes to keep learning more along the way.
"What I don't know I learn," she said, "I love what I do."

August 24, 2006

To Whom It May Concern,

Carole Charlin has managed two relocations for our family, as well as a comprehensive re-org of three large storage units. She has a brilliant ability to conceptualize use of space in a rational, organized format and then manages to convey her ideas in a diplomatic yet straightforward manner.

Further to that, Carole’s sense of design is refined and, at the same time, very fresh and clean. She somehow puts together furniture with textiles and accessories (which are generally already our own, but placed in a new, exciting context) which I would never have thought of. She’s also adept at both assembly and installations: Carole loves her power tools, and always comes equipped for the job at hand.

This all would be reason enough to hire her as a re-location specialist and organizer, but at the top of the list, Carole is not only personable and intelligent but actually manages to make dreaded tasks and transitions seem like an adventure. What can be very sensitive, personal decisions about how your life is set up, both visually and conceptually are made effortlessly, because of Carole’s real talent for visualizing and then bringing to realization transformations within a given space. My family consistently expresses delight when they hear Carole is coming. That, to me, is the ultimate test of a person to whom you’d want to entrust this difficult but important work.

Finally, as we’ve worked together four or five times on various projects, there are times when my work schedule makes it difficult to always be physically there working with her, which is always fun when my schedule allows that, but if I am working offsite, Carole is completely efficient and trustworthy. I return to small miracles throughout our home. Some of her innovations remain exciting even a year or two after she’s implemented them. In short, I couldn’t recommend anyone more highly.

Sincerely,

December 4, 2004

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing this recommendation for a very special and talented woman, Carole Charlin, of Charlin Designs.

I first hired Carole when I was building my house and needed guidiance with the color choices of the interior paint. I had an idea but Carole was instrumental in keeping me from turning my house into a rainbow! With her recommendations I am thrilled with the end result and applaud her wisdom of how to work (and live) with color.

Next, Carole oversaw the addition of window treatments for all three bedrooms. She understood what I was looking for and found the perfect fit for each room - wooden blinds, drapes and beautiful window valances. She also found a sensational headboard for the Master Bedroom and made a slipcover for it that matched my new window coverings.

Our last business venture was the interior restoration of my beloved 1971 Airstream, resurrecting it from a dated nightmare to an upbeat cozy camper, complete with her homemade pillows!

I consider Carole to be smart, warm, loyal, caring, funny, diligent, organized, immensely patient and incredibly talented. I have so enjoyed working with her and will absolutely hire her again for all future home projects.

Sincerely,

September 16, 2003

To Whom It May Concern,

We enthusiastically refer Carole Charlin of Charlin Designs to anyone who requires the best of style, taste and imagination in home decoration and restoration

As owners of Four Seasons Home Care, we specialize in custom home care with the emphasis on personalized services for Mittersill Village, in Franconia, New Hampshire, the only authentic Austrian alpine village in the United States. We watched as Ms. Charlin expertly restored a 50 year-old mountainside chalet and hired her to refresh our dining room chairs and re-upholster and restore an antique leather chair. We have a rugged outdoor lifestyle; not only are we professional contractors and landscapers, we hike and ski and have two large dogs. She anticipated our needs and exceeded them with timely turnaround and superb results. Using her craftsmanship and skill she achieved the aesthetics I wanted and the toughness my husband and our lifestyle demanded.

We have hired Carole to work on other personal design and restoration projects.

Sincerely,

August 16, 2006

To Whom It May Concern,

I enthusiastically refer Carole Charlin of Charlin Designs. I have hired Ms. Charlin to work on several home design and restoration projects and have been completely satisfied with her results. She is skilled, professional and personable in every aspect of her work. Notably, I hired Ms. Charlin for the complete overhaul, restoration and home decoration of the interior of a vacation property. She brought style, taste and imagination to the job; she anticipated our needs and exceeded them with an organizational approach, timely turnaround and superb results.

I also employed Ms. Charlin to reorganize a large family storage unit we’ve used for over 30 years at Metropolitan Storage in Cambridge, MA. The accumulation of substantial family possessions over time and the resultant clutter made it difficult to enter the storage unit, let alone locate things at a glance to find or remove what I needed. Ms. Charlin combined craftsmanship, organizational talent and design skill to, among other systems she implemented, to install shelving, re-box & label items, and clean and photograph art objects and paintings so that there is now no need to waste time opening boxes to see what’s inside.

Without reservation you can be confident hiring Carole Charlin for any and all home design, restoration and organizational projects.

Sincerely,