Charlin Designs: Press

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."