Setting the scene for fans of Tom Petty, lovers of Portugal, and many others
By: Alison Fields
Photo by Jack Robert
Designer Courtney Hinton of Hearth+Home took a nontraditional route into the interior-design world. She brought a background in theater and a love of architecture, interiors, art, and story from Los Angeles to Asheville and leaned on the job locally. Hinton worked for existing companies and watched her side antiques business transform into a decorating-and-consulting business — and, finally, into her own boutique firm: Hearth+Home Interiors.
You didn’t have a formal background in interior design when you came to Asheville. Your approach was literally hands on …
I knocked on doors until I found [an interior designer] who said yes. I worked with her for two-and-a-half years and got a crash course in classic Southern design.
At the same time, I started selling antiques on the side, throughout the region and locally at The Screen Door. I started getting inquiries about doing people’s houses. Decorating jobs began to turn into remodeling jobs. I closed the antiques business and launched out on my own as Hearth+Home, as an interior-design business.
Things really took off, and when I had a child, I started to expand my team. We are currently five women, including myself. We do everything now from new builds to construction and remodels. We also [decorate] a lot of Airbnbs and vacation rentals.
Do you have a particular aesthetic that reflects what Hearth + Home is all about?
We try to incorporate vintage and antique pieces in almost everything we do. Our whole thing is interiors with a narrative. I really love to have spaces that are a bit theatrical — that pack a punch. And this notion is shared by all of us. Amber Baxley, one of our other lead designers, sells European antiques on the side. We absolutely see eye-to-eye. I was a theater major, so I love setting a scene.
How do you integrate that sense of drama with what the client is envisioning?
I do a little creative exercise with people, drawing on inspiration from their lives. Do they have a favorite place? A trip they’ve been on? Another country they’ve visited? Was there a restaurant they’ve always loved, and do they want their dining room to feel a little like that? Is there a hotel with a particular detail they’ve always loved? When people are scratching their heads or confused about their space, it’s always good to get them thinking about the things they love, no matter what.
Can you describe some diverse examples?
We’re working on a rental cabin right now. The homeowners love Tom Petty, so we are pretending this is our uncle Tom Petty’s cabin in Topanga Canyon in the 1970s, and we’ve inherited it. … The design team and I are having a great time. And the finished cabin will have an edge to it that’s completely its own.
But it doesn’t have to be that specific. We just finished a carriage house in [the] Grove Park [Inn neighborhood], the only piece of an old estate. It was such a creative use of space, merging of styles, and preservation work.
The couple we worked for were incredibly kind and up for anything. We had a wall we didn’t know what to do with, and contemporary tile didn’t feel right to the clients, so we asked, “Where’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?” They loved Portugal, so we picked these blue-and-white, Portuguese-inspired tiles. And they make the whole room pop. That carriage house is winning a Griffin Award [from the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County] this year.
Photo by Jack Robert
What do you wish clients understood better?
Our job is all encompassing — there’s so much more than making things look pretty. There’s a lot of work, management, timing, scheduling. Home-makeover shows have trained a lot of people to think that the process is near-instantaneous: The owners go away and then come back and everything is perfect. It’s not like that at all.
People overestimate the potential of the home they’ve bought?
The challenges so often are not about the space, but that you have a great idea that just can’t quite happen [due to logistics]. The market is tough in the last few years in particular. There have been supply-chain issues that require managing expectations with staffing. There are always going to be things that go sidewise. Making things look pretty is the easy part. It’s the final layer on many layers.
What do you want clients to take away from a project you’ve been through together?
I want them to feel at ease, to feel that they can really flourish. … Your space is serious business, but this should be fun. We keep things light and stay grounded that way.
I love people; I love meeting and working with them. It’s so much more than just a job. I remain close with so many clients — they become family in a way. We really care deeply about everyone. If you work with us, you should know we’re going to put our heart and soul into your space.
Hearth+Home, 53 Orange St., Asheville, 215-595-4768, hearthandhomeinteriors.co and on Facebook and Instagram.