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Pro Spotlight: How to Create a Cohesive Home Inside and Out
An Austin architect shares his expert advice for building connections between your home’s indoor and outdoor spaces
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Who: Brian Carlson of McKinney York Architects
Where: Austin, Texas
In his own words: “I really enjoy making spaces that are tailor-made to fit each particular client and how they live their life.”
Principal architect Brian Carlson’s childhood home in Houston had no back door. Today, after more than two decades of working with architecture firm McKinney York, Carlson considers a cohesive indoor-outdoor connection key to his practice. Below, he shares several design ideas to better anchor your home in its environment.
Where: Austin, Texas
In his own words: “I really enjoy making spaces that are tailor-made to fit each particular client and how they live their life.”
Principal architect Brian Carlson’s childhood home in Houston had no back door. Today, after more than two decades of working with architecture firm McKinney York, Carlson considers a cohesive indoor-outdoor connection key to his practice. Below, he shares several design ideas to better anchor your home in its environment.
A thoughtful path. Carlson took to architecture at an early age. “I went to an arts magnet school in Houston where they exposed their students to many different aspects of visual arts,” he says. “I already loved to draw and to create, and my architecture teacher encouraged me to look into architecture school.” That guidance eventually led Carlson to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin.
After working for a large architecture firm in Los Angeles, Carlson returned to Texas and joined McKinney York in 2000. “It felt right to work at a smaller firm,” he says. “We experience every aspect of a project and there’s so much you can learn and experience.”
After working for a large architecture firm in Los Angeles, Carlson returned to Texas and joined McKinney York in 2000. “It felt right to work at a smaller firm,” he says. “We experience every aspect of a project and there’s so much you can learn and experience.”
An anthropological approach. Carlson’s approach to each project is uniquely personal. “I love tailoring a project to fit the needs and goals of the client,” he says. “There’s so much variety within personalities and within family cultures. I find inspiration in that.” Carlson believes the best way to peel back the layers to discover what a homeowner needs is to lead with vulnerability. “It’s like any relationship,” he says. “If you share your inner self and how you might use a space, that helps to get past the superficial and break down a few of those walls.”
Ready to create an indoor-outdoor connection throughout your home? Carlson shares some tips below.
Ready to create an indoor-outdoor connection throughout your home? Carlson shares some tips below.
1. Consider Your Comfort Indoors and Out
In addition to the orientation of your home, there are several design interventions that can help keep both your indoor and outdoor spaces cool and comfortable. “Position landscaping elements like trees to give you both privacy and shade,” Carlson says. “Even the way you position the slats of a trellis will create diffuse light.” Inside your home, the position of the windows can create sightlines to the outdoors, while their glazing can keep the midday heat at bay.
At this Austin residence, the homeowners wanted plentiful space for outdoor living and to capitalize on their view of downtown. “When you have a really deep porch, it can feel very dark and even create a sense of darkness inside your home,” Carlson says. “To resolve it, pull the roof away from the back wall to allow light to permeate and air to flow.” Clerestory windows above the porch cover also help bring daylight into the interior space.
See more of this project
In addition to the orientation of your home, there are several design interventions that can help keep both your indoor and outdoor spaces cool and comfortable. “Position landscaping elements like trees to give you both privacy and shade,” Carlson says. “Even the way you position the slats of a trellis will create diffuse light.” Inside your home, the position of the windows can create sightlines to the outdoors, while their glazing can keep the midday heat at bay.
At this Austin residence, the homeowners wanted plentiful space for outdoor living and to capitalize on their view of downtown. “When you have a really deep porch, it can feel very dark and even create a sense of darkness inside your home,” Carlson says. “To resolve it, pull the roof away from the back wall to allow light to permeate and air to flow.” Clerestory windows above the porch cover also help bring daylight into the interior space.
See more of this project
2. Create a Connection by Bringing Exterior Materials In
“When you use exterior materials on the interior of your home, you end up creating continuity from those transitions,” Carlson says. In Texas, architecture often includes limestone, which can continue inside to blur the line between the outdoors.
For Carlson’s own Austin home, having a well-connected outdoor space was essential. “I knew I wanted to enjoy outdoor living, to have a garden, to have pets and to have the room to appreciate my space and use it,” he says. Carlson kept the dark red terra-cotta brick from the outside of the home exposed on the interior. “The material wraps around the house so there’s a flow throughout,” he says.
See more of this project
“When you use exterior materials on the interior of your home, you end up creating continuity from those transitions,” Carlson says. In Texas, architecture often includes limestone, which can continue inside to blur the line between the outdoors.
For Carlson’s own Austin home, having a well-connected outdoor space was essential. “I knew I wanted to enjoy outdoor living, to have a garden, to have pets and to have the room to appreciate my space and use it,” he says. Carlson kept the dark red terra-cotta brick from the outside of the home exposed on the interior. “The material wraps around the house so there’s a flow throughout,” he says.
See more of this project
3. Keep a Consistent Color Palette
By developing a color palette for your home and repeating those colors in different quantities and combinations, you establish interior and exterior cohesion. “Find continuity in your paint colors, materials, tiles, accents and furniture,” Carlson says. “It creates a calm cohesion throughout your space.”
To find your palette, follow your own inclination. “We don’t try to impose a certain style,” Carlson says. “We take inspiration from the client and their home’s context. It should always look like your house.” At his home, Carlson built his palette around the exposed brick found throughout. He looked for other materials, colors and finishes that would complement it, like the vibrant blue tile and warm wood flooring and cabinetry.
More: For more information on Brian Carlson and examples of his work, visit McKinney York Architects’ Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
By developing a color palette for your home and repeating those colors in different quantities and combinations, you establish interior and exterior cohesion. “Find continuity in your paint colors, materials, tiles, accents and furniture,” Carlson says. “It creates a calm cohesion throughout your space.”
To find your palette, follow your own inclination. “We don’t try to impose a certain style,” Carlson says. “We take inspiration from the client and their home’s context. It should always look like your house.” At his home, Carlson built his palette around the exposed brick found throughout. He looked for other materials, colors and finishes that would complement it, like the vibrant blue tile and warm wood flooring and cabinetry.
More: For more information on Brian Carlson and examples of his work, visit McKinney York Architects’ Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
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