Interior designer Trevor Fulmer indulges his own sense of style in his Provincetown pied á terre.

The search for the perfect home is a daunting task. The stakes are high and the journey usually begins with trepidation. But, with an open mind and a keen eye, it is one that can end in enlightenment and joy. This, at least, is the story of how interior designer Trevor Fulmer came to find, and fall in love with, his waterfront condo in Provincetown. 

Fulmer, Principal of Trevor Fulmer Design, a full-service interior design studio based in Boston, had first connected with Provincetown 15 years before purchasing the home. He and his friends would all pile into the car on a Friday afternoon and make the long drive from the city. “It was always worth it,” says Fulmer. “You could tell there was something different in Ptown compared to the rest of the Cape. A freedom that wasn’t anywhere else.” His connection to the town would continue to grow over the years as he and his husband, Jim Mattus would make daytrips to the vacation home in Brewster owned by Mattus’ parents. 

Fast forward a few years and the couple were ready to find a place they could call their own. Fulmer wanted a project, a two-bedroom home that needed a personal touch, but in May 2020 when Mattus found a listing for a one-bedroom condo that had been renovated just two years earlier, they couldn’t help but go take a look. They made the familiar drive from Boston to Provincetown, with a stop in Brewster and a handful of listings lined up. The one-bedroom condo was the first one they saw that day—a day with clear skies and calm waters stretching endlessly off the back deck. With a first impression like that, nothing else was going to compare, and despite the uncertainty in the housing market at the time, Fulmer and Mattus knew they’d found their home.

With their offer accepted, the next challenge began. Even for a professional designer like Fulmer, transforming the condo into their dream home was no less of an undertaking than making a client’s dreams come true. “I am my hardest client,” he says seriously. “When working with a client on a project we’re taking their style and filtering it through our eyes and making sure we’re aligned in the end. When designing for yourself, the world is your oyster—pun intended—and it can be challenging to narrow down choices.” 

At just 375 square feet, Fulmer indeed had less to work with than normal, with but he was going to make every inch count. This meant being very strategic with the look, shape, and size of everything that came into the house. Sometimes this required Fulmer to design and build his own pieces. 

In order to create more storage space in the bedroom Fulmer introduced three-drawer nightstands for the couple which he thoughtfully designed. His design incorporated the bedroom wallpaper to create continuity between the bedroom and the rest of the home, and he gave them a nautical touch with exposed rivets and drawer pulls made from unlacquered brass, which had developed a nice patina. Handpicked porthole mirrors above the nightstands pay homage to the seafaring history of the area and reflect light and the ocean. “I wanted to see water from every angle of the house and those mirrors really help do that,” say Fulmer. The William D. Hobbs painting above the bed, a beachscape which evokes the Cape’s long walkable beaches, is a firm reminder of place as well.

The living room, kitchen, and dining room are pretty much one open space which required creating the right palette to bring it all together. When Fulmer designed the couple’s South Boston home, Mattus wanted something blue—the couch, drapes, anything—but Fulmer never chose anything to fulfill his husband’s request. “Not because I didn’t want to,” Fulmer is quick to emphasize. “It just didn’t feel right.” 

He made up for it in the Provincetown condo. Inspired by the sea, sand, and surf, a neutral palette complemented by bold blues was selected. Mattus got his long-awaited azure hues in the form of the cerulean blue couch in the living room, while the oceanic kitchen cabinets provide a magnificent pop of color. These deep tones pair exceptionally well with the acrylic ottomans designed by Fulmer. The clear material and simple shape helps to keep the space feel open, while still being functional as additional seating for guests, or just a place for the couple to put up their feet after a long day at the beach. 

For all that is wonderful about the impeccably designed interior, nothing beats time spent on the expansive deck perched above the bay. Whether it’s a pensive morning spent enjoying the warming summer air with a cup of coffee in hand or an evening spent as a couple, delighting in a glass of wine as the sun sets, this is Fulmer’s favorite place in the home. 

The outdoor space also gave him another opportunity to showcase his design sensibilities. Teak and white metal outdoor dining table and chairs were selected to endure the wet, salty air coming in off the bay. Back indoors, the sisal dining room chairs dry quickly in response to damp bathing suits, and at the end of a beach day the jute rug can handle sandy feet. 

Life in their Ptown condo hardly makes for a solitary existence. Of course, the town is well-known for its tightknit community and festive ambiance but Fulmer and Mattus don’t just revel in the atmosphere, they love to play host as well, and the deck is the place to be. The size not only doubles the square footage for their friends, family, neighbors, and total strangers who can all join in on the revelry—whether it’s a casual quiet evening catching up with old friends, or a packed house with everyone marveling at the unobstructed views of the town’s Fourth of July fireworks display.  

Of course, as with any project of significance, none of this happened overnight either, instead Fulmer says the evolution of the space is what allowed the project to come into full bloom. “It took a solid two years to get the place into what I consider showroom ready shape,” says Fulmer. “We didn’t want the space to feel like we bought everything and threw it in. It took time to find the right pieces that would each have a purpose.” Summering in a town that happens to have a history of being a thriving art colony for over a century now has given the couple the added pleasure of supporting their local community while turning their home into their own work of art. 

Though Fulmer and Mattus have long since fallen in love with their slice of heaven in Provincetown, they are sure that this is still only just the beginning. “Looking back on the whole journey of finding, designing, and now living in the home, it feels like a part of us,” Fulmer says.  

Matt Nilsson spent a memorable summer as a Cape Cod Life intern in 2016. Today, grown and married and with the new perspectives that accompany those changes, he has found his way back into our pages.