Podcast, Episode 95: designer Matthew Carter

We cover so much today with our guest, interior designer Matthew Carter, that it’s an episode you don’t want to miss! From brown furniture to bookshelves to investing in great pieces and so much more, Matthew offers us down-to-earth advice about decorating your home and how the laidback horse farms of Kentucky inform his style.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

• Why a collected and beautiful house feels more evolved than everything matching
• Matthew’s design process which starts with fabrics and furniture layout
• Matthew’s background and how it has evolved 
• Why it’s okay to mix and match colors, finishes and fabrics.
• How to break up a room seamlessly, and why hosting a party can help you plan your furniture layout
• Great ways to bring down the formality and humanize the room using a formulas for curtains, sofas and rugs
• Built ins are a great way to add architecture to a space — just make sure you have books!
• Painted chairs are always beautiful and a new coat of paint is a great way to freshen up a room
• Every room needs a mix of high and low, and Matthew reminds us we can’t be too intimidated by decorating in general
• If you have to move a pillow to sit down — it’s flat out wrong!
• Matthew’s take on curtain length

Decorating Dilemmas:

Hey ladies,

I hope it’s ok if I ask another question. Y’all were so helpful with my bedroom, I just need a little advice in my dining room. I just painted the walls farrow and ball Hague blue and we are in the process of putting picture molding across the bottom. The goal of painting it blue was to convince my husband we needed navy grasscloth (and it worked!) so that’s coming soon.

Anyway, I don’t know what to do about window treatments and a rug. I feel like some drapes would be nice but I don’t know if I should do a print or solid, light or dark. I have a ballard banquette in red with dotty fabric and dotty on all the dayna chairs. Obviously I’m a big color fan! Should the rug be neutral? I have the diamond sisal in my family room but sisal probably isn’t a great idea in the dining room.

Thanks in advance!

Ashley

It always comes down to budget, and what the rest of the house looks like. Matthew can possibly see a flat weave or something with contrasting colors like corals, oranges, blues and creams. He would also go pretty simple with the curtains such as a ticking stripe and linen, or simple on the rug and bold on the curtains with a print you really love. If you don’t need a lot of privacy, maybe take the curtains up to the crown molding to give the room more height and natural lighting.

Show Notes:

• Matthew Carter Interiors on Instagram
• Matthew Carter Interiors
• Kentucky Farmhouse designed by Matthew
• Matthew’s favorites

Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.

Happy Decorating!

Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play