We were lucky to catch up with Marie Matthews recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marie, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

The best piece of advice I’ve been given as a business owner is to understand that 10% of interior design is picking pretty things (and lots of people can do that), and 90% is problem solving.

What luxury interior design clients are paying you top dollar for is to deal with the myriad of problems that are inherent to an interior design business.

Why so many problems? There can be as many as 7 different vendors involved in the customization of a single chair. That is seven opportunities for human error to cause something to go awry! And that chair is just one of the thousands of items that are selected, procured, and installed in a whole home project.

Here are some of the problems I have encountered…

Dye lots don’t match for a fabric or wallpaper
A piece of furniture comes broken or damaged
The drapery fabricator mis-measured and made the drapery incorrectly
The wallpaper installer couldn’t match the pattern
The mover scratched the custom dining table at installation
The light fixture comes with malfunctioning electrical
The upholsterer dies midway through the job
The items promised to come in 12 weeks take 36 weeks instead

This is just a small sampling of unexpected problems. What a great Designer can do is know how to resolve those issues. And just as the problems are typically human error, the solutions will also be because of humans.

Great relationships are the key to problem solving.

Instead of just blindly ordering from random companies, a good designer will curate relationships with the reps for custom goods. It is those reps that will help you quickly get the replacement, the fix-it kit, or the installer that can do the job right when the first one did it wrong.

It is also paramount that a good relationship has been fostered with the client, and that expectations are clearly set at the beginning of the project that things will go wrong. The beauty of design is that it is all fixable. It isn’t easy, but it is fixable. If the client understands that you are there to be the problem solver from the get-go she won’t be as easily flummuxed if and when the unexpected happens.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a luxury residential Interior Designer creating beautiful homes for high performing women.

My philosophy is that all women have a divine spark of beauty that resides within and my purpose is to grab that spark and create spaces where it is reflected back so that when my clients see their surroundings they also see their own beauty and spirit reflected back, reminding them of who they are and what they love.

After a decade working for top Charlotte designers, I launched Marie Matthews Interiors in 2022 to a ready and waiting client roster. Within my first few months of business my client’s locations ranged from Charlotte’s most sought-after neighborhoods, to California, south Florida, and Atlanta GA.

Since launching Marie Matthews Interiors, my design tips have been regularly featured on CNBC’s Charlotte Today and WBTV’s QC Life.

My work is optimistic, striking and personal. I care deeply about my clients and obsesses over getting the perfect elements all working together in a symphony to create a space that will not just function, but enhance who they are and how they live. Borrowing from old school classic design principles but mixing in modern points of view and never leaving out a touch of whimsy, her rooms are beautiful, fun, and fresh.

On a personal note, I am an avid world traveller, lover of K-pop, chocolate, and grand epic novels, I am a Northern California native that lives in Charlotte with my husband, two kids, and her Frenchie that is the spitting image of a foo dog!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the clients! I absolutely love the relational piece of co-creating a beautiful, magical space!

I believe that my mission is to use my skills in such a way that women that are doing big jobs or have a very full life dedicated to work and service can outsource the design part of their things-to-do list. By using my experience, talent, skills, and know-how I feel I am making the world a better place because each of my clients is making the world a better place.

When we feel at home in our house it effects everything – our mood, emotions, our creativity, and our ability to make good decisions. Our environment has a huge impact on our sense of belonging and well-being.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There are two resources that have most benefitted my design journey.

The first is my prior experience working for a top design firm. It is there that I learned how to solve droves of problems. I started on the business side and learned to run the budgets, HR, project timelines, and retail stores for a multi-million dollar firm. This taught me how to run a design business. Clients are entrusting a designer with often their biggest asset and expect their money to be well stewarded. I encourage young students or those that want to know how to get started in design to intern for a designer they admire and learn everything they can before starting their own firm.

The second resource that I wish I knew about earlier is other like-minded designers. Every designer I had worked for before saw other designers strictly as the competition. Resources would never be shared and they would pretend that problems never happened. When I launched my own firm I gathered a few friend designers around and discovered that design doesn’t have to be lonely! Other designers have helped me solve so many problems, helped me figure out how to improve my contract, how to charge, how to find my ideal client, and provided countless hours of consolation and laughter. Always find your tribe and it will make the journey so much better!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariematthewsinteriors.com/
• Instagram: @mariematthewsinteriors

Image Credits

Dustin Peck Photography