Margaret Carter Interiors

Problem solved! I'm about to do a face-lift, not a major renovation, for my kitchen, which has frustratingly little space. I asked Margaret for a consult, and she suggested numerous ways to add space and make other significant improvements. From shelves to plants to paint color to throwing things out, I can't wait to implement her suggestions. While she was at it, she took a quick look at my recently redesigned bathroom and made a really creative suggestion that is outside the box and is going to work great. Opting for a consult was a great idea! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

My husband and I relocated in a somewhat hurried fashion to a townhome in Alexandria this fall, and discovered that much of our furniture would not fit! In addition, I do not enjoy shopping for home decor, and had little appetite to take on what was needed to buy new things that would fit. On top of this, my husband's needs have changed in the last year, and he now needs certain "assists" (like chairs with arms), that necessitated replacing certain other furniture. Margaret has come to our rescue! Although we are still mid-project, I can report that I feel I am in really good hands. Margaret listened to our needs and flexed as our priorities realigned. She has been very cheery and optimistic. She has made the project seem possible. It is a huge relief to feel that it does not fall entirely to me to envision and implement a new decorating scheme. She also is challenging us in mild ways to try things that are a little less stodgy and more up to date. She has access to much more variety in fabrics and furniture, and has made it fun to work out palettes and combinations. I don't know why I never sought design help before! I give Margaret an A+! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

My husband and I hired Margaret in the fall of 2014 to help us with a few things around our Arlington home. Margaret had so many great ideas that we were inspired to expand our project and follow Margaret's lead. We laughed a lot about our old style that definitely needed to be refreshed. Margaret helped us buy accessories, furniture, rugs, bedroom decor and furniture, paint colors and carpet. Our one room ended up being a refresh of our entire home! Margaret's sources were much better than what we could find on our own. Soon after that project was completed we purchased a second home. Margaret was the first person we called for help to set the vision for what has become a gorgeous industrial/loft style retreat. Margaret is not only extremely knowledgeable but fun, and talented. I felt that Margaret made our interests her priority. She advised me on where to buy things on our own as well as adding some "Margaret pieces" to the mix. Margaret created with us two spectacular homes and it has been effortless to work with her. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I had the pleasure of working with Margaret to decorate my new, smaller living space. Within the first few minutes of our conversation, Margaret understood my goals and scheduled our first session. She assessed the furnishings at my existing home, advised me on what could be repurposed, created floor plans at my new home, and recommended items to create a fresh look. I was really impressed with her honesty and creativity, especially with using colors. Margaret took inspiration from my favorite art print and suggested a new accent color for my living room that I never considered and now love. I really appreciated her willingness to use of mixture of existing, commercially available, and custom items which allowed me to stay within budget. For the bathroom, Margaret assisted me with design plans and selecting materials for my renovation. She has a wealth of knowledge and answered my numerous questions to ensure we achieved my goals. Early in the process, I remember Margaret saying she wanted to create a space that I would love and that’s exactly the feeling I get when I open the door. In total, I spent approximately $5000 for design services and furnishings for my home with Margaret and highly recommend her. I recently referred Margaret to one of my friends who also hired her for design consultations. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We recently moved back to the United States after living in London. Our jobs have been so transient that we have never been able to purchase a house. We had very little furniture and no experience with painting or remodeling. We interviewed several designers and asked a lot of friends about advice when hiring a designer. After meeting Margaret and showing her our house we called two references as well. We are so glad that we picked Margaret. She picked up on our complex taste very quickly. We furnished our entire house including life-lasting rugs with Margaret and her team. We studied our options very closely and made no impulsive decisions. Margaret didn't push us at all. Since we went through her design resources and avoided the retail world our house is absolutely original. When Margaret opened us up to the world of fabrics, rugs, window coverings, and furniture from her design resources we couldn't believe how stunning everything was. Margaret did a great job of narrowing down the choices after she got to know us. She also told us when and where not to spend money on custom things, and told us where to buy things on our own that made sense. Her fee structure was more fair than any other designer we spoke with, however, it is expensive at this caliber, but we feel like we're set for a long, long time. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

My wife and I have been very happy working with Margaret on furnishing our new home. He best strength is she wants the design to fit our needs and likes rather than her own personal taste or style. We have embarked on ordering large furnishings and floor coverings for our family room and suspect this will continue into other rooms in our home. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

It was delightful working with Margaret Carter on the renovations to our Great Room - a very key room of our home. Margaret was very approachable and easy to talk to about my ideas for the room. She worked carefully with our budget and made very thoughtful and creative recommendations about the purchase and placement of quality furniture and the selection of an interesting area rug and pillows. She has a wonderful group of companies that she works with that offer stylish furniture and decorative objects that streamline the selection process. She incorporated some of my own decorative objects and introduced some new ideas for decorating the fireplace mantle and cabinet shelves that created a more interesting and attractive environment. She has a keen sense of design and exceptional talent to beautifully blend antiques and contemporary elements together. I would highly recommend Margaret for a decorating project and would definitely use her design services again. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret completely redesigned our condo at the Ritz Carlton Residences in DC in 2010 and we have been extremely happy with all aspects of the design – fantastic fabrics, paint and wallpaper selections, furniture purchases/reupholstery, accessories. She pulled it all together utilizing our existing pieces and artwork and we could not be more pleased with the results! We have recently moved from the condo to a townhome in Alexandria and have asked for her help again to take our pieces from the prior decorating project and implement them into our new space, which is very vertical and completely different from our condo. She quickly and efficiently mapped out the furniture placement and selected the appropriate paint and trim colors, as well as making other suggestions to update the townhome and make the design flow. We have implemented her recommendations and are now getting her help on additional touches in window treatment and wallpaper to complete our look. Margaret is so flexible and easy to work with and she is happy to tackle whatever issues you want to address at the right pace for each client. She is a great listener and I haven’t met anyone that has her talent with fabrics/colors/pulling a look together into a cohesive whole. Since she knows us and know what our esthetic is, we can call her up at any given time and quickly get her thoughts on how well various things will merge into our décor. We have worked with other designers, but keep coming back to her because we have such a high degree of confidence in her talent. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret Carter did an outstanding job designing my new apartment at 1816 Kalorama Road, N.W., and selecting an array of beautiful, state-of-the-art furniture. The apartment has won an enthusiastic reaction and much praise from all who have visited it over the past several weeks. Margaret gave her personal attention to every detail of this project. She drew upon her impressive knowledge and expertise to provide wise counsel on all aspects of the work. She was always accessible and was in frequent communication with me. I always felt fully informed on the status of the project, its schedule, and any questions that needed my input. Margaret was assisted by a superb team of total professionals, including April Northrop, who worked with contractors and supervised activities on a day to day basis; Terry Smith, who provided very efficient accounting and billing support; and Sandro, an outstanding carpenter who constructed and painted a series of bookcases, upgraded the bathroom, and handled several painting tasks. All in all, Margaret Carter Interiors is an excellent design firm and I would recommend Margaret and her team fully and without reservations. I would be delighted to discuss Margaret's work in more detail; please do not hesitate to contact me. Ray Connolly, 202-299-0759, RayKConnolly@Comcast.net. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We hired Margaret to get some help on our kitchen remodel and paint choices throughout our home. We had purchased our cabinets two years ago and were just getting around to finally doing the remodel. The cabinets were a canvas color and had a strange grayish color that we didn't notice in the bright showroom. I was devastated when the cabinets were installed and couldn't see how we were going to work them into the rest of the main level. I had spent countless hours in kitchen stores and was overwhelmed by all the choices of counter tops, backslashes, etc. I finally decided I couldn't do this on my own and searched for a designer. I called Margaret and she assured me she could help and that she would work with what we have. We set up an appointment. In the meantime I called a different designer whom I felt was more affordable. Over the phone, this designer suggested that we would have to paint our new cabinets to make them work! Yikes!

Thinking that I wasn't going to be able to afford Margaret, I nearly cancelled our appointment. Oh, I am so glad I didn't. Margaret showed up and in an hour and a half she chose countertops, (that i had not even considered in all my trips to the kitchen stores) backsplash, trim and paint colors for the entire main level, gave us ideas on lighting and so much more. She even helped us with siding choices for when we tackle that.

I love my kitchen! I love my cabinets! I am loving this fixer upper home for the first time in 15 years. Margaret you are incredible! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I hired Margaret for a paint consultation. I have trouble making decisions, and it was so refreshing to have Margaret's help in making me feel confident about paint color. She is worth every penny in that she can help make good decisions quickly, she has a fabulous eye for color, and she know where to get affordable, stylish, and quality products. I can't wait to hire her again. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret is wonderful! My husband and I have very distinct tastes, which don't always intersect. Margaret collaborated to bring us to a shared vision in how to create an elegant yet accessible home. She assessed our pieces, helped to repurpose existing pieces, and recommended new items that synthesized the feel of each room. We knew of her superb reputation as a designer but didn't anticipate the value of her skills as a brilliant colorist: Each room came alive with the right selection of color schemes. She anticipated our needs by providing us with innovative yet cost-effective solutions to create a beautiful home that we can't wait to get home to every day! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We recently relocated to Arlington, moving from a small house to a much larger one. It's unclear how long we'll be in this house, but we still would like to make it feel like home, and we need a lot of furniture. So, we set a pretty aggressive budget and hired Margaret to consult with us on how to best use our decorating/furniture dollars.

In two short hours, she worked magic! Using the things we already had, Margaret helped us choose paint colors and moved things around to help them work better in our home. She also identified the most important things for us to buy and pointed us in the direction of where to buy them. All the while, she was completely respectful of our budget--helping us figure out where to splash out, where to economize, and what to do without.

Perhaps most excitingly, she kind of helped us evolve our style. While she absolutely recognized and worked with the style of the things we already have, she pushed us to lighten up and have more fun--in ways I would never have considered. We are kind of moving beyond the obvious--and absolutely loving it.

We were never quite in love with the house we bought, but with Margaret's help, we're feeling much, much better about it. I would hire her again in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan to do so to: a) get more of her input on some of the larger purchases; and b) tackle some of the lower-priority spaces. Looking forward to it already. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Called Maergaret and she had time to meet one day later for a consultation. She came loaded with lots of great ideas and tried to find ways to incorporate all of the colors I wanted. She is great value for the price and is very flexible in providing as much or as little service as you need. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret was great. I tried two other Interior Decorators before her and found they were following their agenda not mine. I found Margaret on Angie's list . She really listened to what I had in mind and even kept me on track, rather than the other way around. She was a lot fun to work with and intervened where she thought I was going off but backed off when she thought I was on track, so I felt like I participated in the decision making to the extent I wanted to. She was enthusiastic about what she was doing which made me very optimistic about the outcome. Importantly, I always looked forward to meeting with her. She selected great colors for the rooms, transforming an ugly kitchen into a very cool place just with paint and some new lighting. She helped me with choosing a carpet and I am really happy with the choice. She chose new lighting including the placement of recessed lighting in multiple rooms, chandeliers, pendants and flush mounts. She helped me pick great window treatments. We mostly stayed on budget except when I made a deliberate choice to go off the budget. As a result I have a very nice, peaceful place that is a lot of fun to live in. There is still work to do and I will ask Margaret to help me on the next phases but this initial phase exceeded my expectations. There are a lot of people I pay for services, some I consider I get my money's worth, others I dont. Few make me feel that I get more than my money's worth and Margaret is one of those people. The way I see it, there is no sense in spending a lot of money not to get a great result...so she was a great investment. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret helped us with furniture arrangement and paint color selection. She also helped us weed through our furniture pieces, selecting what should stay and what should go. We moved into our small colonial home last year, and had spent months arranging and rearranging furniture, looking at paint colors, and trying to figure out whose furniture should stay or go (we are recently married). After the purchase of our new home our budget was basically non-existent, but we decided it was worth hiring a designer to help us out. It was worth every penny and more... Margaret was fantastic. After we followed Margaret's advice it was like our house could breathe again! We are using our rooms more efficiently and things already look fresher. We also appreciated Margaret's honesty about about what items we should sell or give away. Sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow, but it was great to have "permission" to get rid of things that were weighing us down. We recently had Margaret come back to help with paint color selection, and we can't wait to get the new colors on the walls! We are taking baby steps towards having our home be what we want it to be due to a very limited budget, but hiring Margaret was the right first step. Her advice has quickly helped move us in the right direction and will also help us not to waste money on items that won't work. My only regret is that we didn't hire her sooner. Margaret is also just fun to work with. Even with our tiny budget, she made us feel comfortable and we already can't wait to have her back! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

She went through our whole home and told us where to arrange furniture and what pictures/accesories to use in each room. She was amazing. She had a wonderfully calm spirit during a very stressful time for our family. We had just bought the home and were still moving in. She was so quick and her ideas were amazing. Our home is so beautiful and she got it all done in such a short amount of time to make our home feel beautiful and uncluttered. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

First, let me just say that Margaret is awesome. We recently bought a home and are doing renovations on the house. Our contractor has been pressing us about finalizing our paint color selection, and it was very challenging for me. ...I needed professional help fast. We called Margaret on Monday, and after not hearing from her, I gave her a follow-up call on Thursday just to check in. After apologizing for not getting back to me sooner (she's been swamped with other projects), she invited us to her home/office for a consultation that Sunday. I was so thankful, that she made time for us, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to come to our home until the second or third week in December. She was very accomodating! I was very impressed with her from the moment we walked in the door of her home/office. Her home is beautifully decorated (by her of course), and her personality is great. She was a joy to work with. We came to the meeting with several pictures of each room in our house, artwork that will be displayed throughout the house, and pictures of our furniture. We met for about an hour and a half. She worked her magic and created a color pallette for our home that is BEAUTIFUL and perfect for us. She hit the nail on the head with all of her color suggestions. I will definitely be using her design services in the near future. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret Carter and her staff provided exceptionally great design services including helping me with grass cloth, paint, carpet, bedding, upholstery, and tile selections. They did not try to impose their tastes on me but carefully guided me to make selections that I'd be happy with for the long term.

Margaret Carter was extremely pleasant, courteous, and professional at our initial consultation and spent a lot of time walking me through the design process and outlining what to expect throughout the execution of the design. She and her staff were just as concerned about the costs as I was and worked hard to keep me focused on the budget. There was an issue with one of the subcontractors, but Margaret met with him and me to resolve the issue to my complete satisfaction. After the initial consultation, I spent a considerable time with Feodora, the project manager assigned by Margaret. Feodora was just as courteous, professional, and thorough as Margaret. Feodora was great about supervising the subcontractors, so I did not have take too much time off from work. From start to finish, I could not have been any happier, and it's a pleasure to look around my home and appreciate Margaret's and her team's hard work. I highly recommend Margaret Carter Interiors. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We hired Margaret Carter Interiors to do window treatments in our dining room and kitchen, tile our kitchen, advise us about paint colors and lighting options and generally help us to continue furnishing & decorating our home (we do a little each year). Last year we worked with a different designer and had a not-so-good experience, so this year I decided to do my research beforehand. I chose Margaret Carter based on her Angie's list reviews and I have not been disappointed! She and her assistant are a pleasure to work with, and we love everything they have chosen for our home. The dining room window treatments are sophisticated and elegant and the tiling and roman blind in the kitchen have transformed the space . Margeret's color choice for our breakfast nook has also made a dramatic difference, and is a shade I would have never been able to find on my own. We still have a few more projects for this year and fully intend to use the firm for future projects. Well worth the money! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We are preparing to completely paint the interior of our 2,500 sqf home. We hired Margaret to consult on color for our walls and carpet.

Margaret was warm and friendly and quickly got a feel for our sense of style. I'd never worked with a decorator before and I was concerned that she would push a particular color or concept. But Margaret carefully read our reactions to certain palletes, and even looked at my clothes for color and style. She helped us choose an amazing set of complementary colors for every area in our 2,500 sqf home.

Margaret gave us some really good tips and let us know how and where we could save some money on rugs we intend to purchase. She also very patiently answered my questions about a wide array of decorating issues, including boundaries for a backsplas, that were just not clear to me.

Although our original intent was just to have Margaret consult on color, we really trust her advice and eventually plan to consult with her on other projects. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Late last year we sold our house in the Maryland suburbs and bought a condo in DC. In making the move we wanted to have a comfortable and inviting environment in the smaller space of an apartment. We took some of our furnishings with us and either sold or otherwise got rid of the rest. After some thought and after consulting Angie's List, we engaged Margaret Carter to help us make the new place the kind of environment we wanted. Margaret assigned Feodora of her staff to help us and we were delighted with the result. Feodors (and Margaret herself) took care to understand what we were trying to do and then advised us on painting, wall paper, window treatments and the purchase of new furniture. We were absolutely delighted with the result. Feodora has excellent instincts, especially in her wonderful sense of colors. She was a very demanding taskmistress of the workment(whom we decided to engage through Margaret's firm) and the work men, led by Guery, were in turn meticulous in everything that they did. We got just the kind of environment we were seeking.

Margaret Carter Interiors is not a bargain shop, but the prices are fair and the work is first rate. The do not pad their hours and the advice they provide is responsive to the client. As I told Margaret at the end of the project, I probably could have spent less, but I'm sure I could not have achieved the same result. Feodora was a jewel and the work of Guery and his crew was some of the best I have ever encountered in terms of painting and installation of fixtures. These people earn their fees and left us very satisfied clients.

As should be evident, we had a very good experience. Margaret Carter Interiors is not for bargain shoppers, but if quality work at fair prices is what a client is looking for it would be hard to beat them. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Designed floor plans with a focus on storage and useability. Recommended which pieces to keep and which to let go. Managed an organizational team and recommended follow-on next steps which I continue to use.
Very Good experience. I was hesitant to have someone come in and help me tackle that which seemed insurmountable, and I felt embarrassed because I didn't feel comfortable inviting friends over to visit. Over a couple of meetings and visits, Margaret and her team made me feel comfortable to let others handle things that I wasn't doing, didn't have the skill, and didn't want to do. I have reclaimed spaces in my rowhouse that had not been been there before Margaret Carter Interiors, and it makes for a much more pleasant atmosphere to come home to a better designed home. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret helped us furnish and arrange our living, dining, family, master bedroom, kids' rooms, and patio. We changed our kitchen cabinets. She pick out paint colors for the whole house including the exterior. We changed the flooring in the upstairs rooms, and tiled the bathrooms. We got lights for the hallway, kitchen and dining, and lamps for the bedrooms. We customized our dining room set, upholstered furniture, and fabrics throughout the house.
We purchased a new home last year and had been looking for a designer to help us furnish and design the interiors. Margaret was recommended to us through a good friend. We were moving into a larger home, so we wanted Margaret to find new furniture and art. She edited out certains things, but found a great way to incorporate our favorite chairs. We wanted to paint the whole house in calm colors, and she showed us ones we hadn't initially thought of, but we really love them now. We have three young kids, so we did a lot with fabrics to find more "spill-proof" ones. I think this brings a lot of originality to our house. We customized fabrics and finishes for the living room, and then that influenced our choices on side chairs and lamps, so it was lot of fun. Margaret was really good about finding different options for each room, and she would try to find things that my husband and I could both agree on! Also, her contractor was very helpful and worked around our busy schedules to update the kitchen and bathrooms as well. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I cannot say enough good things about Margaret. She is a fun, funky, professional decorator. She can instantly hone in on your style and steer you in the right directions. She helped me select me select fabric for window coverings and I could not be happier with my choices and Margaret's direction about the style and hardware. You cannot go wrong when you work with her. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We hired Margaret to help us select a color palette for our home. Our home is 5 years old and it was time to paint the off white used by the builder. My husband and I both wanted color, but we were having a hard time finding the right tones and color combinations that would work well from room to room. He is more comfortable with bolder colors and I was concerned that they would look tacky or be offensive to the eye. Margaret did a great job of quickly tuning into our individual styles and preferences. She did a brief brainstorming session where she pulled a number of colors and we started looking at color combinations, then we began to focus on ‘telling a story’. We ended up with beautiful neutrals that are complemented by a number of modern and sophisticated bolder colors to accentuate certain walls and architectural features. My husband and I are both happy with all the color choices and can’t wait for the painters to complete the job. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Margaret was professional, punctual, and easy to work with. She is passionate about her work and has great instinct. I would certainly use her again. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret provided space planning, design and decorating consultation for my odd galley kitchen/breakfast nook area. She also provided general design tips to brighten up and modernize my entire first floor (lighting, furniture recommendations, advising me NOT to install a brick veneer wall along the stairwell, etc).

Margaret was up front about her limitations with kitchen remodels and took on my space planning project only after I confirmed that I didn’t need a detailed, spec by spec mock up.
She really understood what my home needed from the moment she stepped in the door. I immediately trusted her judgment and designer's intuition.
Her hourly rate is a bit steep for my budget, but hey-- you get what you pay for. I'm glad I made the investment and now have a good plan in place for my remodel/redesign.
All in all, I couldn’t be more pleased. Margaret is a great designer and a beautiful spirit. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Our home was built in 1972 and has had very few updates to the interior since then. I chose Margaret Carter Interiors based on member reviews and after reviewing her (and many other candidates') websites. I loved her portfolio and was confident she could give our home the facelift it needs.
We decided to arrange an initial consultation, with the plan that we would like her to help us renovate three of the bathrooms, as well as help us select new lighting, paint and carpeting, and oversee the contractors performing these updates. During this first meeting, Margaret and I walked through the entire house, including the basement that we had renovated a couple years ago, so she could get an idea of our taste and what we hoped to accomplish with the renovations. She listened attentively, asked the right questions and took notes as we went along - and it was apparent that she quickly was able to assess what would help transform our house into a beautiful place to live. We discussed ideas for the bathrooms, as well as ways to brighten several rooms.
We decided to start with a lighting project, to make a quick visual impact on some of the rooms. I was pleased with the variety of options Margaret presented for each of the rooms and appreciated that she suggested that I order our selections online, rather than employ her to do so (as this way, we could save the cost of her fees which could then be applied to other areas of the house).
With the lighting figured out, we then moved on to the bathroom remodeling project which we are in the midst of now. Margaret has been terrific to work with on this project, narrowing down tile, vanity, window treatment and fixture options to provide us with choices that are not only within our taste but also that keep us within our budget. She has really helped us create a balance - ensuring that we got some of those "but I really LOVE this one" items, while finding savings in other areas.
I am very pleased so far. Margaret has a great sense of color and style, and she and Sophie - whom Margaret has assigned as our project manager - are open, responsive, professional and a pleasure to work with. They have been very accommodating of my work schedule and have gone out of their way to make this easy on us. I am excited to see how the bathroom renovations turn out, as Margaret has helped us select some really beautiful products.
I will update this review when the bathroom renovations have been completed and we move on to painting and carpeting the house. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret is a one-of-a-kind treasure in the interior design world. Her natural gift for color yields fresh, sophisticated, and yet a relaxed style. After researching interior designers for weeks to get advice on what to do in our newly acquired 1910 home that needed a lot of work, I found Margaret Carter Interiors, and her portfolio was the ONLY portfolio in which I liked every single work she had done. I tend to be very meticulous and extremely selective about personal taste advisors, whether clothing, furniture, font on stationery, etc., and I was not sure I could even find a designer who would give me ideas that I could totally trust. But what started as Margaret's work with us in reclaiming the old world charm of our Arlington home became a relationship with a professional whose judgment I intrinsically trust.

In fact, over the years, Margaret has become my number one go-to adviser on every major change I make in our home -- whether interior or exterior -- and she always delights me with her creativity and thoughtful, kind manner. Recently,in an effort to get ideas about my master bedroom paint, I took a class on interior paint color in which the premise was that designers all have their handful of "go- to" colors that they recommend over and over again -- as the instructor said, "these colors are always safe."I left the class feeling like everything that was taught was so boring -- tans, grays, and whites. I immediately emailed Margaret to come to my aid once again. While "neutrals" are fine, it iis more challenging to bring real color into a room tastefully -- without overwhelming the senses or making the walls the main attraction. That is the rare talent that Margaret Carter has. She doesn't always follow what design "rules" tell you to do, but everything she does is treated as a distinctive opportunity to express and enjoy the senses of the inhabitant, and so it is all unique. You will not get the "stock" choices other designers make. You will get a thoughtful, tailored set of recommendations on how to visualize your space in ways that fit exactly your needs, your preferences, and your budget. She is simply fabulous.
While we have consulted Margaret about literally every room in our home, our most recent consultation related to updating the exterior of our 1910 Arlington home -- in particular, we have struggled in finding the elements for a fresh look to an old world home that has a very noticeable green roof and three different additions with three different types of siding that we think detracts from the charm of the house. To make things more complicated, we are on a very tight budget, and the painter has told us that it would be prohibitively expensive to try to paint the different siding, which we knew we could not do.

After going back and forth on this amongst ourselves, we once again called Margaret. Margaret came up with multiple design and color options for us that each play well to the roof's color and the natural surroundings while giving the house a fresh and clean overhaul with a hospitable and welcoming look. She had different permutations for the exterior, the window frames, the doors, the porch, the columns, etc. She is so creative, and she visualized all these different combinations almost instantly. Her flexibility in adapting to our stated and evolving preferences and limitations makes her stand out amongst designers. We know that once it is warm enough to implement her recommendations, we will have a fresh, sophisticated, yet welcoming look that will make our house stand out amongst a neighborhood of lovely traditional homes. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I hired Margaret Carter because I needed practical advice on a myriad of
things but I also wanted creative ideas. I needed to paint and rearrange furniture in my new house right away but I had no idea where to begin. I knew there we other projects further down the down the road but was already overwhelmed by the cost of the move. Margaret focused on the paint colors and made brilliant changes in the way the furniture was placed. We moved the furniture right there on the spot. She gave me instructions on how to do window coverings on a budget and basically helped me relax about how these
things take time. She also taught me how to do the bids and manage the
paint job.I can’t believe how those tips saved me from hiring the wrong
painter. I have taken her advice on the window coverings and am fine
with simplifying for now.
I connected with Margaret from the first phone call. She was more money than some of the others but I am really glad we went with her. Margaret asked a lot of questions about our likes and our
budget and wanted to make sure we did not waste money on the wrong
things. I can’t believe how much there is to know about hiring
painters.The way we put the bid together saved us so much money. Margaret
paid for herself by that tip alone. Not to mention how collaborative and intuitive she was with us picking colors. She even picked a fun color for my
laundry room because I loved this one color that was too much for the
main part of the house. I have so many things I want to do to this house.The next will be the master bath.I plan to call Margaret again. She was a great color coach. I am so glad I met Margaret.She was just right for me. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I can't say enough good things about Margaret. She was incredibly informative and just plain fun to work with. She was punctual and either took my calls or returned them very quickly. I really feel like I received the full value and then some for the money spent. She has great style. I looked at some of the other designers on this site who have a lot of reviews but their homes seemed to reflect an older approach to design and didn't have a more updated feel for the home that I wanted.
She really listened to my goals for the home: I wanted a brighter space that reflected my style that my fiance and I could live in now but wouldn't have to change too much in a year when it became a rental. The main things that I thought needed changing and that I needed help with were picking out paint color for an entire condo plus figuring out how to lay out the lights and ceiling fan in a very dark and odd-shaped living room. She also had to find paint that would be bright to fit my taste but not too loud for my fiance's taste. The colors she picked out were shades I hadn't considered but make perfect sense now. She also managed to find a color that helps a bathroom that was designed by my bachelor fiance blend better with the rest of the home. She steered me towards changes that would give me the feel that I'm looking for now but also away from expensive choices that, while nice, wouldn't make sense a year from now when someone else was living there.
She packed so much information into that two hour window. She helped me, not only with the paint and lights but with room layout and multiple other details that help create the look I am hoping for. When I move to my new home, I will be contacting her again. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We were referred to Margaret Carter Interiors by our realtor shortly after we moved into our new house in Silver Spring. We didn't want (and couldn't afford) to have someone else take over the decorating, but we wanted help choosing paint colors and figuring out how best to arrange our furniture to make the house look comfortable but not sloppy. Margaret was great - she spent two hours with us, in which time we banged through paints, furniture layout, flow, and some bigger future projects. The paint colors she suggested look absolutely amazing on the walls, and the tweaks she suggested elsewhere have been surprisingly helpful. We were particularly impressed that she worked so completely with what we have - she did not suggest that we purchase or replace anything. She also had some suggestions on how to make our house accommodating to our kid as he gets older. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I met Margaret Carter through a friend and had her design my vacation home in Florida. From the moment I met Margaret, I felt like she was truly interested in what I wanted. She was a very good listener and made me feel at ease with the decorating process.
Her ideas were fresh and new and she created an elegant and comfortable home for my family. I was particularly impressed with how she used our family antiques and mixed them with newer more modern furnishings for a fabulous, one of a kind look! She created stunning spaces with her use of color and texture and attention to detail.
Nothing about Margaret's work is typical. She is truly an original. Our vacation home now stands out from the crowd!
I now plan on hiring her to freshen up our full-time residence!
She made this entire process a fabulous experience! Thank you Margaret! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret Carter is a friendly and knowledgable interior designer. She has helped me with a number of projects including a kitchen and powder room remodel. From there, we furnished a couple of rooms on my main living level and she is continuing to help me with a number of of small details.

In retrospect, i don’t know what I would have done without her. I have some pretty clear ideas on what I like but I did't know how to tie everything together. Margaret did a great job with that.

She also has a great team who handles the orders, follow-up and financials.They all make a great team. Margaret has the creative ideas with the vision that she helps me to understand and her team is wonderful at helping make the financials very clear before we do anything. Several years ago I worked with a designer who sent me these bills after the project was complete and I became very distrustful of the field. But when I heard about how refreshing Margaret was from a friend, I decided to give her a chance. I am so glad that I did. It is wonderful how Margaret blends the colors and textures into a look that is my own. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Margaret is a one-of-a-kind treasure in the interior design world. Her natural gift for color yields fresh, sophisticated, and yet a relaxed style. After researching interior designers for weeks to get advice on what to do in our newly acquired 1910 home that needed a lot of work, I found Margaret Carter Interiors, and her portfolio was the ONLY portfolio in which I liked every single work she had done. I tend to be very meticulous and extremely selective about personal taste advisors (whether clothing, furniture, font on stationery, etc.), and I was not sure I could even find a designer who would give me ideas that I could totally trust. But what started as Margaret's work with us in reclaiming the old world charm of our Arlington home became a relationship with a professional whose judgment I intrinsically trust.

In fact, over the years, Margaret has become my number one go-to adviser on every major change I make in our home -- whether interior or exterior -- and she always delights me with her creativity and thoughtful, kind manner. Recently, in an effort to get ideas about my master bedroom paint, I took a class on interior paint color in which the premise was that designers all have their handful of "go to" colors that they recommend over and over again -- as the instructor said, "these colors are always safe." I left the class feeling like everything that was taught was so boring -- tans, grays, and whites. I immediately emailed Margaret to come to my aid once again. While "neutrals" are fine, it is more challenging to bring real color into a room tastefully -- without overwhelming the senses or making the walls the main attraction. That is the rare talent that Margaret Carter has. She doesn't always follow what design "rules" tell you to do, but everything she does is treated as a distinctive opportunity to express and enjoy the senses of the inhabitant, and so it is all unique. You will not get the "stock" choices other designers make. You will get a thoughtful, tailored set of recommendations on how to visualize your space in ways that fit exactly your needs, your preferences, and your budget. She is simply fabulous. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I remodeled my kitchen, bathroom and Family room. Margaret helped me reconfigure the spaces to make them more functional and up to date. She helped me select everything from drapes to paint color to furniture to fixtures to flooring. I was insecure about making this big a change and I needed a lot of help….
I was worried that by using a “designer”, my style wouldn’t come through in the finished design but Margaret really listened to what I wanted. After we consulted a couple of times, she came back to me with a few different schemes. From there, we met at different vendor sites. She sent me lots of furniture and fixture ideas. She helped me draw it all together into one harmonious design.
Margaret was very practical, working within my budget and developing a functional plan. She also focused on making it very comfortable and cozy and bright and open. I was really happy with my experience with Margaret Carter Interiors and when I’m ready to work on the rest of the house, I will be sure to call her again. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

Am updating my review, because Margaret Carter recently helped freshen up my house. Her recent work included custom window treatments, which turned out beautifully, new rugs, and a few choice furniture pieces. Margaret has done the design work on two homes for me, on in Maryland and the second in Colorado, over the past few years. Margaret is a talented professional and I have been very happy with the work product. She is creative, responsive and knowledgable. She's a great listener but adds a lot of value to my sometimes vague desires. She has a beautiful eye an was able to translate her vision into a workable, affordable design for us. Plus, she is a pleasure to work with. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We retained the services of Margaret Carter Interiors to provide detailed consulting support over a couple of years at key junctures in our house remodel and subsequently for interior furnishings. Margaret is exceptionally creative and tremendously professional. Her assistance with everything from paint colors to custom fabrics for furniture and pillows was spot on every time. Her ideas are very fresh and contemporary; and she does an amazing job of understanding her client's preferences in helping you achieve a vision for your home. In addition, she was very flexible and mindful of our budget parameters. Highest recommendation!! More...

Reviewed on Houzz

I am a huge fan of Margaret Carter Interiors. As a Washington DC based Real Estate agent, I see many homes and how they are decorated, and Margaret is one of best designers I have come across. Her ideas are always fresh and inspiring. I am continually impressed with her ability to transform seemingly undesirable spaces into those which are comfortable and inviting with her delightful choices of color and style.
Margaret has put together a great team from her vendors to her office staff. They are both professional and courteous yet their warmth always comes through. Between Margaret's creativity and her staff's attention to detail, they are a winning combo in bringing wonderful vision to life. --Jane Shell, Long and Foster Realtors. More...

Reviewed on Houzz

We downsized to a small home and after implementing bathroom upgrades and a new kitchen decided to hire Margaret to guide us through the finishing touches, including carpeting, furnishings, paint and window treatments. We picked her out on Angie's List based on her profile and favourable reviews. She has been a pleasure to work with on both a professional and personal level, providing valuable expertise in regard to color selection, fabric choices and guidance in selecting furnishings appropriate for the space and for our lifestyle. I appreciate the fact that she takes our taste into consideration and makes me feel that the design process is a collaborative effort. She is respectful of budgetary guidelines and always available to respond to questions/concerns. Work is carried out within appropriate timelines and done in a professional manner. I have worked with other design professionals in other locations over the years and would include Margaret among the best of those. We are very happy with what has been accomplished thus far and will continue to work with her to complete our vision for this home. More...

Reviewed on Houzz