Get the Look: The New Tradition of Darryl Carter

{image & cool website: Get Togetha}

Darryl Carter is a lawyer turned interior decorator that has an eye for refined rustic beauty. His career launched when his Washington D.C. apartment got featured in Metropolitan Home. The phone kept ringing for him to add creative input into homes across America. He likes to mix old and new, refined and rustic, casual and formal. He just understands how to blend furnishing elements and textures, as well as how to mix old pieces with new.

Darryl Carter and friend

{image: Habitually Chic}

More of his work to inspire some of your own pairings at home........

{image & slideshow of Carter's work at Elle Decor}

He loves dogs and I love that!

{image: VT Interiors Library of Inspirational Images}

I have always loved the look of rustic furniture pieces with the glam of polished metals. In this case, I love the rustic blues with the old world glitz and gold. I also love how Carter manges to silhouette every piece in the room on a white background. It really provokes a case for not using much color. 

{image: Back Garage}

This is a peek inside Carter's D.C. townhouse. I love the stacked books tucked into the corner. As my husband and I make the move to our new loft, I have the motivation to get rid of lots of clutter. However,  I love the look of stacked books and magazines everywhere in the house. This image makes the case to bring all of it with me!

{image & awesome slideshow of Carter's DC townhouse: Elle Decor}

What a design guru! I love the painted barn door resting at the back of the room!

{image: Covetable}

Get the Look

{image: Remodelista Daily}

Step 1: Start with Neutral Walls, Floors, and Ceilings.

It seems like the first step in recreating the Carter look at home is to pick a neutral color. The above color is Winter White, which implies a coolness to the color. Several of the rooms we've seen above are cool and refreshing like iced water. Most palettes can be put into the category of warm or cool, but Carter's work is very cool (like that pun?LOL!). Remodelista Daily is a fantastic resource website to aid in the journey. Let's recap this point...Create a Neutral Background (here is an example of a Carter image for inspiration).

{image: So Haute}

Step 2: Find Unique Furniture Pieces from Auctions, Flea Markets to Thrift stores.

Can you think outside of the box? If you see a Baroque chandelier scone, would you put it next to a rustic country cabinet? That's the challenge of good decorating, finding harmony with unlikely furniture pieces and textures. 

{image: Habitually Chic}

Step 3: Learn to Edit

This step requires the intuitive ability to refine the space by looking at the ensemble and removing the pieces that don't work. I suggest that you take photographs of the space and carry them with you to lunch or when you step out for a coffee. By removing yourself from the space and looking at the photographs, you will be able to edit more keenly, like a stylist for a magazine. It works-trust me, baby! Look at how simple, but edited this last space is! 

{image by the super-sweet website: The Goods Design}

Now go and Get the Look!