Marty Mason is photographed at Merge Home MASON PHOTO BY SARA HANNA

For almost 20 years, Marty Mason has served interior design clients in Atlanta and beyond. While Mason has built up quite the resume and cache, it all started organically in his first retail store. “People started asking me to design their homes, and we developed that into a residential design firm,” he says. Marty Mason Design Group has since expanded to Mason and six designers and has added hospitality and multifamily design in addition to residential to its repertoire.

The console and lamps are styled at Merge Home. PHOTO COURTESY OF MERGE HOME

Like all good designers, Mason’s able to design within any constraints or styles, but feels most clients gravitate towards him for his modern rustic and organic point of view. Clean lines meet organic textures, making his rooms and houses feel sophisticated yet livedin, the perfect recipe for 21st-century living. “We’ve been told we’re masters of casual sophistication,” he says. And like all designers at the top of their games, Mason can work under any constraints—even if that includes an overseas home with super tight turnaround times.

“We did a flat in London, which was awesome,” he remembers. “We had a client in Atlanta for whom we did several houses, and they asked us to do their London flat. We completed the four-bedroom flat in two weeks. Far from being frazzled, Mason saw it as an opportunity to challenge himself and have fun rather than a logistical nightmare. “We hit the ground running and started buying as soon as we landed. Our client still goes into stores we bought from and says the owners vividly remember that house and process,” he laughs. “We truly can do any scale in our firm!”

Another styled corner of Merge Home leads to a rooftop space. PHOTO COURTESY OF MERGE HOME

To grab a piece of the Marty Mason charm in person, one should head to Merge Home, his striking West Midtown store on Howell Mill Road. It was an opportunity for Mason to be involved in designing a new store, and he jumped at the chance five years ago to help design it from the ground up. It now houses several floors of retail products for the whole home. Shoppers can browse the full gamut, from living and dining furniture to office and outdoor furniture. There’s decor as well, including mirrors, rugs, pillows and throws.

Mason thinks it’s important to have options for his customers, who are both interior designers and design enthusiasts. “We do custom, or they can buy off the floor,” he says. “There’s immediate gratification, but we can also order something.” He notes that lead times are back down to normal timelines, around 8 to 12 weeks for custom orders from brands like Bernhardt, Caracole, Four Hands, Century and more.

Merge Home’s West Midtown location has three stories of luxe furniture and decor PHOTO COURTESY OF MERGE HOME

There’s even a design lab on the second floor, where interior designers can come and find resources for brands like Century Furniture. An extensive wallcovering selection, including a fast-shipping mural line out of Sweden called Rebel Walls, provides plenty of inspiration. For those not in Atlanta, Merge Home also has e-commerce, where luxury home brands are only a click away.

This year, Mason predicts a return to comfort and plans to buy accordingly. “We want to keep the clean, modern rustic look, but it’s important to incorporate some more oversize, tactile pieces and warm wood tones for a more nurtured, comfortable look,” he says.This return to comfort first and feeling good before design for design’s sake jives with Mason’s overall philosophy of a curated but lived-in space. Look for oversize yet modern pieces to replace the starker, low-profile designs of the last few years. 1400 Howell Mill Road NW, mergehome.com