DESIGNER OF THE DAY

Designer of the Day: Matt McKay

Matt McKay’s firm may be on the younger side, but the New York City interior designer and travel enthusiast’s range reaches far beyond his years—take ambitious projects like ground-up oceanside estates and classic Fifth Avenue apartments as proof. His latest endeavor is an eclectic range of furniture that distills the traditional and modern sensibilities of his practice onto a smaller scale, yielding personality-packed pieces whose offbeat features both delight and stay imprinted in one’s memory.

Matt McKay’s firm may be on the younger side, but the New York City interior designer and travel enthusiast’s range reaches far beyond his years—take ambitious projects like ground-up oceanside estates and classic Fifth Avenue apartments as proof. His latest endeavor is an eclectic range of furniture that distills the traditional and modern sensibilities of his practice onto a smaller scale, yielding personality-packed pieces whose offbeat features both delight and stay imprinted in one’s memory.

Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.

Age: 36

Occupation: Designer, artist, collector, storyteller.

Instagram: @therealmattmckay

Hometown: Toronto.

Studio location: Chelsea, New York.

Describe what you make: I make interiors, furniture, and structures. I see everything I do as a form of storytelling. I absorb what a client is willing to share about their habits, routines, and inspiration so I can understand how they live. I then study the landscape, culture, and surroundings to site each project within a time and place. All of this is useful to build a narrative by which people can live.  

Photography by Joshua McHugh
Photography by Joshua McHugh

The most important thing you’ve designed to date: My apartment. It serves as a test kitchen or blank canvas to explore ideas and play. It provides the opportunity to live with pieces I have designed and also serves as a reliquary for tokens of sentimentality collected over time—objects that interest and inspire me. 

Describe the problem your work solves: To create personalized environments that improve the quality of people’s lives. 

Describe the project you are working on now: Houses in the Hamptons, two apartments in the city, and a house in Austin.

A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Diving into development of additional furniture pieces to be released at the beginning of 2025. We’re going to play with new materials. 

Photography by Joshua McHugh
Photography by Joshua McHugh

What you absolutely must have in your studio: My dog Squid, killer speakers, and lots of light.

What you do when you’re not working: You’ll find me at the gym, skiing out west, anything on or by the water, and traveling.

Sources of creative envy: Maria Pergay, Alan Watts, William Eggleston.

The distraction you want to eliminate: My phone.

Photography by Joe Kramm
Photography by Stephen Kent Johnson

Concrete or marble? Marble.

High-rise or townhouse? Beach shack or mountain cabin.

Remember or forget? Remember?

Aliens or ghosts? Both.

Dark or light? Dark.

Portrait by Joe Kramm.

All Stories