NYC
HOUSTON
coming soon
LOS ANGELES
MHLI
Radical individuality is the ultimate luxury.
MHLI © 2026. All rights reserved.
Radical
individuality
is the ultimate
luxury
Radical individuality
is the
ultimate luxury
M
H
L
I
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Signature is our standard.
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LUXURY RENOVATIONS
FULL HOME FURNISHINGS
NEW CONSTRUCTION
KITCHEN & BATHROOM DESIGN
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Signature homes without the stress. You grant approvals. We handle the rest.
GUT RENOVATIONS FULL-HOME FURSNIHINGS NEW CONSTRUCTION KITCHEN & BATH DESIGN
RADICAL INDIVIDUALITY IS THE
ULTIMATE LUXURY
NYC • HOUSTON • WORLDWIDE
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RADICAL INDIVIDUALITY IS THE ULTIMATE LUXURY
GUT
RENOVATIONS
FULL HOME
FURNISHINGS
NEW
CONSTRUCTION
KITCHEN & BATH
DESIGN
MHLI is a full service, award-winning, Black-owned interior design studio rooted in NYC and Houston, serving clients worldwide.
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FOR FAR TOO LONG, THIS INDUSTRY
HAS DONE IT ALL WRONG.
IMITATION HAS DISPLACED
IMAGINATION. AUTHENTICITY
DROWNED IN A SEA OF UBIQUITY.
QUALITY SUCCUMBED TO QUICK
WINS. REALITY TV DISTORTED THE
REALITIES OF CONSTRUCTION.
AND MASS APPEAL BANISHED
ALL MAGIC AND MEANING.
FOR FAR TOO LONG, THIS INDUSTRY HAS DONE IT ALL WRONG.
AUTHENTICITY DROWNED IN A SEA OF UBIQUITY.
IMITATION HAS DISPLACED IMAGINATION.
QUALITY SUCCUMBED TO QUICK WINS.
REALITY TV DISTORTED THE REALITIES OF CONSTRUCTION.
AND MASS APPEAL BANISHED ALL MAGIC AND MEANING.
WE'RE DEFINING A NEW REALITY,
AND WE'RE BANNING STATUS QUO.
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THE MHLI EXPERIENCE
SIMPLER.
SMARTER.
UNMISTAKABLY BETTER.
Signature homes without the stress. You grant appovals, we handle the rest.
At MHLI, our version of interior design is simple: provide all of the benefits with none of the doubt. We craft a premium fantasy of how you want to live, engineer it for how you actually live, and deliver it through a frictionless process that's proven, efficient, and enjoyable. Here's how:
Exclusive access
Our creations are free of retail and mass-produced, to-the-trade furnishings that lead to the copy-and-paste interiors prevalent in the industry. We're adamant about crafting a home that reflects your exacting standards, not a showroom concept for the masses. We design custom furnishings and source limited-edition pieces sourced from our vetted network of premium global artisans.
Expert leadership
Our proprietary Essence Extractor discovery system aligns scope, timeline and budget from the start to build trust, establish clarity and prevent project delays. With nearly 25 years of experience and bolstered by our elite implementation partners, we proactively mitigate endless revisions, late-stage changes, unnecessary cost overruns, and project lags.
Effortless experience
Our personalized, white-glove experience protects your time, privacy and peace of mind while defending your design against inferior execution. We streamline the approvals process with one, comprehensive presentation so you can confidently make decisions, and we manage project complexities quietly and throughly on your behalf.
Essential value
Convenience
Full-spectrum service from first ideas to fully-realized home.
Optimization
Visual & aesthetic cohesion informed by opportunities and constraints.
Access
An exclusive global network of elite builders, artists and artisans.
Customization
Elegantly executed, site specific solutions tailored to your profile.
Curation
Hand selected premium finishes, furnishings, art, and decor.
Advocacy
High-touch, dedicated client care and construction representation
THE DESIGNER IS SKILLED IN DISCOVERING THE NUANCES OF A BUILDING AND ITS SPACES AND USING THESE AS POINTS OF INTEREST TO HIGHLIGHT AND CELEBRATE.
A RISING STAR WHO PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES.
COTTAGES & GARDENS
AS SEEN IN
AT THE HELM
Marc Houston
Creative Director & Principal Designer
Your success is legendary. Your home should be, too.
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For 25 years, I've touched nearly every facet of this industry. I know a thing or two about what it takes to create an entirely new reality from nothing but hard work, imagination and grit. To chart a course before others can envision, understand, or approve. To hone instincts by enduring the resistance of the current and daring to do what others fear. For most, standing alone is uncomfortable because it invites rejection and judgment. But I don't bristle at the label of delusional, because I know the rewards discovered in the unknown far outweigh the ends achieved through convention. I'm not here to design for everyone. I'm here for the one of ones. The power brokers. The high achieivers. The live wires. The renegades. The mavericks. Those who want to inhabit an unparalleled universe inconceivable to the crowd. Those who accept nothing less that iconic and one-of-a-kind. My innate compulsion is to chase the rarest, the finest, the unprecedented. I'm never satisfied with the best option. You deserve the only option.
HE IS A VISIONARY, AN ARTIST, AN EXECUTOR WHO
DELIVERS RESULTS BEYOND ANYTHING YOU COULD
HAVE IMAGINED.
HILARY P., BROOKLYN, NY
My design entrepreneur journey is textbook: 1) pay your dues at top notch London and NYC firms, 2) bruise your knuckles in the various pots of interior design, lighting design, furniture design, product design, and project management, 3) get fired on a boss's whim or recruited to a more prestigious firm and, 4) repeat ad infinitum.
While spinning in that unsustainable cycle, I quickly tired of churning out cut-and-paste projects to satisfy metrics, profits and principals' egos. More importantly, in my roles I couldn't connect directly with clients, find out what makes them tick, and learn about their curiosities, fears and aspirations—the critical components of the intensely personal and sacred crusade that is building a home.
I founded my studio to bring the very best the world has to offer to those who recognize quality inherently, revere ingenuity and, like me, run from mediocrity. To inspire those who crave a revolutionary experience of home that captures their unique essence, not a showroom concept recycled for the masses. To design for one-of-ones, not everyone.
For 15 years I've helped CEOs, film directors, TV personalities, real estate developers, private equity managers and beyond to capture their most authentic expression in homes that exceed their wildest imaginations. In that time, I've learned that a bond of mutual trust is essential to fuel the personal excavation and limitless vision from which truly signature spaces are built. I want to partner with those for whom only the rarest and the finest will do—who insist on not just different, but distinct.
SIMPLER.
SMARTER.
LET'S GET PERSONAL
SPACE TRANSFORMATION & LUXURY LIFESTYLE SPECIALIST
I'm a proud Bostonian (less the accent) with severe wanderlust.
Among the cities in which I've taken up residence, London solidified my affinity for Indian food and my Italophilia. On that note...
Italians do it better.
And by 'it', I mean everything. Italy is both heaven on earth and mecca of enduring style. Expect Italian-designed furnishings to show up in your design presentation.
Distance biking and weight training keep me sane.
I'm a speed junky who enjoys my 30-mile loops around Manhattan and Houston and pilgrimages from Boston to Ptown. A Dolomites bike tour and a luxury gym project are on my bucket list.
I cut my teeth selling lighting to architects.
My first design job while attending the UofMD was at a contemporary lighting showroom in Washington, D.C., where my innate interest in interiors exploded. I still geek out on lighting, which means you'll benefit from my encyclopedic knowledge of the coolest fixtures on the planet.
My mother was my principal.
And I wore a tie to school from first grade. The takeaways: attention to detail (and grammar) was ingrained in me from youth, and I feel equally at home in a Full Windsor as I do a hard hat.
As an ex-Evangelical and recovering cult member...
Not much phases me. Comparatively, gut renovations are a walk in the park.
Inside the studio...
There's likely a mix of 90's hip hop, film scores, Motown, tango, Chopin, and Tori Amos playing. She's my personal Jesus.
Outside the studio...
You can find me bingeing historical, biographical, and war documentaries or happily sweating over a stove. I'm a whiz in the kitchen and select clients have been invited to my admittedly fabulous dinner parties.
In another life...
I'd direct music videos or compose film scores. For now, designing baller homes absolutely lights my fire.
I WANT TO PARTNER WITH THOSE WITH WHOM ONLY THE RAREST AND THE FINEST WILL DO. WHO WANT NOT JUST DIFFERENT, BUT DISTINCT.
![[CLAIRE-ESPARROS]_StudioMHLI_75ABond5927.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ec4a2_d5a956ed241e4f058f3057332f5294da~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_3622,y_439,w_3840,h_5179/fill/w_519,h_700,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7ec4a2_d5a956ed241e4f058f3057332f5294da~mv2.jpg)
Boreum Hill
"Marc Houston Designed This Brooklyn Townhouse with a Focus on Art, Color and Whimsy"
Our Signature Service
We don't just design spaces. We define experiences.
Our brand of luxury merges function and fantasy to calibrate a personalized ecosystem that nutures, shelters, and restores. We craft a signature concept that captures your most authentic expression from the moment you cross your threshold until your head touches your pillow. Sucess for us is elevating even your most mundane routines into rituals of ease and delight.
Who we serve
We partner with high net worth individuals who insist on quality, artistry, clarity, ingenuity, a systematic process, and a done-for-you experience. We work best with those who:
• Recognize design is an investment
• Seek elevated, custom interiors over trends
• Value expertise, trust and decisive leadership
• Have a significant project and thoughtful timeline
• Share our values and aesthetic
What we do
We provide bespoke, client-centered, high-end residential design and full scale implementation for renovations, new builds, and full-home furnishing of primary and secondary homes, penthouses, pied-à-terres, estates and legacy properties,
Why we do it
We dream of immersive, transportive experiences that stimulate the senses and summon emotion. We're compelled to bring them to life.
MHLI TIES ALL THE DAUNTING PIECES OF DESIGN TOGETHER TO TURN THE ORDINARY INTO EXTRAORDINARY.
Every experience with us guarantees:
Transformation is our technique.
Signature is our standard.
You're running a multi-millor dollar investment fund, but your home office is more college student than CEO. We've got power moves for power brokers.
A primary bathroom with a miniature tub, a shower stall that attacks your forehead every morning, and finishes from 1998. We can do better.
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Each of our unique creations reflects decades-honed expertise, dedication to detail, and deep bonds of trust built with our clients to excavate their most authentic expressions in the spaces they hold sacred. We know that life-changing transformation doesn't happen by chance. It requires orchestration of infinite calculations, anticipation of opportunities and challenges, unwavering focus, and a proven strategy. Like the perfect suit is cut, structured and stitched with mastery, we tailor your home to the unique contours of your life.
We dont' have a signature look, but we'll make one just for you.
SO
WHY
MHLI?
Signature is our standard.
You deserve more than a cut-and-paste space. And because we find our greatest opportunity in impossibility, that's exactly what you'll get.
We're defiantly different.
We'll always ditch the obvious choice for the one-of-a-kind. On this ride, you can expect the thrill of cutting-edge over the familiarity of tradition.
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We're disciplined to detail.
We sweat the small stuff because the details are the design. Every element we select is deliberate. Every puncutation we place is precise.
Worth the wait.
We'll never sacrifice quality for speed or artistry for convenience. Your long-term satisfaction with your home is our priority.
We're defiantly different.
We'll always ditch the obvious choice for the one-of-a-kind. On this ride, you can expect the thrill of cutting-edge over the familiarity of tradition.
.jpg)
We're disciplined to detail.
We sweat the small stuff because the details are the design. Every element we select is deliberate. Every puncutation we place is precise.
Signature is our standard.
You deserve more than seen-it-already spaces. And because we find our greatest opportunity in impossibility, that's exactly what you'll get.
Worth the wait.
We won't sacrifice quality for speed or artistry for convenience. Your long-term satisfaction with your home is our priority.
FAQ
We're here to help.
WORKING WITH MHLI
We specialize in high-end residential interiors, including primary residences, vacation homes, penthouses, estates, and legacy properties. Our work primarily involves full-scale renovations, new construction, and comprehensive furnishing projects, though we selectively accept furnishing-only engagements when aligned.
Our approach is rooted in exceptional craftsmanship, definitive artistry, and the pursuit of innovation. Every project begins with understanding how you live, entertain, and retreat, resulting in interiors precisely calibrated to feel both elevated and deeply personal. We favor longevity over trends and believe true luxury is as radically individual as it is effortless.
While our work is recognizable for its refinement and attention to detail, we don't impose a signature look. Each home we design is a distinct reflection of its owner, architecture, and setting. Our role is to translate your vision into a cohesive, enduring environment.
We value mutual trust, decisiveness, and open communication. The most successful projects are true partnerships built on shared vision and respect.
PROCESS, EXPERIENCE & COMMUNICATION
Clarity, efficiency, and excellence at every stage are our ultimate aims. We understand the demands of busy professionals and our priority is to ease rather than labor their existing commitments. Our process is highly structured and fully managed for the full project life cycle, and we act as your single point of oversight to coordinate with architects, builders, and artisans. You can learn the details of our process here.
Our clients value a concierge-level experience, where decisions are streamlined and thoughtfully curated. We guide you through key milestones while handling the details and managing complexity behind the scenes so you don’t have to sacrifice your time or energy.
You can expect clear, concise, and timely communication throughout the project whether through written updates, mutually scheduled meetings, or direct contact. Emergent communication is made through a private, team-managed digital forum while weekly updates are furnished via email.
INVESTMENT & FEES
We believe transparency and alignment are essential to a successful partnership. Our fee structure is customized based on project scope, scale, and complexity and are clearly outlined prior to engagement.
Our clients understand that thoughtful design is an investment in quality of life, property value, and longevity. During our consultation, we discuss expectations, priorities, and typical investment ranges to ensure alignment. We establish budgets early and manage them proactively throughout the project while carefully tracking expenditures as the project evolves. Our team provides clear guidance on where to invest for maximum impact and long-term value.
PRIVACY & DISCRETION
Yes. We regularly collaborate with estate managers, personal assistants, security teams, and household staff to ensure smooth execution with minimal disruption.
Discretion is fundamental to our practice. We do not share projects publicly without explicit permission, and we are happy to work under NDAs. Many of our most notable projects remain entirely private.
GETTING STARTED
The process begins with a brief questionnaire, Clarity Call, and paid consultation with Marc to explore your goals, timeline, and scope. This allows us to determine alignment and ensure we can deliver an experience and result that exceed expectations. You can begin the process here.
Interested? Let's discuss.
Begin with your Discovery Profile.
Click below to share your details.
FAQ
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STAY IN TOUCH
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MHLI is a full-service, Black-owned boutique specialized in luxury interior renovations, new builds and comprehensive furnishing projects. Read more
Clients We Serve
HOMEOWNERS
Primary Residences & Vacation/Secondary Homes
We attend walk-throughs with your real estate broker to assess prospective properties and advise you in new construction planning meetings with your architect or builder
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPERS
Single Family & Multi-unit Dwellings
We establish aesthetic direction for premium standalone residences, condominiums and rental units including selection of finish materials, plumbing fittings and lighting fixtures
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPERS
Hospitality, Retail & Workplace
We develop holistic experiential concepts for restaurants, hotels, boutiques and corporate headquarters including brand strategy, furnishing packages and art curation.
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Marc understood my style and what made me feel at home, perhaps even better than I did. Any change that he suggested in the early days felt radical to me, but once I made the leap, he helped me find a sense of freedom in a space that had come to feel more like a museum than a home.