Interior Design

Live With the Things You Love: And You'll Live Happily Ever After

With her trademark style and love of heirlooms and beautiful old objects, best-selling author Mary Randolph Carter delves into the interiors of real-life tastemakers (antique dealers, stylists, artists, and boutique owners) to explore how our homes are the perfect canvas for our self-expression.

Carter’s newest book indulges our desire to surround ourselves with belongings that impart beauty and meaning to our lives. Whether it’s a collection of pedigreed antiques, a set of memorable paperbacks from our childhood, or a distinctive teapot gifted to us by a friend, this book is a tribute to valuing and making artful interiors with our treasures.

In these pages, Carter curates a variety of unique interiors, from a couple who lives on an island in Maine with patinaed objects they’ve rescued from the French countryside, to a fashion designer in rural Rhode Island whose collection of vintage prints inspires her work and interiors, to a photographer whose most prized possessions include a weathered photograph of his parents on their honeymoon.

Carter muses delightfully on what our prized possessions tell us about ourselves, while imparting her philosophy and tips for integrating our treasures stylishly into our decor. Chock-full of ideas and inspiration, this book celebrates her highly personal and creative approach to decor, illustrating how to live stylishly with the items we cherish the most and want to live with forever.

About The Author

Mary Randolph Carter is an author, photographer, avid collector of junk, and longtime creative director for Ralph Lauren. She is the author of The Joy of Junk, Never Stop to Think Do I Have a Place for This, A Perfectly Kept House Is the Sign of a Misspent Life, For the Love of Old, and the Junk books, a series of books on discovering and decorating with flea market finds.

  • Publish Date: March 04, 2025
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Category: House & Home - Decorating & Furnishings
  • Publisher: Rizzoli
  • Trim Size: 8-1/2 x 10-3/4
  • Pages: 256
  • US Price: $55.00
  • CDN Price: $75.00
  • ISBN: 978-0-8478-4398-5

Reviews

"Through a guided tour of her own longtime New York apartment, the former Ralph Lauren creative director encourages readers to thoughtfully amass a variety of objects, from a weathered cupboard to thrift shop art. Glimpses into the homes of fellow tastemakers provide additional perspectives into holding on and letting go." — ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST

"Mary Randolph Carter, who goes by “Carter,” is a lifelong collector, so it should come as no surprise that she has amassed her share of titles over the years. In addition to more formal designations (Creative Director at Ralph Lauren, Country Living Contributor…), Carter has been informally called everything from “the queen of junk” to “the original Annie Hall.” She is also a prolific author on the subject of stuff, and that talent is on display in her latest book, Live with the Things You Love. Filled with the interiors of tastemakers from across the country, including those of shop owner Joan Osofsky and country style icon Mary Emmerling, the pages are a testament to how a home is truly a canvas for self-expression, not to mention in keeping with the current rise of maximalism and cluttercore." — COUNTRY LIVING

"Mary Randolph Carter’s Live With the Things You Love: And You’ll Live Happily Ever After is a fresh, welcome antidote to the slick, consumer-driven vibe that seems to dominate interior design media. Carter encourages us to celebrate the stuff we already have. Each chapter is devoted to a different home and inhabitant, and the inventory of their possessions unfolds like a personal archive. A plate that artist Keith Haring drew on for model Bethann Hardison is among many works of art in Hardison’s New York City apartment. A small ceramic pumpkin made by painting teacher Willie Binnie in second grade now functions as an incense holder in his lodge-style Massachusetts home. These mementos are wellsprings for the kinds of idiosyncratic stories that Carter is so talented at spinning." — BOOKPAGE

"Mary Randolph Carter, a longtime creative director of Ralph Lauren, takes readers into the homes of some of the world’s most famous tastemakers to explore how interior design acts as a form of self-expression. Carters hones in on the collections and prized possessions filling each home and gives decorating tips on how to stylishly live with our treasured items." — VERANDA

Author Bookshelf: Mary Randolph Carter