I grew up in New Hampshire and went to college in Boston. From there I moved to Los Angeles and worked in TV and Film Production. Taking a unique turn I moved on to tour the US and England as the bass player in a punk rock band signed to a major record label. Years later I discovered an interest in interior design and determined a career change was in order. I spent the next 10 years in LA designing homes all over the USA and in 2016 I moved to Portland to launch my own design firm.
Commercial project commissions have included the corporate headquarters for Umpqua bank, the 19 Acres hard cider tasting room, the Arborbrook by Cooper Mountain Vineyards tasting room, a dental office in Downtown Los Angeles, a mobile coffee shop built out of an Airstream trailer for a beverage conglomerate, model units for a Pearl District luxury condo and a SE Portland mixed-use development, a food truck for a PNW burger chain, and a podcast studio in New York City.
I was a featured ‘Next Wave’ designer in House Beautiful magazine and I was named one of Country Living’s 100 most creative people. Other recent press has including features in Architectural Digest, Domino, Dwell, The Wall Street Journal and as one of Apartment Therapy’s design change-makers.
I’m a frequent panelist and speaker at design events including Las Vegas Market, High Point Market, New York Design Center's “What’s New, What’s Next”, the Country Living Fair, Design Week Portland, and an on camera design expert on KGW "Portland Today” on channel 8.
I have licensed product collaborations with a number of decor brands including: Fabric with Sunbrella, wallpaper with Chasing Paper, window treatments with Hartmann&Forbes, standing mats with House of Noa, and more on the way.
Order my latest book, LODGE: An Indoorsy Tour Of America’s National Parks wherever books are sold.
"A witty, savvy, and welcoming national parks pictorial, Lodge spotlights the beautiful harmony between dwellings and natural wonders.” - Foreword Reviews
Check out my book MODERN AMERICANA on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or your local book store.
Follow me on Instagram @MaxWHumphrey
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Crafted in pursuit of the perfect iteration of classic design motifs, the Max Humphrey x Sunbrella x Pindler collection is available in 70 fabrics across 10 patterns. Small-scale designs pair with classic gingham, elevated florals and treasured vintage styles for a curated offering featuring a rich array of colors and textures. The collection is available to the trade at Pindler.
The Chasing Paper x Max Humphrey wallpaper collection features prints influenced by classic Americana motifs, updated with a modern perspective. Max’s design perspective is shaped by nostalgic memories of a vintage-influenced New England childhood and filtered through a lens of his current home in the Pacific Northwest.
The collection is available in Chasing Paper’s signature peel-and-stick as well as traditional wallpaper.
My Hartmann&Forbes window shade collection is a fresh take on classic prints and patterns —gingham, quilt and cable knit—rendered in handwoven natural textiles.
Download the collection brochure
Humphrey’s yearlong road trip exploring America’s National Parks inspired this series. With a nod to nature, the tree motif is jacquard-handloomed of ramie in a forestry pine palette that brings the outdoors in.
Inspired by modern Americana and rustic alpine settings, this design is reminiscent of iconic camping blankets. Ramie is handwoven in a herringbone pattern that resembles miniature mountain peaks and rendered in an earthy tone-on-tone palette.
Inspired by vintage grain sacks, this series elevates the humble carryall to a nostalgic, handcrafted design. The sturdy ramie weave is accented with slender stripes of red, white or blue against a denim or natural ground, evoking a quintessential Americana mood in a fresh format.
Humphrey reimagines this traditional gingham check as a versatile neutral in his collection. Its simple, medium-scale motif is loomed of natural ramie fibers, creating subtle variations in each square that soften the geometric grid and highlight its handcrafted quality. The weft fibers are dyed to match the warp, infusing the two-tone pattern with graphic impact and visual dimension.
An age-old symbol in nature and iconography, the venerable cross is reinterpreted in jacquard-loomed ramie. The crosses, formed of an intricate check pattern, float in a textural landscape delineated by horizontal lines, its tonal black-and-white palette producing a primitive, understated design.
A modern take on traditional quilts, this series nods to the nostalgia of handmade crafts with its classic chain motif. The geometric pattern and two tonal colors provide a contemporary twist, while jacquard-loomed ramie creates subtle variations in the weave for rich texture and visual dimension.
For their first ever collaboration, I brought some graphic style to a collection of House of Noa standing mats.
Shop the collectionA collaboration with Rhode Island based Thayer Design Studio - my rug collection is inspired by an appreciated for traditional American craftsmanship.
Ready to start your project? Send me an email at [email protected]
