Founder, MRTNZ | interiors (Martínez, without the vowels)

Raised in a Mexican family in Southern California, Carlos’ early fascination with interiors began in an unexpected place. On weekends, his family would travel to Casa Leaders, a furniture showroom in Wilmington that catered to Hispanic families furnishing their homes piece by piece. The visits were practical—his parents would make monthly payments toward furniture room sets—but for young Carlos, the experience was something else entirely.

Each vignette felt like stepping into a different world. The careful arrangement of furniture, lighting, and textures carried an aspirational quality that stayed with him long after the visits ended.

Those early impressions planted a seed: that spaces hold emotional power, and that the environments we create shape how we live, gather, and dream.

Over the past fifteen years, Carlos has worked across residential and commercial architecture and interiors, guiding projects from early concept through construction and completion. Throughout that time, his curiosity remained centered on a simple question: