Meet Martha Champagne | Real Estate & Interior Design

We had the good fortune of connecting with Martha Champagne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Martha, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking has been a part of my career. I went from a corporate job to getting my Interior Design degree to becoming Realtor, and now doing construction and Real Estate development. None of those pivots were safe and I have had to make peace with failure along the way.

Today that risk looks like finding the right properties, assembling the right teams, managing construction, overseeing every financial and design decision, and listing finished homes. I am the construction manager, the developer, the designer, and the strategist on every project. Each deal carries real risk: the land, the budget, the market. But I know the city, I know construction, and I know design, which is my edge. However, hesitation still creeps in sometimes, and I will not pretend it doesn’t, consistency and experience build confidence over time. Risk is not sloppy. It is calculated, studied, well prepared but sometimes you still lose. The only real failure is giving up. I am still here. Still doing.

My goal is to bring luxury design, builder relationships, and development expertise to homeowners and serious investors who are ready to build something real. The right team, the right knowledge, and the right vision change everything.

What should our readers know about your business?
Champagne Designs is a Dallas luxury interior design and real estate firm. For homeowners, we offer full-service interior design, renovations, and new construction, including design-build for renovations and builder selection for new construction. Our services are from start to finish, from the first conversation to the finished space. For investors and developers, we find the lot, design the home, manage the build, and list the finished product.

In 2024, Champagne Designs was selected for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, one of the most prestigious design showcases in the country. It was a milestone, but it is not what drives us. What drives us is removing the mystery from the design-build process. The process of designing and building should feel accessible to serious investors and homeowners who are ready for it. My background spans hospitality design, luxury residential, construction management, and project development with one of the most recognized builders in the country. I have been inside every phase of this process, from land acquisition to the final listing. That experience is exactly what Champagne Designs brings to every project.

The hardest thing I ever did was act as general contractor on several large flips at the very start of my career, including a Lower Greenville project where I took a one-story home and turned it into a two-story, on my own, without a team or a safety net. It was a tough stretch of work and it gave me a deep respect for the people with boots on the ground, a sharp eye for where money gets wasted, and the ability to protect my clients because I have been there myself.

Every client deserves to understand exactly what they are paying for and why. In an industry where opacity is common, we operate differently. Every decision, every cost, every recommendation comes with full transparency and a clear explanation. My job is to advocate for my client’s outcome with the same intensity I bring to my own. The full integration of design, construction, and real estate strategy under one roof. Luxury should not come with confusion, hidden costs, or a process that leaves you guessing. That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the experience every Champagne Designs client receives.

The lesson I would pass on to anyone starting out: do not expect to win right away. Stay consistent and don’t give up. The wins are so much greater when you know you really went for it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend came to visit Dallas, we would start with brunch at Sadelle’s. Beautiful space, incredible food, exactly the kind of place that tells you what this city is about. Lunch at Hudson House, warm, well designed, never pretentious. Dinner at Carbone, because it is an event every single time. Drinks at Monarch, the rooftop bar at the Park House hotel, with views of the Dallas skyline that will make her never want to leave.

For shopping we would go to Highland Park Village first, one of the oldest open air luxury shopping centers in the country, and the architecture is as impressive as anything inside it. Then NorthPark Mall, not just for the stores but for the art installations and the design. We would walk through Klyde Warren Park, which sits right in the heart of the city connecting Uptown to the Arts District. It sounds simple but it is one of those only-in-Dallas moments that never gets old, surrounded by world class museums and a thriving art scene. And if she is up for something outdoors, the Arboretum is a Dallas staple, beautiful, peaceful, and completely worth it.

We would stop into Forty Five Ten in the Design District. If you love fashion and design living in the same space, this is your place, it is more of an experience than a store. Then we would spend the rest of the afternoon in the Design District visiting showrooms, galleries, and the best furniture and finishes in the city.

We would spend a day in Bishop Arts, one of the most walkable, creative neighborhoods in the city. Independent boutiques, great coffee, local restaurants, street art, and a completely different energy from Uptown or the Design District. It is the side of Dallas that surprises people who think they already know this city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Derrick. Behind every pivot and every bet I have placed on myself, he was there. He is the steady, analytical mind that balances the dreamer in me. His two decades in real estate and the knowledge he brings to the table are essential to what we are building. He has always believed in me. None of this happens without him.

Website: https://www.champagnedesigns.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champagnedesigns80/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104926407/admin/dashboard/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/champagneID/

Image Credits

Victoria Saperstein
Costa Christ