Celebrity designer Mark Cutler and online interior design and home décor platform nousDECOR partnered together for the “Design Matters” campaign, a new initiative that aims to showcase how design can change lives. First order of business: partnering with the nonprofit Dwell with Dignity to create, style and furnish homes for two deserving families in 2015.

The first home will be presented to the recipient family in Dallas in May. The second family in another city will be appointed and receive its “Design Matters” home before the end of the year.

The nousDECOR founding team: CMO Dorothee Fisher, Chief Designer Mark Cutler and CEO Heather Gillette.

“We are thrilled to partner with nouseDECOR on their ‘Design Matters’ campaign, which aligns perfectly with our core belief at Dwell with Dignity that if we can change a person’s surroundings, we can change his or her outlook on life,” said Lisa Robinson, founder and CEO of Dwell with Dignity.

Cutler will design each space using tools from nousDECOR, resources from Dwell with Dignity and products from retail donors. During the Design Bloggers Conference nousDECOR used a social media campaign based on the hashtag #designmatters to facilitate donations to Dwell with Dignity. Those who used the hashtag on social media and donated $5 or more were entered into a drawing for a $500 gift certificate to Crate and Barrel.

Lisa Robison and Kim Turner from Dwell with Dignity talk about the work their nonprofit does to impact the lives of disadvantaged families.

Additionally, nousDECOR is sponsoring a contest on its blog that invites interior designers and décor bloggers to tell their stories about how design can change lives. Stories must be submitted by March 31. The winner will be featured on the nousDECOR blog and have the chance to win more prizes, as well as being given the option to donate prizes to the Design Matters recipient homes.

Images courtesy of nousDECOR.