We’re back with a new guest tastemaker for some quick-fire questions and a mini-curation of some fab Chairish finds!
This week, we’re speaking with Camille Simmons, founder and lead designer of Planning Pretty. A Los Angeles native with an inherited passion for homes, Camille instills her invigorating ethos on design into every project she works on. To Camille, interior design is not just home decoration, it’s essential for wellness. Throughout her life, adorning a home has represented an opportunity to create a magical refuge—a personal space to heal and feel peace.
Camille’s career in home design first began in 2012 when she launched her blog, documenting decorating her own home. Now, Camille is in the midst of another home makeover process—this time in a 100-year-old cottage in the mountains of SoCal. Read on to learn about how the renovation has been going, and why she thinks the farmhouse style needs a refresh.
What kind of design additions or changes have you recently made to your home?
We’ve owned our 100-year-old cottage for about a year now. While we’re slowly making updates to the walls and floors, the big renovations are still to come to the exterior, kitchen, and baths. We knew these bigger renovations would take time so we wanted to make small changes with color and pattern to make the home feel cozy in the meantime. I am a super fan of wallpaper, especially floral and nature inspired prints given that the cottage is in the forest, so we’ve wallpapered the living room, dining room, and my son’s bathroom so far. I’m still searching for a beautiful chinoiserie piece for our bedroom and I also plan to do something fun with the bookcase in our stairwell.
What is the coolest vintage piece in your house?
The coolest piece I own is actually a family heirloom that I recently inherited. It is a Wurlitzer piano that used to sit in the den of my grandparent’s LA home. They bought the piano in the 1950s from the Big Red Piano Shop which was a spectacle in of itself. My family learned to play on this piano and for the past several years it was just sitting in the garage. I was so happy to finally have a space for it when we bought our cottage. It needed a little tuning but so far I’m enjoying teaching my son how to play. I found some beautiful pieces from Chairish to decorate our new piano corner as well!
Who is your ultimate style icon, and why?
I have a few influences when it comes to style, the most obvious being Beyonce. The bold colors and textures she uses in her set design and costumes are so inspiring to me. I also love the set design on Insecure, especially Molly and Tiffany’s homes, for their girly yet mature styles. And, for decorating our cottage, I’ve been most inspired by Audrey Hepburn and her home in Switzerland where she was surrounded by gorgeous animals and flowers.
Do you collect anything? What sparked your interest in collecting that item?
I’ve calmed down a bit in recent years, but I love collecting dishware. I have dozens of vintage dishes and glassware in beautiful floral patterns and pastel colors. I used to entertain quite often before the pandemic and our son’s birth, and I loved pulling these dishes out for service. Now we’re mostly just entertaining our small family but I try to use my collection even for simple family meals.
What’s a current design trend that you hope doesn’t exist in 100 years, and why?
I hate to say this, but farmhouse. Farms are incredibly charming but this iteration of all white everything and black trim is being copied too much. I think updating and playing with different colors and textures will help refresh the style a bit.
