About the Designer
Los Angeles creative Penelope Francis splits her time between the best of both worlds, Miami, and Los Angeles. As a designer, her innovative approach to interior design is firmly rooted in her background in fashion. Penelope’s first rigorous career path was groomed in TV and Film production as a successful Hollywood stylist and costume designer. She was also the imaginative visionary behind her former global luxury brand, Fifi & Romeo. She designed the interiors of the Los Angeles flagship boutique to reflect a glamourous era in Paris, touting an opulent apartment-style space with a colossal center chandelier, two-story draperies mixed with French antiques and modern furnishings. She received numerous requests for interior design services, often from her celebrity clientele, including one such visit with Bette Midler in the star’s New York Penthouse overlooking Central Park. Fifi & Romeo, her Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand, was sold worldwide: Barneys New York, Neiman-Marcus, Kirna Zabête – (SoHo shop-in-shop), Fred Segal, Browns in London, Quartier 206 in Berlin, and mono-brand shops around Japan! Her iconic dog collection celebrated in Legally Blonde became a worldwide sensation and appearing as a guest on Oprah’s Christmas Show was the ultimate milestone for the designer and artist.
“While fashion was my formal education and 1st career, interior design has been a collected, self-taught journey. Early in my design process with a client, I love to ask what their favorite hotel is and why. That question always gives me a peek into how “they see” and “feel” things.
I naturally gravitate towards beauty, ease of lifestyle, and warmth in a home. I joke that “the doctor will see you now” when I encounter soullessly staged apartments or showroom-like homes; this doesn’t resonate with my sensitive instincts as a creative. As a designer and artist, collaborating with other artists, artisans, and highly skilled craftspeople is the genuine magic sauce that je ne sais quoi that makes a home’s interior go from “oh, that’s nice” to a “wow!” The little things bring a quiet sophistication to an intentional, soulful interior… this is my ultimate walkway as an intuitive designer and artist.”
Impossibly curious and a wanderlust explorer my whole life, I find that I am looking for treasures and decorative arts wherever I am. Digging around old dusty barns in Upstate New York, hunting for handmade fabrics in Jaipur India, colorful trims in New Delhi, foraging for antiques in the Paris flea markets, or simply “junk-tiquing” somewhere in the vast sprawl of Los Angeles… the pursuit of treasures makes me deeply and profoundly happy.”
Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas, Penelope’s formal education has been the inspired cornerstone of her never-ending artistic exploration. Her laser-focused determination to make homes feel warm and hand-touched is part of her unique brushstroke.
Interior Design
Making your dream home emerge is my ultimate passion. Daydreaming of what’s possible is where it starts. Our creative design process begins with me listening and turning on my acute instincts… I like to ask lots of questions, and simple things like knowing “what your favorite hotel is and why” helps me understand how you may see and feel something. My role as a designer and creative artist is to present lush design concepts and solutions for how you want to live and show you some things you may not have considered. My multifaceted global resources and relationships with fine craftsmen and makers are the unique ingredients to my distinctive recipe.
Interior Architecture and Planning
Enhancing a property’s value is done by keenly creating a balance between aesthetics and practicality. A deep network of expert General Contractors, award-winning Architects, and Landscape Architects are cornerstones of our team’s collective success. We produce a seamless and graceful collaboration between Interior Architecture and its planning. The international language of design is demystified through beautifully rendered drawings and thoughtful creative boards, which take you on the cinematic visual journey of possibilities.
Project Management
There is a uniqueness to each project, and expert project management is fundamental to the success of your project. We assemble a team of discrete and highly experienced project leaders who will preserve and present real-time production schedules and updates. This skilled management ensures you know the project’s status and fluid actions.
