DON'T MISS A THING

Stepping into interior designer Rachel Scheff’s world is like walking onto a film set where every detail has been curated for both drama and meaning. She’s a storyteller and also a creator of spaces that beckon you to stay a little longer, to feel a little more. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live inside a storybook or a scene from a movie, Scheff’s interior design process offers you a front-row seat.

Cinema and The Interior Design Process

Scheff’s journey into the world of design is anything but conventional. She grew up in a household infused with creativity, where music, performance, and storytelling were an integral part of everyday life. Her mother, a professional singer, showed her how stories shape emotions and experiences, a lesson Scheff carried into her own creative career.

“When I’m designing, I almost feel like a movie director,” Rachel shares. “I’m placing the camera, setting the scene, and creating a space that evokes an emotional response.” This unique perspective, anchored in storytelling, has become the hallmark of her approach to interior design.

Rachel’s artistic roots don’t end there. Her father worked for a fashion designer and later launched his own fashion eyewear company. This early exposure to entrepreneurship, working for her father’s business, gave her a foundation in both business and creativity.

Rachel’s interior design process uses 3D rendering software like a filmmaker uses storyboards, and she crafts spaces that are deeply experiential. “I want everything to feel intentional, like it’s part of a bigger story,” she says. Her cinematic mindset extends beyond the design process and into how her projects are documented. Often, she revisits the viewpoints she’s crafted in her renderings, sharing them with photographers to ensure her vision translates seamlessly into the final shots.

It’s this meticulous, almost obsessive attention to detail—paired with a lifetime of creative influences—that sets Rachel Scheff apart. She’s not just shaping spaces; she’s curating moments, stories, and experiences that linger in the minds of those who inhabit them.

Rachel Scheff’s Work on The Pasadena House of Design

In Los Angeles, where everyone seems to be one screenplay away from their big break, it feels inevitable that the Pasadena Showcase House of Design would eventually collide with a bit of Hollywood flair. Scheff took that inevitability and ran with it. She didn’t just decorate a room; she directed it.

Her muse? A fictional baroness—isolated, eccentric, and keeping company with woodland creatures straight out of a fairy tale. The room wasn’t just designed; it was storyboarded. Murals of forest creatures met chandeliers shaped like branches, blurring the line between fantasy and function. “It felt immersive,” she says, as if that was the simplest way to explain creating a whole world in 400 square feet.

And because this is L.A., where even latte art gets a cinematic spin, Rachel did something no designer had done in the showcase’s nearly 60-year history. She turned her space into a film set by partnering with director Marc Cunningham from Asura Creative. A short movie, complete with a cast and storyline, brought her room to life, proving that in a town obsessed with storytelling, design can also steal the show. 

This blending of production design with interiors is where Scheff’s work becomes singular. It’s not about trends or Pinterest-perfect spaces; it’s about creating a moment, a memory, a feeling. She wants her rooms to resonate, to linger in your mind long after you’ve left. That’s why she’s unafraid to mix old with new, romantic with modern, in ways that feel authentic and fresh. Her spaces are alive with contradiction and complexity—just like the best stories.

Heritage and Innovation

Rachel’s design process is deeply rooted in her European heritage and her love for travel. She speaks of old buildings with reverence, drawn to the stories etched into their woodwork and plaster.

But she’s not a purist. Rachel isn’t afraid to juxtapose sleek, modern furnishings with historic architecture. “If you commit too hard to the historic, it can start to feel like a film set,” she warns. Instead, she aims for balance, weaving real materials—stone, wood, organic textures—into spaces that feel both timeless and alive. “You have to connect to the earth,” she says. “Everything can’t be man-made.”

The Heart of the Designer

Beneath Scheff’s interior design process lies a story of resilience. Rachel’s life has been a series of uphill battles: a devastating divorce, the loss of her home, and her business. But she doesn’t see these moments as failures. “I always told myself, the story can’t end here,” she says. For Rachel, every hardship is a chapter, every setback a plot twist. 

That same defiance fuels her work. Her designs aren’t just pretty spaces; they’re layered with purpose, memory, and raw emotion. She doesn’t aim to please the masses—she aims to make you feel something. “I’m terrified of being average,” she says, and this is evidenced in spaces that aren’t safe or predictable. They command your attention, like the opening scene of a great film, and they stay with you long after you’ve left.

Rachel Scheff: A Life In Layers

Rachel’s story—and her spaces—are layered with meaning, grit, and beauty. A storyteller first and foremost, she creates experiences that stick with you. And whether she’s blending antiques with avant-garde or crafting a narrative around a fictional baroness, her work is a reminder that design isn’t just about how a space looks. It’s about how it can activate your imagination and make you feel something.

So the next time you walk into a room and feel a twinge of cinematic magic, look closer. You might just find Rachel Scheff’s fingerprints there, orchestrating a moment you’ll never forget.

Learn more about Rachel Scheff and view her portfolio at rachelscheffdesignstudio.com.

Words by Matt McGarry
All Photos Courtesy of Rachel Scheff

More to Love!

Lh Design Lovers Guide to Movies with the Best Interior Design
Top Interior Designers In (and Around!) Los Angeles