“I don’t want to give you exactly what you’ve always imagined. I want it to be better. I want to give you something you love that you never would have thought of.”—Britany Simon, interior designer

All of the signs were there that Britany Simon would one day be a successful interior designer. “As cliché as it sounds, I was always moving my bedroom around or wanting to redesign it,” she says. “I did all the usual kid things—the Polly Pockets, the Barbies. I would build towns with my Legos. I didn’t realize until I was older that I was playing with them because I liked building developments, homes and neighborhoods.” 

The daughter of a residential contractor and developer, Simon grew up around construction and architecture. She considered enrolling in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles until, at her father’s strong recommendation of “getting a good education,” she attended Arizona State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on business and interior design. “I took all the major business classes: finance, accounting, marketing—everything that you really do need to run a business. I got to make my dad happy, and I also got to do what I wanted to do.”  The business background proved invaluable. “If my dad was right about something, it was definitely that,” she says.

Starting as an intern during her senior year at ASU, Simon cut her teeth working in a design center for multiple builders, helping clients choose finishes for the interiors of their new homes and designing kitchen layouts. “Looking back, I couldn’t have started in a better spot,” she says. “Tell me what your budget is and let’s make it as great as we can—which is still sort of the way we operate today. People were happy and they trusted me. I think my passion for the process was contagious. I realized I knew what I was doing.”

Simon longed for more, to immerse herself in designing a house from start to finish. She began doing remodels for family and friends, and helped an established designer on install days. “If there’s ever a way to scare someone from doing interior design, that’s it,” she recalls with a laugh. “I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t as fun and as pretty as I thought it was going to be.’” 

Not long after her mother passed away in 2010, Simon found herself in Los Angeles filming the seventh season of HGTV’s “Design Star,” a reality competition that pitted interior designer contestants against each other in weekly challenges for the big prize: their own show on the network. Already a fan of the program, Simon threw together a portfolio of completed projects and went to Las Vegas for an open audition. She got the job, and quickly learned many of the building blocks that would make her the designer she is today.  “My mother’s passing gave me a new perspective on life, to do things that scared me, and push myself out of my comfort zone,” Simon says. “That was one of the reasons I auditioned, and ultimately landing on that show was the event that changed my entire career trajectory.”  

After an intensive six-week shooting schedule, Simon was the season’s runner-up, and was voted fan favorite by viewers. Doing the show was invaluable in solidifying for her the career she wanted to pursue. “I learned to trust my design instincts. I saw what I was capable of doing in a creative environment with limitations,” she says. “For other people on the show, it was their worst nightmare. As scary as it was, I was living my best life.”

Following the exposure she received on HGTV, Simon began receiving queries for other television opportunities, including hosting a Bravo program called “Best Room Wins,” which ultimately fell through. When Travel Channel reached out in 2014 about participating in the fifth season of a program called “Hotel Impossible,” she jumped at the chance. The reality show, which ultimately ran for eight seasons, performed makeovers for struggling independent hotels, addressing physical, cosmetic and procedural weaknesses. Host Anthony Melchiorri’s team included an interior designer, and he still speaks glowingly of Simon’s participation over the course of two seasons. 

“There is immense pressure in doing a show like this, and I am not the easiest host to deal with,” Melchiorri says. “Britany was working 18-hour days with no budget, no help and no guidance from me. We were on an extremely tight schedule in front of 120 countries and millions of people. I have never met anyone who embodies grace under fire like Britany. No one sees her sweat, and I never saw a trace of ego, which is practically impossible in design.”

Simon had the time of her life. “What I was doing was already in my wheelhouse,” she says. “Here’s your small budget to work with, do the most that you can, and you have five days to get it done. I became good at quickly figuring out what was feasible to do in a limited amount of time. 

“The experience showed me how to fix and pivot, which is something that I do very well,” Simon continues. “I learned to look at a problem as a creative opportunity. When we run into a challenge, how do we not only fix it, but how do we make it better? How do we do it in a way that is different from what we originally thought? I became very good at being steady. It takes a lot for me to get really worked up.”

When she began receiving calls and accepting work from people who had seen her on TV,  Simon decided to dive full-time into establishing her own business. “Clients would ask if I knew how to renovate their house and I’d say, ‘Sure. I can do that, I’ll figure it out.’

“I had never worked for an interior design firm,” she continues. “I didn’t even know how you made money in this business, that you were supposed to mark up the furniture. I thought you just charged for your time. As we all know now, that is not a sustainable business model.”

Today with a staff of four, Britany Simon Design House is known in the Valley and beyond for an aesthetic that embodies out-of-the-box approachable elegance. “Our projects feel a little dressy and sophisticated, but comfortable,” she says. “That is a through line in our work. It has a refined look to it, but never feels like you can’t sit on or touch anything.” 

Simon stresses that there is never only one correct solution. “Our clients recognize that our work is not what they’ve seen before. They like how different and unique each project is and appreciate that their home won’t look like their neighbor’s house.”

Melchiorri praises Simon’s versatility. “Britany could design a haunted house or a palace. One could be black and the other white, but I would know it’s her work because everything she does is done with absolute purity. If I was renovating my home or building a hotel, Britany would be my first call, hands down.”

Masters of the Southwest award-winning architect  Jim Blochberger has collaborated on a number of projects with Simon, and cites her whole-picture synergistic nature. “Working with Britany is a true collaboration right from the beginning,” he says. “Her approach is always professional, thoughtful and disciplined. Every material and finish selection is considered, which allows the interior design to reinforce the architecture framework, rather than compete with it.”

From figuring it out as she went along to designing multimillion-dollar homes, Simon still enjoys the many facets of the process. “I like all of the parts for different reasons,” she says. “I like the architecture and reconfiguring floor plans, because it’s like a puzzle. But my favorite part is the furniture because it’s like the icing on the cake, when everything comes to life. You can bake your cake, but it’s just a cake. Everything comes alive when you put the frosting on it.” 

“I have always just figured it out. I just found my way.”–Britany Simon

SOURCES

• Interior designer: Britany Simon, Britany Simon Design House, Scottsdale, britanysimon.com.
• Architect: Jim Blochberger, Blochberger Design, Phoenix, blochbergerdesign.com.
• Light fixture: arteriorshome.com.
• Artwork: zoebioscreative.com.
• Citron chairs: sonderliving.com.
• Lamps: Visual Comfort, Scottsdale, visualcomfort.com. 
• Sink: Studio Ressource, Scottsdale, studioressource.com.
• Stone: The Stone Collection, Phoenix, thestonecollection.com.
• Plumbing: brizo.com.
• Dining chairs: crlaine.com.
• Floor lighting: visualcomfort.com.
• Cabinetry: Rysso-Peters, Phoenix, (602) 272-2956.
• Dining table (custom): Solido LLC, Phoenix, solidollc.com.
• Wallpaper: elitis.fr/en.
• Chairs: caracole.com.
• Buffet: vanguardfurniture.com.
• Table: globalviews.com.
• Sofa fabric: Kravet, Scottsdale, kravet.com.
• Chandelier: visualcomfort.com.
• Artwork: zoebioscreative.com.
• Floor tile: tilebar.com.
• Architect: The Ranch Mine, Phoenix, theranchmine.com.
• Builder: Detar Construction Inc., Cottonwood, detarconstruction.com.
• Ceiling fixture (custom): Hinkley’s Custom Lighting, Scottsdale, hinkleyslighting.com.
• Countertop stone: thestonecollection.com.
• Cabinery: Burdette Cabinet Co. Inc., Mesa, burdettecabinets.com.
• Wallpaper: phillipjeffries.com.
• Artwork: wendoverart.com.
• Builder: Tinker Development, Scottsdale, tinkerdevelopment.com.
• Lighting: visualcomfort.com.
• Architect: theranchmine.com.
• Builder: detarconstruction.com.
• Flooring: Craftsman Court Ceramics, Scottsdale, craftsmancourt.com.
• Builder: Qualitas Builders, Pinetop, qualitasbuilders.com.
• Wall and ceiling paint (Rookwood Medium Brown): sherwin-williams.com.
• Bed: universalfurniture.com.
• Nightstand: alderandtweedfurniture.com.
• Bench: vanguardfurniture.com.
• Sectional: bernhardt.com.
• Coffee table and stools: fourhands.com.
• Pillow fabric: designsofthetime.be.
• Artwork: britanysimon.com.