Hollywood’s New Go-To Decorator Dishes on Working with Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and More (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Francesca Grace/Instagram; Monica Schipper/Getty

Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Francesca Grace/Instagram; Monica Schipper/Getty

Hollywood has a new go-to design guru!

These days,Francesca Gracecounts Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Hilary Duff, and Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz among her clients, but she spent years hustling behind the scenes before becoming a designer to the stars.

In 2020, she was working at a staging company in Los Angeles, outfitting empty homes with a limited selection of what she dubs “the worst possible” furnishings to help prospective buyers envision living in the space. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the uninspiring gig became a blessing in disguise. “Everyone filed unemployment, including my boss. So I was basically running her staging company,” she tells PEOPLE.

William Myers

“I called every top real estate agent in L.A. and was like, ‘You don’t have a choice. You don’t know me, but there’s no one else working and everyone’s selling their house, so I’ll stage yours.’ And they were like, “Okay, great,'” she recalls.

Her staging clients — among them a handful of celebrities — took notice that the homes they were selling suddenly looked super inviting, or the ones they were touring while house hunting were full of pieces that they wanted to keep after moving in.

“Sabrina Carpenter hired me from a house that she bought that I had staged [for the previous owner],” she explains. Now she’s designing an L.A. mansion for theShort n' Sweetsinger, who gave a sneak peek of her Grace-designed breakfast nook in a recent Instagram, below.

“My favorite one was Hillary Duff. That was probably the only time I’ve been starstruck,” she admits. “I was like, this is everything I ever dreamt of. I was her for Halloween when I was little. This hits home.”

She staged a home that Duff and her husband, songwriter Matthew Koma, were selling and while she never came face to face with the singer, she worked with Koma and says she still remembers the moment Duff followed her on Instagram. “I was super excited. That was a good one.”

Hilary Duff/Instagram

Her commissions grew in scale (and star power) and she soon got the call to designJustin Bieber’s Drew Housefor his clothing brand of the same name.

“They own this house that they shoot all of their content in, and I got to design the entire thing, she explains. “It was so fun because the inspo was like grandma’s house, and so I just decked it out in different kinds of vintage wallpapers and did monochromatic rooms.”

“It just was my dream to be able to create something that was like that. And it was one of the biggest ones in the beginning for me, for sure,” she adds.

Designing for Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats was another career milestone. “I did their bedrooms,” she explains of her contribution to themusic moguls' world famous Razor House in La Jolla, Calif. “Just going over there, they’d make me drink, and they’re just super homey. I did a puzzle with their kids. It’s very family vibes,” she says.

“I’ve gotten lucky. I know people who get unlucky with their celebrity clients, but mine are pretty great,” she admits.

A few of her upcoming celebrity design projects are still under wraps, but will no doubt be gracing magazine pages in the near future.

source: people.com