About

Hi, I’m Kaila.

I grew up in a tiny town in northern California, spending most of my days surrounded by walnut orchards and running around on my family’s 10 acre land. So, how did I become an Interior Designer? 

During my senior year of high school, the subject of my senior project was Interior Design, and that led to me re-decorating and updating the teachers’ lounge. Can you say teacher’s pet?! Regardless, it was a huge hit and I got an A. 

After high school I earned my BA in Art History, studying abroad in Florence, Italy for a year.  Every city I visited throughout Europe, I found myself fascinated by the art, architecture, and design — and realized I was hooked!

In 2016, my then boyfriend (now husband) was accepted into the University of North Carolina’s MBA program and we made the move across the country together, from California to Chapel Hill.

Shortly thereafter, I met a very helpful real estate agent, joined their group, and became the in-house home stager. After a few years of staging homes and having many clients ask me to help design their new homes, I decided to start Curly Willow Design Studio…and the rest is history.

Design and home staging has become my life. I could not be happier or more thankful to be able to have this as my career.