My favorite campy movies are tongue-in-cheek. But I’ve found their design inspiration to be very tongue-in-chic. The camp style is a little absurd, a little fabulous, and completely self-aware. It celebrates the over-the-top, theatrical, and glamorous with a knowing wink to let you in on the joke. I’ve loved camp for as long as I can remember, though I didn’t always have the vocabulary for it. 

One of my favorite films as a child was Evil Under the Sun. I saw it on the big screen in 1982 when I was eleven, and I’ve watched it almost every year since. What keeps me coming back isn’t just the murder mystery, but the sets and costumes. Designed by Anthony Powell, they’re the definition of campy elegance: sequined gowns, metallic fabrics, and swimsuits so dramatic they deserve their own credits.

Campy style is a reminder that design doesn’t always have to be practical. 

Because what’s the fun in that? 

What is Camp, Exactly?

The cultural conversation around camp famously took off after Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp, which described it as “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Camp, she argued, isn’t about beauty in the traditional sense, but rather style, wit, and the joy of excess.

In interior design, that translates to a playful rejection of minimalism. Camp says, “Why be subtle when you can be fabulous?” The hallmarks of the camp interior design style are:

• Extravagance: Layer upon layer of rich color, texture, and detail.
• Theatrics: Rooms that perform as much as they function.
• Playfulness: Humor and a touch of irony, always remembering never to take oneself too seriously.
• Artifice: A self-conscious sense of exaggeration that begs you to take notice.
• Contrast: A mix of highbrow and lowbrow, couture and kitsch, luxury and laughter.

In short, camp interiors are where elegance meets eccentricity.

Lights, Camera, Camp

Camp has always found its truest home in cinema. Some of my favorite campy films, like Auntie Mame, Evil Under the Sun, and Mommie Dearest, all create worlds so stylized they’re laughable.

Evil Under the Sun gives us Diana Rigg in hand-sequined gowns and Maggie Smith shimmering in metallics. Powell’s costumes drip with wit and self-awareness. They’re glamorous and exaggerated, just like the characters themselves.

In Auntie Mame, Rosalind Russell floats through a kaleidoscope of interiors that change according to her whims. There will be Chinese screens one moment and velvet drapes the next. Every room screams personality. It’s a celebration of the theatrical.

And Mommie Dearest? Well, Joan Crawford’s line about wire hangers alone could qualify as performance art. The film’s manic glamour and sculpted eyebrows become a spectacle that is all too exaggerated to ignore.

Camp, at its heart, rejects any sense of good taste for the sake of a good performance. 

 

From Film to Furniture: The Camp Interior Design Style

In the interior design world, camp has its own icons. 

Tony Duquette, the legendary Hollywood decorator, built rooms that looked like jeweled opera sets with chandeliers made from coral, walls of gilded mirror, and enough tassels to curtain a theater. His motto was simple: “More is more.”

Ken Fulk, a modern-day heir to Duquette’s exuberance, has mastered the art of the high-glamour wink. His spaces, like the Quin House in Boston, marry opulence with humor. There’s always a twist, like a taxidermy bird wearing pearls or a leopard-print rug laid beneath a crystal chandelier.

This balance of sophistication and absurdity is the essence of camp interior design. It’s what I love most about it. I often try to slip a little campy nod into my own work, maybe an ornate animal print in an otherwise restrained space or spiders painted on a porch for unsuspecting visitors to discover. It’s a small way of saying that design should make you smile.

 

Tips for Bringing Camp Style Home

You don’t need to live in a palazzo or a Hollywood film set to add a dose of camp to your interiors. There are many ways to incorporate a sense of drama into your home. 

1. Mix High and Low

You can’t have highs without lows. Pair an heirloom mirror with a thrifted sculpture or a flea-market lamp. Camp thrives on contrast. 

2. Embrace Theatrics

Use lighting, drapery, and bold colors to set the stage. Camp rooms tell stories. Why not model them after a scene from your favorite movie?

3. Go for Pattern Play

Layer leopard on floral, stripe on chinoiserie. The goal isn’t matching, it’s mixing with intention (and a bit of wit). 

4. Add Humor

A playful object like a ceramic banana or a vintage bust wearing sunglasses reminds guests (and you) that beauty doesn’t have to be serious.

5. Lean Into the Artificial

A little obvious glamour is good for the soul. Embrace the shiny, lacquered, sequined, or mirrored. If it makes you grin, it’s working.

At the end of the day, camp interiors are about pleasure, not perfection.

It’s Time to Pitch Camp 

Camp is the antidote to sameness. In an age of beige sofas and algorithm-approved aesthetics, it reminds us that design can still surprise. It gives permission to laugh, exaggerate, and express joy through the objects that make us smile (or that are just plain absurd).

To me, camp feels deeply human. It’s the acknowledgment that beauty is both ridiculous and sublime. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most profound spaces are the ones that don’t take themselves too seriously. Good design should have a sense of humor.

Otherwise, what’s the point?