How Two Interior Designers Harnessed the Power of Community in the Wake of the LA Fires

In January 2025, Tamara Kaye-Honey, founder of the female design collective House of Honey, and Adam Hunter, founder and owner of his eponymous interior design firm, put on a master class in multitasking during the Los Angeles wildfires. “When a tragedy of this caliber occurs, standing still just isn’t an option,” Kaye-Honey says.

The pair — who hadn’t met yet — individually sprang into action to help people affected by the disaster.

Hunter launched LA Can Do, a relief effort aimed at providing furniture and home goods to families that couldn’t go back to their homes. It all started by wondering what he could do to help and then soon realizing that he could use his connections in the interior design world. “What began as a simple group chat quickly evolved into LA Can Do — a full-scale grassroots initiative,” Hunter says.

Kaye-Honey, meanwhile, began operating The Soft Landing Project, accepting and distributing donations of clothing, toiletries, and gift cards from her South Pasadena design studio. “Recognizing the immediate needs of displaced families, we transformed the studio into a donation hub, collecting essential items for those impacted,” she shares.

As soon as the two designers caught wind of what the other was doing, they saw an opportunity to come together and scale their impact in a big way — and it all started on a Google Hangout.

“From the first call, there was a sense of alignment — both in purpose and pace,” shares Hunter. “Tamara and her team had been working tirelessly with local networks to coordinate donations, and I was mobilizing my contacts in the design world to gather furnishings and essentials.” 

And so, LA Can Do’s Soft Landing was born.

Their mission? To provide free essential furnishings and home goods for displaced families to help them recover with comfort, warmth, and dignity.

The new collaborators swiftly kicked the project into high gear. “After sharing our initiative on social media, the response from brands was incredible,” Kaye-Honey says. “Support poured in from all directions, and the generosity was truly overwhelming.”

Soon, the duo’s warehouse in downtown L.A. was inundated with truckloads of donations from designers around the country; more than 7,000 pieces flooded in from brands like Jaimee Rose, Christopher Farr, Sundays, Chasing Paper, Hawkins New York, Lulu & Georgia, and so many more.

The vision was to host “shop days,” where those who were displaced by the fires could wander through the showroom and select furnishings to make their new residences feel more like home.

If you’re picturing a massive warehouse filled with rows upon rows of the most gorgeous furniture, linens, and decor you could imagine, you’d be right.

What Kaye-Honey and Hunter were able to pull together was nothing short of spectacular. My own family lost our home of 31 years in the Palisades fires, and the thought of starting to source pieces to fill up our new rental was too daunting to comprehend. So, we applied for a shop day with LA Can Do’s Soft Landing through a simple form on the organization’s website — and were positively giddy when the confirmation of our appointment popped up in my inbox a few weeks later.

One Saturday morning in March, my mom and dad wound through the cavernous warehouse, taking in the aisles stocked with new and gently-used pieces — everything from hand-woven rugs to couches, lighting, accessories, and art.

A sweet, enthusiastic volunteer guided my parents through the maze, eagerly suggesting pieces that she thought might bring some joy into my mom’s life. (Kaye-Honey and Hunter emphasize how deeply touched they were by the level of support they experienced from volunteers who came out in droves, and they say hundreds of volunteer hours were lovingly poured into this project.)

At the end of their session, my parents left with tears in their eyes, along with a stunning, brand-new bedroom set from McGee & Co., pillows, and a box full of quirky decor.

Since the inception of LA Can Do’s Soft Landing, more than 2,000 families have received a wide breadth of home goods to help rebuild their lives, according to Hunter. As of early May 2025, Hunter says the organization has distributed more than 1 million dollars worth of donated furnishings and home goods to those affected by the fires.

“The grief was staggering, but so was the gratitude,” says Kaye-Honey.

Hunter recalls “handing a woman a robe, and her eyes welling up.” But it wasn’t about the robe itself. “It was a reminder that someone cared. That kind of emotional impact is what stayed with all of us,” he says.

Hunter reflects back on some of the conversations he had with generous supporters, who showed up time and time again. “They would often come away from our distribution days saying, ‘That was the most meaningful day I’ve had in a long time.’ The experience reminded us all of the power of human connection and community.”

What’s next for the Hunter and Kaye-Honey? They’re shifting gears: LA Can Do is evolving into a resource-based initiative that’s focused on partnerships with brands and organizations to offer deeply discounted home goods and essential items for those affected. “The format may be changing,” says Hunter, “but our mission remains the same: to support families affected by the fires in meaningful, lasting ways.”

Kaye-Honey is continuing the spirit of The Soft Landing Project with a planned auction in the fall, with proceeds going to female-owned businesses in the affected areas of Altadena. She adds that if there are ways to partner up with Hunter in the future, she certainly will. “What has happened is an unthinkable tragedy — to be in action and of service is really the only way to respond,” she says.

Further Reading

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need