As a small child growing up in the oftimes dreary world that is Detroit, never in young Monica Ford's wildest dreams did she imagine that she would be given a title of aristocracy, not to mention becoming a dazzling doyenne of Hollywood, Palm Springs and Europe.

As a youngster, Monica's family moved from Detroit to Los Angeles where she studied dance and modeled for Yves St. Laurent and Christian Dior which took her to Europe in her teens. Her beauty and poise granted her access to circles which included Sonny Bono, who introduced her to Austrian Baron John von Neumann -- the first importer of Volkswagens to the U.S. and son of the doctor to the King of England and Spain.

After a few years, Monica went to a Swiss finishing school under the tutledge of Baroness Heidi von Salvisburg of Vienna and again ran into Baron von Neumann. The two fell in love, and were married in 1984 where she gained her title, Baroness. The two had a daughter.

Moving in exclusive cicrles as a Baroness, von Neumann travelled between homes in Geneva, Cannes, New York, Palm Springs, and Bel Air. Tragically, she lost her husband, Baron von Neumann to cancer in 2003.

"My love of design came from the beginning of my marriage to my husband when we used to hire interior designers," says von Neumann. "We've had several homes. And I realized that we were paying a lot of money to people who were doing things that were not to my liking and so I realized, I'd better do it myself."

These days the gracious, sophisticated, yet very down to earth Baroness spends her time with her 21-year-old daughter, and does interior design for friends and family. She also writes and is currently working on a TV show on etiquette, interior design, entertaining, and culinary arts.

"I know we can't decorate our homes every year – it's too expensive," she says. "But sometimes you get bored, you want to revamp it. I'll go from room to room and I'll get a new throw or vases. I go to Target, I go to Kohl's, you can get some amazing things at Bed Bath and Beyond. You can really work with pillows and throws and vases. Seasonal design is what I'm into."

The Baroness has renovated and revamped her many homes-all of which include bargain finds to vintage and high-end design boutiques. Her Palm Springs home, shown in the gallery below, took her over a year to renovate.

"It was a combination of 70s and Miami Vice," she laughs. "There was glass brick everywhere. And I went in there and I gutted the whole place." The results are amazing!

The Baroness Shares Five Things You Should Look for in an Interior Designer:

1. Definitely know what you want. Do your homework. Look at your house, say what is my style? It doesn't hurt to bring tear sheets from magazines like 'Architectural Digest' and say this is what I want. This is my color scheme this is what I like.

2. Talk about budget from the very beginning and be very serious. And look for pieces yourself. Most interior designers want 30%. Plus they charge 20% on whatever pieces they get for you. I would work with them as closely as possible.

3. Be open minded to change.

4. Continuity is definitely something that your designer should know. If they're going to do one room in one style and another room in another style that's not going to fly – you want flow.

5. You want personal touch. Whether that means family photos blown up and placed around or mementos from trips you've gone on. So I would definitely tell you to put your personal touch in. Don't let anyone run away with the design of your house.