Salivating for a feast of design? The tables are set and the pillows are plumped for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase 2012, opening this weekend.

More than 30 talented West Coast designers have breathtakingly transformed the historic and stately mansion at 2020 Jackson Street, for this 35th annual Showcase—a benefit for San Francisco University High School’s financial aid program.

I was privy to a peek the other [...] Read more »

Watch Sherri on The Cake Boss Baby Special!

I don’t know about yours, but our family (especially our 10-year-old daughter) is in love with The Cake Boss. Buddy and his passionate fondant-rolling, frosting-piping New Jersey clan have us riveted, hungry and chuckling every week.

So as you can imagine, we were over-the-moon excited to learn that our own Nursery and Kid’s Room Design Contributor, Sherri Blum, [...] Read more »

by Mari Robeson

Everyday can be special, when you welcome friends and family around your table.

Mari Robeson—Interior Design expert and Contributor—helps us do so with style and function. Mari takes us inside the world of design, and helps us bring beauty and color to the places we call home.

I love entertaining. The way you set your table and present your entrees can be like a mini [...] Read more »

by GraceAnn Simoni

Let’s give ourselves a sweet design treat, with Contributor GraceAnn Simoni. An Interior Redesign and Staging Specialist and Instructor from the Chicagoland area, GraceAnn shares with us budget tips and advice for decorating with your existing furniture and accessories.

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Are you aware that you will spend 1/3 of your life on average sleeping? Your environment for sleeping should be of great concern.

We [...] Read more »

As studded-up shoes stomp down the fashion runways, watch for more ways to out

your inner rocker with your home accents.

Side-studded Faux Suede Decorative Pillow at Overstock.

Spot-On Studded Leather Boxes

Studs and nailheads are leaping off edges, moving from trim to the featured decoration. And the pyramid stud—formerly punking only leather cuffs and collars—is going mainstream.

Pyramid Studded Mirror at Lamps Plus

Pyramid-Studded Rory Faux Suede Pillow [...] Read more »

A traditional handicraft can add warmth and character to a space. A graphic Amish quilt suspended as a headboard, a braided rag rug anchoring the coffee table, Grandma’s crocheted, zig-zag throw draped over the arm of a club chair.

Or colorful, textural crewel embroidery.

As a young girl, I spent many an evening cranking out chain and satin stitches, and flocks of french knots. [...] Read more »

So simple, yet effective.

When I found Lexi Adams’ dresser transformation, I pounded my forehead – why didn’t I think to do that? Here’s the Before and After and the scoop on the fresh look this Brooklyn, NY photographer got with a little paint, elbow grease, and good advice from Dad.

HomeWorkshop (HW): Are you a design-diva, big into DIY and decorating, or was this [...] Read more »

Even this Design Junkie knows there is more to life than design (hard to believe, I know.)

So I hope during these holidays, you are able to enjoy time with your loved ones, and to get out and explore some of the great things your neighborhood has to offer.

In our neck of the woods is a small puddle known as Lake Tahoe; I thought [...] Read more »

It’s time for another design influence, on Day #14 of 30 Days of DIY Designer Ornaments. This time we turn to the Arts and Crafts movement.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a notable designer of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. One of his most recognizable motifs is his geometric “Mackintosh Rose.” I love the simple, tumbling layers of the Mackintosh Rose, and decided to [...] Read more »

Our DIY Special Event, 30 days of DIY Designer Ornaments launches today! For the next 30 days visit us each day for a new, easy ornament project.

We’re not talking candy canes and snowmen here –

but simply stylish confections to deck your tree in design.

Your tree will have it all:

Texture

Color

Sparkle

Spunk

We’ll look to current design trends and we’ll include a healthy dose of sentiment. Some [...] Read more »

Our Contributors here at HomeWorkshop.com are a talented tribe of design doers, and I am amazed daily at their creations. Excitement abounds today as I announce that our maven of makeovers and wrangler of reuse has published her first Ebook!!

Diana Durkes put her sandpaper, paintbrush, camera and keyboard into overdrive, and Secondhand Shabby, her 90-page downloadable Ebook is here!! Inside, Diana demonstrates how to:

“Give new [...] Read more »

by Susan Serra, CKD

Yesterday we learned the basics of How to Set a Table. Today its right brain time, when our Kitchen Design Expert and Contributor, Susan Serra, CKD shares some fantastic tabletop decor. Known to many as “The Kitchen Designer” for her popular blog, Susan is an award-winning Certified Kitchen Designer, with a national clientele.

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While a kitchen designer may not be the best one [...] Read more »

by GraceAnn Simoni

Here’s some great advice for the upcoming holidays, from Contributor GraceAnn Simoni. An Interior Redesign and Staging Specialist and Instructor from the Chicagoland area, GraceAnn shares with us budget tips and advice for decorating with your existing furniture and accessories.

And so it begins….

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving—the first big Holiday of the season—is right around the corner. I love this holiday, [...] Read more »

Artist Profile — Virginia Fleck

I promised you another master of recycled art, and that Virginia Fleck is. Through her artist’s eye and craftperson’s hands, the commonplace and oft-discarded becomes mesmerizing and kaleidoscopic. Visit with Virginia, and I know you’ll be inspired.

Click on images to see more detail.

All images used with permission of, and Copyright Virginia Fleck.

HomeWorkshop (HW): Was art important to you when you were [...] Read more »

by Steve & Cathy Lambert

Fall is a great time to plan landscape improvements. Let’s learn about an often overlooked area, with our Garden and Landscape Design Experts and Contributors Steve and Cathy Lambert. Steve and Cathy share with us great advice for creating beautiful gardens and outdoor living spaces.

Choosing the Right Hardscape Materials

Photographs by Steve Lambert and copyright Garden Lights Landscape and Pool Design.

For garden [...] Read more »