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 Steve & Cathy Lambert

What’s cooking in your backyard? Today we pick up tips for designing outdoor kitchens, from 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.

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Many homeowners view their yards as extensions of their homes, creating separate spaces and rooms for specific purposes. [...] Read more »

by Susan Serra, CKD

Today our Kitchen Design Expert and Contributor, Susan Serra, CKD tackles a popular issue — how to organize our kitchen “stuff”. 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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How much storage do you need in your kitchen? It’s a loaded question! The key word is “need” and that [...] Read more »

By Angela Min

Today our new Kitchen and Bath Design Expert and Contributor—Angela Min—joins us! Happily, the pencil is being tossed only over the kitchen island, as Angela is taking over writing duties for her design co-conspirator at The Kitchen Designer, Susan Serra, CKD.

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Breakfast rooms are often the afterthought of the kitchen, a “leftover” space often neglected by both homeowners and designers alike. But what a [...] Read more »

Here’s a fun, DIY makeover to help freshen up your tabletop. I’d read here that Contact Paper makes a good stencil material, so I thought I’d give it a try and make over our well-used IKEA lazy Susan.

It went from this sad, water-stained (but functional) round…

To this happy, decorative centerpiece!

First I slapped on two coats of a stain-blocking primer, sanding in-between coats. I covered that [...] Read more »

When interior designer Debbie Wiener makes over a room, her goal is twofold: 1) To create a beautiful environment that people are pleased to be in and 2) To “Slobproof” it. Debbie coined the term Slobproof to describe her philosophy of designing with families and pets in mind.

Here’s a living room that Debbie recently decorated. The room before was bland and lacked the warmth of [...] Read more »

Renovation of a 1940′s Kitchen

What happens when you’re born to cook, but your kitchen isn’t? That was the case for the woman who hangs her apron in this beautiful Southern California, Spanish Colonial Revival home.

The existing kitchen had vintage 40′s charm—but its style was not in keeping with the home’s architecture or with its rich color palette.

And it was far from convenient for a [...] Read more »

Color is powerful. Even if you prefer your rooms anchored in neutral tones, you can achieve an enormous impact with colorful accessories.

Bath After

See what Dallas Designer Cristie Schlosser, ASID, did with this kitchen and bath renovation. First, check out the Before and Afters of the striking transformation.

Bath Before

Kitchen Before

In the resulting contemporary spaces, Cristie used neutral-toned finishes, accented with pops of bright color in the [...] Read more »

by Susan Serra, CKD

Today our Kitchen Design Expert and Contributor, Susan Serra, CKD helps us with a pesky seasonal occurrence. 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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We’re planning our holiday meals, entertaining friends and family, and giving our kitchens a great workout in the process! It’s a time when we [...] Read more »

by Susan Serra, CKD

Once again, today we are joined by Kitchen Design Expert and Contributor, Susan Serra, CKD. 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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The social kitchen has an important role to play in the home every day, under so many different scenarios. Whether it is two people sitting down [...] Read more »

Artist Profile — Joan Rosen

Sometimes a change for the worse ends up for the better. Northern Californian Joan Rosen was a dedicated white-collar worker for years. “I worked in the corporate world all of my life and when I started having health issues I couldn’t do the 9-5 thing any longer,”

said Joan.

Joan said it was a blessing in disguise. “I went to a craft fair [...] Read more »

Single family home in a great neighborhood near a Southern California beach. Sounds fabulous, right? But if the space feels humdrum and cramped, who wants to hang out and entertain there?

Before

After

With their renovation in this Hermosa Beach abode, Hornbeck Design Partners undertook transforming the tight, cold and uninviting kitchen, dining and living space into a stylish, contemporary and welcoming environment for the homeowner and his [...] Read more »

SeeItYourWay Kitchen Design Challenge

What a blast we had designing our kitchens. For weeks now, the Design Junkies have been clicking around choosing cabinets, appliances and flooring. They’ve been picking out tiles, lighting and more.

We enjoyed reading about what people wanted in a kitchen and why they made their choices. Heather carefully chose products and finishes for her upcoming kitchen renovations, Vanessa found a super [...] Read more »

by Susan Serra, CKD

Today I am thrilled to welcome our HomeWorkshop.com Kitchen Design Expert and Contributor, Susan Serra, CKD. 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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I believe in changing my kitchen (or any) interiors every once in awhile to suit my moods or a new point of view. I don’t [...] Read more »

Design Junkies, hold on to your throw pillows, this is a Prize Challenge. We’re going to have a blast designing kitchens and someone is going to win a hundred bucks! Woo-Hoo! I bet a creative person like you can get some fab decorating supplies for $100. Tell all your friends.

Remember the photo-realistic virtual Kitchen Makeover Tool we found on Kitchen Tune-Up’s site and tried [...] Read more »