Celebrity Interior Design Kenneth Brown Reveals All

If you were lucky enough to attend the Seattle Design Center’s EYE ON DESIGN event on April 19th, you probably left inspired, rejuvenated and dare we say, pumped? HomeSavvi was there and indeed felt the excitement of home remodeling, design and endless possibilities coursing through our veins.

The event opened the doors to the Design Center – which typically is only open to interior designers and industry professionals. The Center itself is the ultimate in beauty – with muted colors, soft lighting and more than one indoor pond. But the EYE ON THE DESIGN event also presented the opportunity to hear Interior Designer Kenneth Brown – of HGTV fame – who shared his best ‘before and after’ photos, design tips, and HGTV programming secrets (that we dare not repeat!)

Kenneth Brown

Brown’s keynote address was centered on the topic of interior designers; why you need to have one and how to work with one. “A designer keeps track of all the moving parts [of a project],” Brown told the audience. “A designer also is like your therapist; they listen to you and help get you through it – they’ll hold your hand,” he laughed.

Brown also explained what a designer does; “They are a tool for you to use. They will help you decide what colors you like, the style you like and help define the look that you are trying to achieve.”

Of course being a designer himself, Brown encourages home owners to make use of a designer’s skills and organizational abilities. “A designer is completely worth the cost of their fee. The mistakes you make on your own will end up costing more than the design fee,” he said.

Brown went on to share his secrets to working successfully with a designer:
- Tell your designer everything.
Brown shared a conversation he had with one of his clients; she hated looking at her husband’s sink in their two-sink master bath. Brown’s solution was elevating the vanity in the middle so the wife could not view her husband’s sink. The moral of the story? “You have to tell your designer everything, even if it’s the way you brush your teeth. Everything can be worked into the design plan to make you happy or overcome any obstacle.”

- Interview more than one designer.
”Talking to more than one designer is a good thing,” Brown shared. “You have to find the right person to fit your personality. Take a look at the homes they’ve done to make sure their style matches your own. Also, if the designer is talking more than you are, that’s a bad sign.” Brown said that it’s important that a designer listen to what you have to say, not tell you what to do.

- Stay on course.
A professional designer will map out a comprehensive design plan that will work… once it’s all put together. “Don’t freak out when you see black wallpaper and orange chairs,” Brown said. “You have to trust your designer and that it’s all going work our OK.” Brown went on to show a black room with orange chairs that he designed and it was, in fact, beautiful.

Brown’s southern charm and likeability shined through during his over one-hour presentation where he also share remodeling tips. “Don’t start designing your kitchen until you have all the parts,” he advised. “It’s hard to design a room without knowing what kind of appliances you’re going to install.”

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