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Genevieve Gorder
The Barefoot Contessa "Funkifies" Home Design By Suzy Feine
Genevieve Gorder, home designer on The Learning Channel's (TLC) highest rated show, Trading Spaces, guides yet another couple in the "funkification" of their neighbor's home. At 28, this Minneapolis-born and internationally-trained designer works her decorating whimsy wherever she goes. Her passion for design ranges from funky and free-spirited to modern and over the edge. And she does it all without shoes. Her trademark style is nothing more than a means of preserving her footwear.
iParenting caught up with Gen just as she returned from her most recent escapade to Italy.
iP: We know all about your work as a designer on the popular TLC show Trading Spaces. What do you do when you're not on the show? I understand you own your own design firm in NYC?
GG: I do own a design firm incorporated under the name GG Studios. But since the increasing popularity of Trading Spaces, I haven't had much time to do anything else. I work with a few private clients through my design firm, and I love to take on exciting and different projects. When I'm not working, I love to travel, especially to Sardinia, Spain, which I do every summer. Since I lived there for a year, I still have many friends there I like to visit. iP: Describe the similarities between TLC's Trading Spaces and BBC's Changing Rooms. Describe the differences.
GG: The two shows have the same basic formula: neighbor vs. neighbor, reconstructing rooms in any U.S. location. The main difference is the reactions of the homeowners. In TV-cultured America, the homeowners are more hesitant to give an honest reaction for fear of looking bad. If they don't like the room, most will never admit it until later. In England, the homeowners give honest, often tragic reactions to their re-designed rooms. I think Trading Spaces needs to be more like the English version in this respect. That's what viewers want to see. iP: With only two days to completely transform a room, how do you come up with your design ideas?
