Sarah's House

Move over Candice Olson, there's a new Canadian designer in town by the name of Sarah Richardson, and she's pretty fabulous. No offence to Candice, in fact, I kind of love her and am convinced that if we ever met we'd become best friends. But alas, that does not stop me from giving rave reviews to the series "Sarah's House", which plays sporadically on HGTV.

"Sarah's House" follows interior designer Sarah Richardson and her side kick Tommy Smythe as they remodel a 4 story 2,200 sqft home near Toronto. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always the hugest fan of HGTV for their sometimes questionable taste (Design on a Dime) and the unrealistic expectations that the network sometimes gives my clients in terms of budget and time frame. (If you can re-do an entire room for $500 in less than 24 hours it either: a) does not look that great up close, or b) could only be possible with an entire crew of people offering their services for free in your driveway.)

Sarah is a real designer and has realistic budgets for her projects. Sarah and Tommy have a contemporary style and renovate each room from floor to ceiling, explaining where they spend their money, where they save, and why. On the "Sarah's House" HGTV website, she even lists her sources, which is super helpful when wanting to create the same look. Here's a look at Sarah's living room make over:

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On the episode I watched today, Sarah took Ikea cabinetry and turned her shabby existing space into a stunning kitchen. That's right, I said Ikea. The photos I found on the Internet don't quite do the kitchen remodel justice, but trust me, it was beautiful, especially considering the tight budget and prefab cabinets. She added her own personal touches to make the kitchen feel and look as custom as possible. These touches included counter to cabinet back splash made of penny round marble mosaic, granite counter tops, and repainting the doors of the upper cabinets a creamy white to contrast with the rest of the taupe cabinet color.

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