A signature room designed by Vern Yip, like this one, includes a palette of warm colors and a mix of furniture styles.
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RYAN LEE
Friday, September 30, 2005
LONG BEFORE HE TRANSFORMED dozens of bedrooms and kitchens on national television and helped usher in an age of home makeover shows, Atlanta resident Vern Yip always knew he wanted to make people’s lives better through his work.
“For me, there’s always been this desire to have my work impact people on some other level, and I love the fact that I’ve been able to do that through design,” Yip says. “To be able to wake up and make a living doing something you love, and to make somebody’s life better by doing what you love — I feel blessed.”
As a student at the University of Virginia, Yip spent two years of summer and winter breaks working in the Transmitted and Transfused Viruses Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, where he studied asymptomatic HIV in Hepatitis-C patients.
He became a nationally recognized personality when he began as a designer on TLC’s “Trading Spaces” in 2000. That led to other television work, including regular appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
THE PRODUCERS OF “TRADING Spaces” asked Yip to join the show three times before he finally agreed. He appeared on the show from 2000 to 2004.
“What really made me decide to go for it was that I realized it would be a wonderful way to broaden a design message to a group of people who previously couldn’t be reached,” Yip says. “It’s really nice to do private clients who have the money and the resources to have exactly what they want in their home.
“Unfortunately, not everybody is in that position. There are a lot of people out there who struggle everyday to just pay the bills and put food on the table and pay for the a roof over their head,” he continues. “For me, it’s not about making something look good, it’s about changing somebody’s life through their physical environment, and you want to give people who might not be able to afford a designer the opportunity to have designs in their homes.”
As for the show’s sizeable gay following, Yip says he was shocked by the iconic status “Trading Spaces” developed across broad audiences, including many gay and lesbian viewers.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing to have a well designed environment, and certainly I think people in the gay and lesbian community are appreciative of that,” he says.
Age: 37
Residence: Atlanta
Birthplace: Hong Kong
Education: University of Virginia, bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and economics; Georgia Tech, a master’s in architecture and MBA
Occupation: Home designer, television personality
Background:
Moved to U.S. when he was two months old
Studied to become a doctor
Featured on TLC’s ‘Trading Spaces,’ NBC’s ‘Home Intervention’ and ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’
Author of ‘Designing Spaces’
Owns Atlanta-based Vern Yip Designs
Sponsorship deals with Moen, Stainmaster and AOL
Relationship status: ‘I’ve been dating someone for a couple of months now, and it’s good. I’m trying to create more balance in my life, and have been a little more successful in that area.’
- Don’t be afraid to be UNIQUE. You don’t have to follow what magazine pictures or catalogs dictate as the right thing to do. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and make your home a reflection of yourself.
- Infuse color into your life. Adding color is the cheapest way to make a personal statement. Embrace color on walls, rugs and upholstery. Think about what colors make you happy, or are going to create a desired mood in a space.
- Invest in quality. Trying to furnish an entire house inexpensively often means buying low quality that declines quickly. Keep an eye out for affordable quality and for a few items worth a splurge that will last.
- Mix styles. Add different cultural elements. Mix it up a bit. Don’t be afraid to combine contemporary with traditional, Asian with African.
- Throw away fake plants. No silk plants, no plastic flowers. Orchids are one way to keep a blooming flower in the house for eight weeks and are becoming cheaper.
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