Q&A with John Gidding of HGTV
What’s your favorite design trend right now?
Gold- and brass-tinted metals. We were so enamored with brushed steel. Now it’s the brassy things. You see them everywhere, from door handles to cutlery.
I think of designers’ homes as organized and beautiful. Is there a part of yours that isn’t so perfect?
My bathrooms. They look like they’re straight from the ’60s. They’re such a big investment that I just haven’t gotten around to remodeling them. You can’t half-ass a bathroom.
What will you do while you’re in town?
On my most fruitful trips, I meet a local craftsman who does something really cool. Hopefully, I develop a relationship with that person for future clients.
You studied architecture at Yale, and you spent time as a model. Were you the smartest model on the runway?
Maybe, but I certainly wasn’t the most successful. If I had been, I would have stayed at it longer. I did it for three or four years to help pay for graduate school. Ultimately, it led me to television.
You posed for romance novel covers, right?
They would pay $150 each, and I would immediately go out and buy the books when they published. I still have copies; I send the covers out as Christmas cards sometimes.
