Home Made Simple TV

Meet the Experts

Kate Albrecht

Kate Albrecht
Kate Albrecht is the owner, designer, stylist, interior decorator, cook, blogger, host, DIYer, crafter and personality behind the quirky, cutting-edge Mr. Kate brand, founded in 2009. She grew up in southern California and attended Loyola Marymount University to major in film production.

Upon graduating she pursued an acting career and landed roles in “Entourage” and more. Albrecht studied jewelry making under Sue Dorman, and while pursuing acting, she created her own jewelry design and found her passion. The demand for her work was so great that she pursued it full time. Kate Albrecht resides in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and business partner, Joey Zehr, and her two cats.
 

Jesse Brune

Jesse Brune
Jesse Brune is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef and lifestyle coach living in Los Angeles. He first made waves on television as the breakout star of Bravo's hit show Work Out, and he recently joined forces with Food Network to lead the cast of Private Chefs of Beverly Hills. His mastery in the kitchen and sharp sense of humor earned him national recognition as a new and refreshing character in America's culinary scene.

Jesse has been featured in Us Weekly, OK! Magazine and MensHealth.com and has appeared on The Bonnie Hunt Show, Access Hollywood and E! Network's Red Carpet Oscar Special. He’s also had the privilege of working with top-notch Hollywood clients.
 

David Burtka

David Burtka
David Burtka graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena with a culinary arts degree. He has trained under Mario Batali at his award-winning restaurant, Babbo.

While in New York City, he worked as a private chef and then moved on to open his own catering company, Gourmet M.D. He has cooked for many celebrity clients and has also been a guest judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.”
 

Amy Devers

Amy Devers
Amy Devers is an artist, designer, furniture maker, carpenter, lifestyle expert and television personality. Born and raised in Michigan, she has zig¬zagged across the country to earn three college degrees in fashion buying and merchandising, and furniture design.

Currently she can be seen helping homeowners as the host of A&E’s Fix This Yard, and on Ovation’s Designer People, she travels while profiling the world’s leading designers. She has been host and designer on several other DIY shows where she done everything from helping viewers build modern furniture designs, to fixing botched home projects. She also operates her own design studio in Los Angeles and contributes regularly to Modern Ink Magazine.
 

Beth Edelstein

Beth Edelstein
Beth Edelstein is a landscape designer and a licensed contractor best known as co-host for HGTV’s “The Outdoor Room.” She also runs a landscaping business that has transformed many homes in the Los Angeles area.

Her passion began at Parsons School of Design where she studied sculpture. Upon moving to Los Angeles, she fabricated sculptures for Jonathan Borofsky and was soon after hired by Disney Imagineering to carve for Euro Disney attractions. Beth has also art directed the show, "Shop 'til You Drop" where she was nominated for a daytime Emmy. Her most notable sculpture is the 23’ Paul Bunyan in the movie “Fargo.”
 

Cristina Ferrare

Cristina Ferrare
Cristina is the accomplished New York Times best-selling author of “Cristina Ferrare's Family Entertainment and Cristina Ferrare Style.” The success of her books adds to her expertise in the areas of women's health, culinary arts and stylistic design.

She’s been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in her own cooking segments and is frequently featured in "O Magazine.” Ferrare hosted “Big Bowl Of Love” on the Winfrey Network where she demonstrated cooking recipes with friends, family and special guests.
 

Ben Ford

Ben Ford
When you have a father as famous as Harrison Ford, you have to work hard to make a mark of your own, but Ben Ford has done it, winning accolades for his cooking from the Los Angeles Times and more.

Ford became passionate about cooking while studying at the University of Dijon in Burgundy and the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. He worked at Chez Panisse, Opus, Campanille, and Eclipse before being named executive chef at the Farm of Beverly Hills. He’s now a restaurant owner in Los Angeles.
 

Mario Lopez

Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez is best known for hosting “Extra” and “The X Factor” but most people don’t know that he is dedicated to healthy cooking.

He’s written two cookbooks and is dedicated to promoting healthy inexpensive meals and fitness tips for families through public appearances all over the country.
 

Tracy Metro

Tracy Metro
Tracy Metro is an accomplished designer, organizer, party planner, shopper, cook, carpenter and crafter. She has appeared on TLC’s Designing Spaces and the SheKnows.com webisode series, HomeEmergency. She’s also known as Handy Jane on the women’s home improvement community, BeJane.com.

Tracy does it all, from teaching people how to take simple foods from bland to brilliant, to transforming apparel, home furnishings and the bric-a-brac from yesterday into modern designs of today. She knits, welds, sews, scrapbooks, makes custom furniture and transforms cluttered areas into calm, organized and productive spaces in which people can live and work.
 

Thad Mills

Thad Mills
A native of Alaska, accomplished carpenter Thad Mills' career has been fueled by his Juneau upbringing. He completed a four year, 8000 hour course at the Southern Alaskan Carpenters Training Center and went on to work in rural areas of Alaska where he put his talent and education to use on everything from renovating schools and hospitals to working on missile silos. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he's put his love for sustainable living into a reclaimed and slab wood furniture business.

Thad has also been the lead carpenter on the hit shows Trading Spaces and Dear Genevieve and most recently hosted the home design show, Neighbor Labor. Motivating and empowering others with construction know-how that has the ability to change lives is his passion.
 

Stuart O'Keeffe

Stuart O'Keefe
Chef Stuart O’Keeffe’s cooking philosophy is ‘hearty but healthy.” He recently appeared as a co-star on two seasons of Food Network’s Private Chefs of Beverly Hills and has his own cooking show in Ireland and New Zealand.

Stuart’s Kitchen premiered August 2011 along with an iPad and iPhone app to complement the series. In the app, he cooks along with you, showing you how to perfect his recipes. Stuart resides in Los Angeles.
 

Didiayer Snyder

Didiayer Snyder
Didiayer Snyder is a designer that has successfully transformed neglected and dull rooms into functional and chic living spaces. Her fascination with organization became a full-time pursuit when she became a member of National Association of Professional Organizers and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization.

By teaching others to eliminate clutter and get organized, Snyder has helped countless people adapt to functional living. She has appeared on shows like the Travel Channel’s “Amazing Vacation Homes,” ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and Style Network’s “Clean House.” She currently resides in southern California with her family.
 

Brooks Utley

Brooks Utley
Brooks Utley is a trendsetter helping to reinvent design with his "Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose" philosophy. Brooks takes uncommon building materials and creates mind-blowing results for homeowners. As a carpenter on HGTV’s $250,000 Challenge, he helps homeowners compete for prizes.

A Salt Lake City native, Brooks’ enthusiasm for carpentry and design was ignited at age 12 while assisting his father on home building sites. He now has his own company focusing on interior design, home remodeling and custom landscaping. Numerous homeowners including some well-known celebrities have benefited from his experience and unique creativity.
 

Kenneth Wingard

Kenneth Wingard
Kenneth Wingard graduated from Princeton University’s School of Architecture in 1986 and has studied art, sculpture and architecture in Europe, Asia and Africa. It was during these travels he developed an appreciation for the skill of the local craftsmen and began to think about how to combine those talents with his own design sense.

Kenneth has worked for Williams-Sonoma, and was the Divisional Director of Pottery Barn until he left in 1996. Shortly after, he launched his first line of vases, bowls, candlesticks and canisters made of materials such as brushed metal, wood, acrylic and glass. His products have been spotted at the New York and San Francisco MOMA, LACMA and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.