Kayla Kitts

"In a world full of beige, I'm not afraid to be neon."

Kayla is a writer and assistant editor for HGTV.com. When she’s not scouring the web for delicious design inspiration, she’s shopping for home decor at local vintage stores and flea markets, spending quality time with D’Artagnan and Mahala, her adopted cats, and finding any reason to be outdoors. Her favorite design style: midcentury modern with splashes of bright hues.

Kayla Kitts ON PINTEREST

POSTS BY Kayla Kitts

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On Monday, Grant jetted off to NYC for the CableFAX Best of the Web and Digital Hot List Awards Luncheon, and guess what? We won! Design Happens is a 2013 winner in the blog category! CableFAX’s Best of the Web Awards recognizes outstanding websites and digital initiatives within the industry and is a huge honor to receive.

Design Happens Wins a CableFAX Best of the Web Award

Check out our award! And please excuse Grant’s partially blurry, in-transit picture.

Thank you for your continued support, and continue to follow Design Happens for more exciting posts, projects, videos and giveaways each and every day.

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OK everyone, brace yourselves for a batch of cuteness. Entertaining expert Kim Stoegbauer from The TomKat Studio hosted a kid-friendly Easter shindig exclusively for HGTV.com and as you can tell from the picture below, the kids loved it. We have all the tips, free (yes, free!) printables and projects you need to throw an Easter egg decorating and hunt party of your own.

Host a Kids' Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Decorating Party

Host a Kids’ Easter Egg Decorating and Hunt Party >>

Get Easter Projects, Printables + More

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March is known for one thing in the sports world: the NCAA basketball championship, better known as March Madness. For three straight weeks, basketball fans will be glued to their TVs to see who makes it to the semifinals, finals and then, the Final Four. And for those who don’t care about basketball, I urge you to steer clear of establishments with more than two TVs. You’ll thank me later.

Here on Design Happens, we’re going to have our own little March Madness — design style — to determine the winner of Best Room of the Year. Starting with kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, you all can pick your favorite spaces until the final two go head to head.

ROUND ONE:

KITCHENS

March Madness: Vote For Your Favorite Kitchen at HGTV's Design Blog

Vote for Bathrooms + Bedrooms, Too!

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that a new pope, Pope Francis, was elected on March 13. The biggest news, though, is that he’s the first non-European pope in history. (Jorge Mario Bergoglio is from Buenos Aires, Argentina.) With Italy being all over the news, I figured I’d take this opportunity to give you a virtual vacay to Roma this Monday morning. Sit back and enjoy, friends.

Mood Board Monday: When In RomeAll the Days Ordained / Design in Progress / Why Go: Italy / 100 Layer Cake / Flickr / Glamgerous / Bloun Artinfo

Come back every Monday for an inspirational mood board. Miss a day? See all the posts here.

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This might be the most fitting post I’ve ever written for Design Happens. Yesterday, I returned from an eight-day vacation to Chile where their most famous cocktail is the Pisco Sour. And today, I received some oh-so-delicious recipes that incorporate Chilean Pisco from the Elqui Valley with egg whites to create some refreshing, spring-y cocktails. If I can’t be in Chile, I might as well bring that South American feel to my kitchen.

KAPPA Sour

Kappa Sour Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

2 ounces KAPPA Pisco
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
Angostura bitters, for topping

Directions

Combine KAPPA Pisco and remaining ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a small champagne flute. Top with half dashes of Angostura bitters.

KAPPA Blue Star
Kappa Blue Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

2 ounces KAPPA Pisco
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
10 blueberries

Directions

In a shaker, muddle blueberries with simple syrup. Fill the shaker with ice, add KAPPA Pisco and remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously and strain into a small champagne or martini glass.

Photos and recipes courtesy of KAPPA Pisco

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Modern St. Patrick’s Day celebrations involve lots of green, feasting and, to put it bluntly, an absurd amount of alcohol consumption. No matter how you celebrate, you can’t deny these recipes are mouthwatering. And we figured we could at least combine a few of the traditional St. Paddy’s Day elements.

Desserts

Whiskey Cake in a Jar Recipe for St. Patrick's DayWhiskey Cake in a Jar

Whiskey lovers will enjoy this sweet combination of cake batter and alcohol mixed together in dessert form. Plus, it’s infused with an Irish whiskey butter sauce throughout. Top it off with whipped cream and green sprinkles (for good luck!). Get the Full Recipe >>

More sweet treats: Celtic Knot Cookies, Lucky Vanilla Cupcakes, Chocolate Stout Pudding

More Irish-Inspired Recipes

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Believe it or not, we’re almost halfway through the month of March. Can you believe it?! That means spring is right around the corner and beautiful flowers are going to start popping up left and right. I’m constantly intrigued (and a bit jealous) of everyone’s gardens. I mean, I live in an apartment where my “garden” consists of a few houseplants and one unknown container of soil on the patio. As a future gardener, I’m constantly searching for tips and ideas. One of my favorite places to seek advice is from our newest sister site, HGTVGardens.com.

Share photos of your plants, flowers, garden and outdoor spaces by joining the HGTV Gardens community. After you join, you’ll be prompted to add a photo of yourself, write a short bio and set your location (this will help determine your gardening zone). After that, you can start uploading images, creating photo albums and writing captions. You can make your albums public or private. I suggest making them public so we can all gawk over your fabulous garden. Go ahead and get started by creating an HGTV Gardens profile.

In the meantime, check out some garden photos from the HGTV.com editorial team.

Passion Flower on HGTVGardens.comPassion flower in Leanne Potts’ garden

Leanne Potts, vice president of editorial, has uploaded pictures of everything from marigolds to cacti. She even includes some plant finds from a recent trip to Santa Fe, NM.

Explore Leanne’s garden at HGTVGardens.com. >> 

Purple Crocuses on HGTVGardens.comPurple crocuses in Liz Gray’s garden

HGTV.com senior editor and Design Happens blogger, Liz Gray, is a self-proclaimed “novice gardener and farmers’ market lover.” If you’ve been following Liz’s series, House Diaries, then you know she recently moved into a home that has provided quite a few surprises, both inside and outside. One of the best things that came with her 1950s home? The daffodils, lilies and crocuses that bloom in the spring.

Explore Liz’s garden at HGTVGardens.com. >>

More Garden Photos From HGTV.com Editors

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OK, so these bedrooms don’t technically come with a written contract that guarantees eight or more hours of sleep and vivid dreams of Ryan Goslingbut they do look like spaces I could live in forever. And I’m going by, what appears to be, fluffy down comforters and crisp, 1,000,000-count sheets. I’m not exaggerating … too much. It’s all about the bedding for me. I can tell when my sheets have lost their “oomph” and need to be replaced. I also sleep 10-times better the night my bed is covered in freshly-washed bedding. What does it for you? Are you all about the pillows? Do you need to know you’re sleeping on clean sheets to get a good night’s sleep?

Downy has launched a sleep campaign and we’re helping spread the word. Go to Twitter and tell @Downy why you deserve a Downy Night’s Sleep by using the hashtag #DownyNightSleep. Lucky participants will receive Downy sleep makeover kits!

Contemporary Bedroom Design by Jamie HerzlingerDesign by Jamie Herzlinger

Taj Gateway of India Hotel SuiteThe Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, India

See More Cozy Bedrooms

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So, I have two cats (as you know). One is a hefty 11 pounds, while the other is a petite seven pounds. Because they’re so different, we feed them different amounts of food in separate food dishes. This is a daily struggle. Mahala loves to eat out of D’Artagnan’s dish; D’Artagnan loves to eat out of Mahala’s dish; Mahala loves to sneak and eat out of both dishes. They just can’t seem to get it right. Maybe if I get these chalkboard food dishes and etch their names on the front, they’ll know which is theirs? One can only hope.

Chalkboard Pet Food Dish by WaggoChalkboard Bowl by Waggo

Colorful Treat Jars for Pets by WaggoDipper Treat Jars by Waggo

Striped Bed for Pets by WaggoEngineer Stripe Circle Bed by Waggo

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Did you hear the news? Carrot orange is our chosen hue for March’s Color of the Month. It’s bold, vibrant and definitely represents the upcoming season to a T. I mean, it was practically a unanimous vote when meeting newcomer Kelly Smith-Trimble pitched the color with a picture of fresh-out-of-the-garden carrots and other spring-inspired favorites. We couldn’t resist!

Mood Board Monday: CarrotStreet Style / Paula Deen / Etsy / Another Perfume Blog / Design Happens / Chictopia

Come back every Monday for an inspirational mood board. Miss a day? See all the posts here.

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