Designer Vern Yip is a household name for many Casa readers, thanks to his judging on Design Star as well as his hosting and creativity on his tear-inducing show Deserving Design. Vern is currently contributing his design expertise to two very worthy community organizations, the Tenderloin Family Apartments, which are home to 4,000 low-income San Francisco families, and the West Oakland Boys and Girls Club, which has been serving youth in this neighborhood for over sixty years. I was thrilled to talk to Vern about his design renovations for these two community spaces.
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Remember when I told you about the 
Years ago, I lived in the same neighborhood where this Boys and Girls Club is located. Community resources are few and far between in West Oakland, and the Boys and Girls Club is a welcome refuge for kids who need a place to hang out after school. The center, though, is in need of some renovation. 
Design show hosts have gotten used to entering into contestants' homes, but for once the tables are turned. HGTV's Rate My Space host Angelo Surmelis recently played host to the LA Times, who interviewed him about the renovation of his 1920s Los Angeles bungalow. Well aware that "no matter how splendidly you've decorated the rest of your house, guests always end up in the kitchen," Surmelis took three weeks and $20,000 to transform his eyesore of a kitchen ("a jumble of scruffy cupboards, wood paneling, a broken stove and grimy old linoleum," shown here gutted) into a modern-meets-vintage splendor. 
Entertainment Weekly recently quizzed the two presidential hopefuls on their pop culture preferences and routines, and 
Yesterday, I asked who you thought should 
Yesterday, I asked you who you thought should 
Did you catch last night's episode of 
If you've been 
What do you do with an old garage that you never use except to store your bike and some tools? Well, if you've got a tiny backyard and are low on "outdoor" space, and you're 
