Kim Wolfe’s Most Brilliant Home Design Moves

Kim Wolfe became a professional designer after winning Season 24 of Survivor: One World (and capturing the audience-favorite prize to boot). Her knack for reading people and her strategic thinking skills secured her the Survivor victory, and — surprise, surprise — they're the same traits that make her a savvy designer. On Why the Heck Did I Buy This House? she wades into San Antonio homeowners’ toxic relationships with their spaces, then nurses them back to health. Consider these gorgeous transformations in her step-by-step guide to rekindling a romance with your home.

This visually stunning kitchen was formerly an oh-so-basic beige cramped kitchenette with notably limited counter space. The renovated space has been enlarged and Kim's design makes use of clean lines and a rich, gray-green palette — giving it an authentic pro-kitchen feel. The countertops and backsplash are an elegant gray soapstone, and the ceiling-height custom cabinets go a long way in creating an opulent, dramatic vibe.

This new wet bar is a standout feature in the home's living room, creating an eye-catching visual with black cabinets offsetting white walls and the open shelving in a natural wood finish. Veined black marble and a charcoal-gray tile backsplash, paired with recessed accent lighting, help define this addition as an elegantly distinctive focal point.

This cool mid-mod-inspired dining space follows in the spirit of the period and architecture of the home. Formerly contiguous with the living room, the space has been creatively partitioned off using reeded glass and custom wood framing. This motif, much like '60s-era offices, provides a semienclosed space but allows the room to still feel open to the rest of the home. "It feels architecturally interesting and something that could have been a part of the house originally," says Kim. "A lot of times you have reeded transoms with the front doors on these midcentury homes, and this kind of replicates that vibe."

The importance of functional and plentiful prep space in a kitchen can scarcely be overestimated. For this project, Kim removed an undersized kitchen island and an awkwardly placed dinette. She then replaced those with two custom, matching kitchen islands that work visually as standalone pieces in their own right — complete with turned-spindle table legs. The new islands provide generous drawer and cabinet storage and essentially double the workspace, creating two separate serving stations.

Prior to this renovation, the living area was a single oblong space that felt more like a walkway than a living room. Kim's design added a cased opening, essentially creating two separate, functional spaces — a cozy living room along with a home office/reading room.

An awkward dining room layout, with a mean trip-hazard step-down functionally dividing the space, is now reconfigured and enhanced with new hardwood flooring in a warm tone — and no more step-down! The new flooring unifies the dining room with the adjacent spaces and provides open, easy access to the kitchen, den and sun porch. A statement chandelier in a contemporary style, an oval dining table and matching chairs in a mesh design help complete the look. "We never ate at the dining room table unless it was a special occasion," said John, one of the homeowners for this project. "Now, we'll be at the dining room table all the time."

Speaking of spaces adjacent to the dining room, Kim converted this former no-frills sun porch into a light and airy game room. Prior to the renovation, the room looked like what it was: an add-on. Now it feels more like a defined space or, as the clients said, "a room to use." Kim incorporated the homeowners' love of beach themes using sand-colored suede travertine to replace old, dated floor tile. An inset bar with built-in shelving and wine-storage nooks adds to the space's appeal and functionality, while deep-blue background wallpaper accentuates the beach theme. The room's keynote new feature, a shuffleboard table, was custom-made using vintage wood from bowling-alley lanes.

Don’t let the abundance of natural light in this dynamic space distract you from Kim’s genius design choices: once the sun sets, these rooms can take on a whole new range of moods. Table lamps at different heights create conversation spaces in the sitting area, while both recessed lights and a leggy chandelier establish atmosphere at the dining table.

Kim's clients fell in love with the quirky details of their midcentury house but some aspects, including the kitchen design, were dysfunctional. Cut to the reveal: With its massive island, custom lighting and sleek design, this super-luxe kitchen is breathtaking. Floor tile has been replaced with hardwood in a light oak finish. The custom cabinets are painted in an updated take on '70s avocado green. The impressively grand island incorporates a drop-in sink and seating for up to five.

This upstairs room has been redefined as a highly stylized secondary living space and entertainment room. The furnishings are upscale-casual and largely neutral in color, allowing leeway for a whimsical and visually bold statement — an intricately patterned fabric wallcovering. The glass-and-steel doors and partition serve as a sound barrier, allowing the closed-off space to retain an open feel.

The living room in this century-old San Antonio home featured window transoms covered with plywood. Now revealed, celebrate the vintage character of the home and illuminate the audacious floral wallpaper. "Everything you did highlighted the bones that were [already] here," said Kim's client. "Everything that stands out is something that should stand out."

Kim’s freewheeling design for this living room pairs silhouettes (consider how the delicate antique mirror she placed on the mantel echoes the hearth’s brick arch) and tones (the vintage rug’s rich brown background and cream details harmonize with the leather sofa and the woven chairs) to create a sophisticated and eclectic space. This is 21st-century Southwestern style.

The door dividing this guest bedroom from its bath stands wide open, as it should; the tropical wallpaper, intricately carved vanity, oval mirror and rose-gold pendant all demand attention. Kim chose the equipale chair and framed photograph in this transitional space to introduce and complement the design choices in the room beyond it.

With an eight-burner, professional-grade range at their disposal, it’s safe to say Kim’s clients get down to business in their kitchen. She celebrated their love of the culinary arts by creating a hard-working space that’s also got serious design chops: This nook features brass-trimmed recessed shelving for tools and ingredients; a pair of postmodern, pyramid-shaped flush-mount fixtures; a backsplash with both textural Zellige tiles and a live-edge knife holder; and an array of rustic accessories. The silvery sage green she chose for the cabinetry framing this space is a cool complement to those tiles and organic accessories.

Kim performed a masterful balancing act in this home office by enveloping the walls, built-in shelving and even the ceiling with deep, dimensional charcoal paint. She then used that paint as the visual foundation for high-contrast flights of fancy: a pale desk and daybed, a panoramic Western landscape, a creamy cowhide rug and a caramel-colored armchair. Reframed with that bold choice, those ostensibly neutral furnishings are standouts.

If your work-from-home needs are minimal, consider how Kim outfitted this room: The built-ins, lighting and furnishings accommodate light industry, but her design is layered to feel as warm as it is functional. This space could transition to welcome a guest in a snap — and would be an oasis for anyone who’s ever curled up for the night beside a printer atop a filing cabinet.

With dated accessories and a traditional wall treatment, this fabulous space adjoining that living room was also feeling decidedly fussy. Kim splashed a maximalist Mediterranean pattern across the upper walls and ceiling to spice things up, then added an art deco-inspired pendant with the more contemporary detail of tone-on-tone hardware.

Between the substantial island, installations beneath the counter, and an upper cabinet between the kitchen and dining area, this space has more than enough closed storage. Given that, Kim opted to frame the streamlined range hood with pale floating shelves that provide easy access to frequently used pieces — as well as a generous view of the textural tile backsplash.

Filigreed Hollywood Regency details and high-impact patterns that should have made this home feel opulent instead showed its age. Kim gave that timeline a kick by introducing eclectic elements like the color-saturated portrait above the sofa, graceful Scandinavian chairs and a sisal area rug that punctures the space’s formality.

A massive piece of art, like the colorful portrait Kim chose for this living room, has the clean visual weight of a feature wall or room divider. Even more eye-catching with a wide, ridged frame, this beauty makes a single, strong statement that assorted items on a gallery wall (sorry, gallery walls!) can't compete with.

Work and play complement each other beautifully in this playroom and homework space, where Kim paired a built-in storage bench and desks with fabulous Cole & Son wallpaper inspired by a national park in Botswana. A pair of natural rattan chairs is all that’s needed to round out the design, and there’s plenty of open space for (and spots to stash) toys and craft supplies.

Kim gave her clients breathing room by opening up their home’s floor plan, then distinguished between functional spaces by installing dark cabinets that "divide" the dining area from the bar and kitchen. She also performed the nifty trick of adding a tone-on-tone, butcher-block-topped storage and prep island that doesn’t detract from the kitchen’s spacious feel.

Brushing terra-cotta-toned paint across and below this nursery’s chair rail introduces an eye-catching, contemporary design element that doesn’t take up space (and will be a snap to clean). Kim followed that opening move by softening the space with rope art above the crib and a high-contrast Moroccan area rug, both pieces that can accompany the little one who sleeps here for years to come.

Kim chose curvaceous and whimsical seating to keep the eye moving in this dynamic great room, where an architectural midcentury-inspired chandelier draws the eye to the gathering space before the fireplace. Pedestals and occasional tables present an array of curios beside all those perches, and a sleek glass stair rail ensures that the magnificent bookcases ascending to the second floor are visible from every angle.