Crafting guru Katie Brown speaks about her
new high-definition public television series
from APT Exchange

How did the Katie Brown brand get started?

It's a really great story if I do say so. It's one of those things where you realize that the universe does have a plan for you. I started out with a catering company and then I got tired of schlepping my food everywhere and always smelling like food. So, I started a little store called GOAT in Los Angeles with a very good friend of mine. It was a store where we sold picture frames and bubble baths we made by hand and couches that we re-covered and lots of found objects. In the back, we had a café where we'd have soup of the day, salad of the day and we'd serve cappuccino and coffee. Every Friday night we would put a big long table down the center. I would serve a big meal, family style. Some people would come with two people, some would come with ten. This is kind of unique in a city like Los Angeles, where there's not really a communal sense. It got extremely popular and got written up in Vogue and Vanity Fair. I decided to start another in my hometown in Michigan on Mackinac Island.

While I was there, Lifetime Television was doing a search for the next Martha Stewart. They just happened to call Mackinac Island and this man came into my store with the number and told me to give them a call. At first I thought my sisters were playing a joke on me. But, it was true and that's how we got started.

What has the experience been like for you?

I think it's amazing, I feel very lucky. [My co-workers and I] get to concentrate on the good stuff in life, the stuff that makes life a little bit better. I feel like fortune shined on me that day and it evolved into something I'm really proud of.

It's funny – when I first got [the show], I was incredibly intimidated. I thought I was too young and couldn't live up to it. My family and I went out to dinner, and the minute we sat down we were like "well this table shouldn't be round and those curtains are too tall." I realized that's what we do – we were trained to think in the world of domestic arts. Some families might go sailing together or bowl together. Well, we re-decorate, we cook – so I think it was in my genes somehow.

What is your vision for Katie Brown Workshop, your new show on public television?

This is the show that I'm most proud of. First of all, because I'm coming to public television and I've always wanted to get here and I'm very honored and very excited. I think that public television has such smart programming. Some of my greatest heroes, including Julia Childs, started out there so I think it's amazing to have that kind of company.

We always say here at the Workshop that projects have to be quick, inexpensive, simple, fun and unique. I think all of that will kind of fit in well with public television. One thing that I think is a little different than some of the shows on public television is that it has a very young feel to it. The pace is young, the tone is young. I think sometimes I'm as much a cheerleader as I am a teacher – hopefully that comes through in the show, being a friend as opposed to a professor. I've really been able to embrace those kinds of qualities because I've been able to produce the show by myself.

It's also a show that incorporates people who work with me here in the Workshop, and I think that makes it a little bit more real. There is an incredible staff that really helps elevate my craft. To see them on camera with me and kind of get a glimpse of what it's like to work in a creative fashion with people is fun and unique to this show.

The show is also a little different from some of the how-to shows that are on there. I don't take it too seriously; we're delivering the goods that the other shows might do, but we're delivering it with a little more humor and a bit more fun. We didn't spare any expense when it came to this show, including shooting it in high-definition. I think that the show is visually stunning – the shots are beautiful, so it's going to be stimulating to people watching it. It's also become kind of a sexy show and I'm really proud of that because some of the other doyennes of domesticity, I think, are a bit "old-school."

What are some projects that people can expect from this new show?

Each show has a theme to it, albeit a broad, loosely based theme. It might be something like "everything old is new again," where we'll cook something with leftovers or make a headboard out of old shirts and sweaters. Sometimes we like to introduce new flavors, so we take you to Mexico and we cook with all different kinds of peppers. Then we take those peppers and we turn them into a centerpiece and we make placemats out of various prints of art from south of the border that you can get off your computer. So it kind of weaves to tell one story and kind of ends with a bang, when you get to see it all set up in my house.

Your show consists of three main aspects, "Cook" (food preparation), "Nest" (home design) and "Grow" (your unique approach to home gardening). Which is your favorite?

There are times that I really love the cooking, then I'm bored of that, then I'm ready to do some design work with the colors – so, I really like all of them. I have to say, when I see the show the most visually exciting segment to me is always "Cook" because it's just so alive with sounds and the sizzles are so interesting.

Gardening is a tough word because I want people to understand that we're not out in the garden digging. We do very simple projects on the table like quick and easy flower arrangements, ways to keep houseplants alive, that kind of thing.

Oprah Winfrey calls you the "Party Planning Diva." What are some things people should avoid to help make a good party great?

Top list of things to avoid, I would say:

Putting things off to the last minute – if you've prepared, you get to be relaxed by the time the guests get there and then life is good.

Biting off more than you can chew - a lot of people will throw a party and pick ten new recipes and I believe that's too much pressure on yourself and usually doesn't quite work out. It's better if you make sure at least three-fourths of the dishes are things that you're really comfortable with.

Lastly, I would say soundtracks and lighting are important. If you have the mood set with your lighting (like a floor lit lamp, table lamp or a light on a dimmer) and you've picked out your music ahead of time so that it's already going when the guests get there, you're already ahead of the game.

You've been favorably compared to Martha Stewart. How does that make you feel?

I refer to her as the Great One, the Queen of all Queens. When people compare me to her, they always say "aren't you sick of that?" I NEVER get sick of it. I think she's fantastic, I think she changed the world of domesticity and brought it out of the '50s and into a bit more of an artistic expression. I think that without her, there would be no me. She showed the world that it is economically feasible to run a business around the domestic arts. She's a complete role model to me. I'm a fan, what can I say? I can't do half of her projects, but that's my fault.

I think that what I do is very different from her. When Lifetime Television came to me and said they were looking for the next Martha Stewart, my response was "keep on looking." I thought I don't do what she does, nor would I want to because she does it so well. When I first started, there was Martha Stewart and then crafters, who were making things out of popsicle sticks, and nothing in between. I wanted to hit that in-between level, where I could show people a few things that were creative, interesting and stylish, but weren't going to take up all of your time and weren't going to cost a ton of money. I believe in using box mixes, you know, make a box cake – but dress it up with flowers from your garden, put your own spin on it. I think people look to me for those kinds of projects and shortcuts.

When people say to me, "Who is your audience?" – maybe I'm a bit of a narcissist -– but it really is me. I'm a new mom and a new wife, so I'm constantly struggling with the time element – what it means to be away from home and how you can still work it, still "Nest" and be a wife. How can I create a good home and still have so much fun running a company and being away from home?

Is that a challenge?

I've been finding it to be a much bigger challenge than I ever thought. I think that I have a new respect for my audience because it's hard. My baby is 18 months old and it is really wonderful, but I have a big relationship with guilt. I'm trying to figure out how all of that works. My new life is informing all of the work that we do here. Hopefully, my audience is growing up with me and will be interested in my angle of trying to figure it all out.

KATIE BROWN WORKSHOP premieres April 1, 2006 (check local listings.)