Remodeling your current home or building your next one can be hard. We're here to focus on the human side of the process, helping you navigate the waters with great tips, insider advice, and some good laughs. Join Katie (a licensed therapist) and TJ (a licensed architect) every week for Designed Happy: The Podcast. And as always, if you know someone who has just started thinking about a big home project, please share this podcast with them so we can help them have a better experience.
The people spoke, the YouTube numbers came in, and cabinets get a sequel. This time TJ shares his screen and walks through the terminology you'll actually hear in a showroom, from five piece versus slab drawer fronts to raised versus flat panels to why your top drawer might need to be a different style than the ones below it. He gets into which accessories are worth it, why paying the cabinet manufacturer for a knife block is a sucker's move, and a full soapbox on rollout shelves that he genuinely does not understand and would like the audience to explain to him. Before any of that, a banter question about going back for seconds turns into French fries, vegan gluten-free cookies eaten by the dozen, and a real proposal for Katie to rename every door style Jill and Cornelia. Stay for the loose-toe tip...it'll save your back.
29 Sept 2026
DH:TP - 058 - Faucets
The topic pairs nicely with the toilet episode: faucets. Katie thinks she has made it to the victory lap of the design process, then finds out some people touch their faucet 40 times a day and labor over it more than anything else in the house. TJ walks through the decision tree, from pull down versus pull out to single lever versus spread to the bridge faucet to the wall-mounted one that's officially on his bucket list. There's a hard rule about exterior walls that will save your pipes, and a warning about a certain trendy faucet that turns a simple hand-wash into a full shower. Katie opens with a flushable wipe rant she refuses to cut, defends the two-zone faucet TJ cannot picture, and returns from a restaurant bathroom absolutely drenched.
22 Sept 2026
DH:TP - 057 - When the Architect Is the Client
TJ flips the mic on himself and walks through a personal design saga: the rose garden he built for Kat for their 20th anniversary. What starts as a grand romantic gesture turns into a real-world lesson in being on the other side of the table, from why he chose to bring in a professional instead of doing it himself, to the black background website that told him everything he needed to know, to the referral who ignored the one instruction TJ gave him. Along the way there's a nearly-Ron-Burgundied intro, a proposal he couldn't keep secret for three days, and an experiment with a shovel that answered a question TJ didn't really want answered. It's the longest episode they've ever recorded and every homeowner who has ever hired someone will recognize a piece of it. Kat, happy anniversary.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
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