HGTV's Nayak has knack for design

HGTV host and interior designer Taniya Nayak, a UMass Lowell graduate in business marketing, speaks at "Home for the Holidays" event sponsored by UMass Lowell Alumni Relations Office. (Sun photos by Julia Malakie)

It was a fun and energetic night at UMass Lowell's University Crossing as HGTV star and Boston interior designer Taniya Nayak took the stage.

The audience was quick to its feet as Executive Chancellor Jacqueline Maloney introduced Nayak and joined in her entrance dance, a fantastic way to break the ice.

Nayak is no unfamiliar face to the campus. A 1997 alumna of the college, she earned her bachelor's degree in business marketing and went on to receive her master's degree in interior design from Boston Architectural College.

But she is best known as the host of HGTV's "House Hunters on Vacation," "Freestyle," "Design to Sell" and "Restaurant Impossible." Most recently she has appeared on "Oprah," the "Rachael Ray Show" and the "Ellen DeGeneres Show."

During the talk, the proceeds of which went to help raise scholarship funds, Nayak offered DIY holiday decorating tips. Some of Nayak's creative and quick decorating tips were money-saving last-minute ideas that anyone could pull off.

Some of Nayak's suggestions:

Christmas wrapping: Transform an armless chair such as a parsons dining chair by slipping pillowcases over the back of the chair. Wrap a contrasting fabric piece around the pillow case and tie off.

The take-away: Personalize a glass ornament by adding a sticker to it and writing in your dinner guest's name. Put it in a decorative box or bowl and use it as a place card which they can then take away as a personal gift.

Color advice: Stick to the strip! For the indecisive, when it comes to choosing paint color, find a color you love, and use the whole paint spectrum strip for the rest of the home. For example, go three shades up from the color you love in the kitchen for a more dramatic look in a dining room. The whole house will look like you worked with a designer if you stick to the paint sample strip.

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HGTV's Nayak has knack for design