Evette Ríos is a craft, design and entertaining expert, and all around home enthusiast. She's the field correspondent on the new ABC Daytime Show The Chew and is a contributor to the Rachael Ray Show. Her Puerto Rican roots, love of travel, and years mentoring with some of NYC’s finest architects and designers have both inspired and influenced her work. However, nothing sparked Evette’s design interests more than watching her parents work on homes as a child. A life-long New Yorker, she lives downtown with her dog Baloo and cats Henwin & Miss Kitty.

Robin Baron: Tell us a bit about what you do… Evette Ríos: I am the correspondent on the new daytime TV show, The Chew. I travel around the country covering food and crafting trends. It’s a great way to meet some amazing people, try delicious food and see this terrific country of ours.

RB: Where do you find creative inspiration for your job? ER: I get a ton of inspiration from necessity. I grew up in a family where things were always reused and repurposed. When I would fall in love with something while I was with my mom as a kid she would always tell me “Ay, Eso Se Hace” which means “You Can Make That” in Spanish. As a kid it would frustrate the heck out of me but as an adult it fuels me! I also LOVE Pinterest.com, it keeps me abreast of what all of my crafting buddies are up to and it gives me the chance to see what others think of my projects! RB: What is the favorite craft or project that you have done? ER: OMG, that is a tough one...hmm. I guess one of the coolest ones I have ever done, was for a show I did on the Planet Green network called The G Word. I created a coffee table that had a scrabble game in the middle and two storage compartments for additional games out of an old glass top coffee table that lost it’s glass. The inside was built out and painted pink and the outside was painted grey with shiny nickel hardware. It kind of looked like a little elephant. It was just the coolest, I was sad to have to give it away but I got to play a game of scrabble on it before I handed off to the new owners so that wasn’t too bad!

before...

...and after!

RB: How would you describe your workspace? Your home décor? ER: My personal style is a little masculine. I love strong industrial looking things, aluminum furniture, dark well grained woods and bright exotic prints. I am SO into old scientific equipment. I have an old microscope on my side table right now that I absolutely love. RB: What is the one thing in your home that everyone always comments on? ER: The Syrian Mother of pearl mirror over my entry console table. I love it too. It’s one of those things that makes me happy!

RB: What is your personal mantra? ER: “Wrong and Strong.” I learned this from a theater professor in college and it really stuck with me. I guess the jist of it is, when you make a decision, you should commit to it with everything in you. It’s no use doing anything half way!