A Cooking Star's Playful (and Hardworking) Kitchen

Nerdy Nummies star Rosanna Pansino called on designer Christiane Lemieux to overhaul her entire kitchen, creating an oasis where treats like Super Mario Bob-omb truffles and Captain America ice cream sandwiches don't have to compete for attention with their surroundings.

Though Pansino wanted a clean, neutral backdrop for filming, she and Lemieux made sure to include a few colorful touches that could be swapped out and rearranged to keep the kitchen looking interesting, like vintage teacups and candy jars. Pansino's color inspiration for all of the accessories? Rainbow sprinkles.

While Pansino has big, statement-making abstract art in other rooms of her house, her kitchen is all about having pun. There's a framed print next to her coffee machine that reads "I like big cups and I cannot lie," though our personal favorite is the one next to her Kitchenaid mixer: "They see me rollin', they hatin'."

Everything in the kitchen has to pass the on-camera test — Does this look distracting? — even down to the flowers on the table. When choosing the wall color, Pansino painted samples then filmed herself, her team, and her food in front of each one. The old walls were a beige-y yellow, which made people's skin look sallow and the food look less appetizing, Lemieux explains. Gray with a warm undertone made everyone's skin glow.

Pansino's round Saarinen table reminds her of the one in her dining room growing up — "It was the heart and soul of our house" — and doubles as a second location for the blindfolded food challenges she films with her sister, Molly. "My girlfriends from Seattle fly in and we do slumber parties and have breakfast here, too. And I design cookies here."

Lemieux kept the lighting simple, since Pansino's team brings in full stage lights to shoot Nerdy Nummies.

Pansino uses a labeler to tidy everything in her kitchen, down to her jars upon jars of sprinkles. "I keep the stuff I use daily on the lower shelves, so they're easier to reach, and work my way up from there. The high shelves are for the things I rarely use, because I'm very short," says Pansino, who's 4'10". For a video tour of the rest of Pansino's house, check out her YouTube channel or Overhaul on Kin Community.