Vern Yip | |
---|---|
Born |
Hong Kong |
June 27, 1968
Alma mater |
University of Virginia (B.A. Economics, B.S. Chemistry) Georgia Tech (M.B.A., M. Arch) |
Occupation | TV host and interior designer |
Partner(s) | Craig Koch |
Children | Gavin Joshua Mannox Vera Lillian Beatrix |
Website | www |
Vern Yip (born June 27, 1968, in Hong Kong) is an American interior designer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He periodically appeared on TLC's Trading Spaces through its fourth season, and was known for frequently including silk, candles and flowers in the rooms he designed. He is one of the panel of judges on HGTV's Design Star. Yip hosted four seasons of HGTV's show Deserving Design. Yip just hosted an HGTV special called Urban Oasis, in which he designed a Chicago loft in the Trump International Hotel, to be given away to a winner.
Yip went to high school in northern Virginia at McLean High School in the class of 1986. After earning two degrees, just prior to entering his pre-medicine program, he changed his mind, and decided to get into architecture. Yip states he would have been quite happy running a design company, and never intended to become a television personality, but he's very pleased with the new show, and he felt it was what he was meant to do. Yip double-majored in Chemistry and Economics at his alma mater, the University of Virginia, and later received a masters in management and architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vern has a sister, who lives in Hong Kong. He was raised by his mother, who was a loving and strong presence in his life. Vern is involved in an array of volunteer activities, including doing design work for New York City's 2009 Snowflake Ball, a fundraiser for UNICEF. Yip and his partner, Craig Koch, welcomed son Gavin Joshua Mannox, born by surrogate, on January 6, 2010. The couple's second child, Vera Lillian Beatrix, was also born via surrogate on March 12, 2011.