Kia Steave-Dickerson brings a touch of Hollywood to Trading Spaces, with a strong background in film, television and theater. Building her rooms around daring themes and bold accents, Kia challenges homeowners to take creative leaps in their design style. For Kia, the theme is the thing, and she oversees its execution to the last detail; the end result is flawless execution of her creative vision -- a vision hopefully shared by the homeowners.

Working alongside her father in theater as a child, Kia was inspired to learn about set and costume design at an early age. She went on to study textiles at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and soon found herself in a series of jobs in the field of interior design. In 1994, she founded K.I.A. Enterprises, Inc., an interior design services firm specializing in renovations for commercial clients. Well-respected in her field, Kia has worked on numerous sets as a Set Decorator and Assistant Prop Master for movies such as Signs, The Sixth Sense, and Beloved, commercials for Betty Crocker, CENDANT and Chrysler and stage musicals such as CATS and Grease.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kia's creative spirit and business know-how is literally in her blood. Her father, a prop master and sometime costume designer for theater companies, often brought her with him on assignments when she was a child. Her mother, a credit analyst, helped Kia to learn the value of good business sense. Kia is devoted to social causes and dedicates her time to WEKHouse, a residence she founded as a transitional home for men recovering from drug, alcohol abuse or spousal abuse. Kia looks forward to opening a similar home for women in the near future.

Kia's rooms emphasize a flair for the dramatic, with bold use of color and rich, sensuous fabrics. Some of her more memorable feats on Trading Spaces include a room where she suspended the homeowner's bed from the ceiling and an Egyptian-themed room that included hieroglyph fabric and a custom-made pyramid fountain. But perhaps Kia's most surprising act of design was creating a bedspread made of synthetic grass, complete with silk flowers for an astonished (and happy) homeowner.

"There's a method to my madness"