Wanda Colon

“I believe that if you are true to who you are, then you’ll figure out a way to be what you need to be,” says designer, host, and actress Wanda Colón. With an infectious energy and imaginative style, Colón has turned her passion for creativity into a unique career that finds her thriving in several different arenas. Currently, she is wrapping up her third season of TLC’s Home Made Simple. After successful seasons in Washington D.C., Miami, and Austin, the third season of Home Made Simple will see the design team visiting homeowners along the Atlantic Seaboard in North Carolina and again in Washington D.C. For Colón, working with a new family each week is a new and rewarding challenge.

Colón’s successful career can be attributed to her upbringing in Reading, Pennsylvania, where her Puerto Rican-born parents moved to the states. Wanda grew up in an environment rich with culture and activity. With such a lively atmosphere to thrive in, Colón absorbed the colors, tastes, and textures of the many cultures and influences that prominently shape her design work today.

In college, Colón’s passion and hard work lead to a year abroad to study acting at Oxford, where she appeared as a lead in the university productions of Sense and Sensibility and Pygmalion. Her interest in all aspects of theatre also led her to study fine arts and set design.

In Hollywood, Colón learned that the cliché was true – everyone is an actor. But it’s also true that every actor does something else. While in California, she landed a gig with a Los Angeles based award-winning firm Interior Motives, where her experience in visual arts and set design quickly brought her success. Her keen artistic eye and passion for local artists and found pieces meant that she was quickly in demand, and she soon founded her own firm, Piper Decorative Artisans. As a designer sensitively tuned to the personalities and needs of her clients, Colón’s signature touches for private clients include murals that might depict an iconic American cityscape or an Italian grotto; elaborate, colorful mosaics; and custom, textured wall finishes. Soon, her clients included the likes of Cher, Kelsey Grammer, Paul Stanley (from the rock group KISS), the La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes, and the Laurence School in the San Fernando Valley. She maintains a busy schedule with her design firm, Wanda Colón Designs.

It wasn’t long before Colón’s passions -- art, design and acting -- converged. Her unique combination of skills was a perfect fit for the new crop of design shows popping up on television. Not only does she have the ability to do the work, but she knows how to present it in an accessible way and look natural doing it. She also appeared on Designer’s Challenge and Designing for the Sexes.

She went on to join the design team of HGTV’s popular 24 Hour Design. She even found time to squeeze in an appearance on her former co-host’s new show, Rate my Space, before moving on to her current gig as Host/Designer on TLC’s Home Made Simple. Colón’s natural enthusiasm and her experience in front of the camera has lead to more opportunities – such as co-hosting informercials with fitness guru Jake Steinfeld, appearing in an upcoming overseas tour for the USO, and signing on as a spokesperson for Febreze.

Taking another step forward in her career, Colón has just produced a short film, Salt, from a screenplay based on her short story. She co-stars in the English/Spanish-language dark comedy that is being circulated to film festivals throughout North America and Europe. She also has two other screenplays in development.