Stay ConnectedGrandma’s Silver explores the culture of everyday life, from design and interiors to food, tradition, and the rituals that shape how we live.
Hosted by Allie Kochinsky, each episode features thoughtful, approachable conversations with designers, historians, and tastemakers, uncovering the meaning behind timeless style and enduring traditions.
New episodes every Wednesday.
Copyright: © Copyright Allie Kochinsky
What does it mean to live the vacationing spirit? In this episode of Grandma's Silver, we explore the enduring allure of coastal design with acclaimed interior designer Krista Watterworth Alterman.
You've heard of coastal style. But true coastal living is about more than kitschy seaside decor; it's an architectural and cultural response to landscape, light, and heritage. Today, the aesthetic is shifting away from literal beach themes and moving toward a more disciplined expression of luxury.
Joining host Allie Kochinsky to break down this evolution is Krista Watterworth Alterman, the former HGTV host and Executive & Creative Director of Krista + Home, the luxury interior design division of Vesta. With over twenty years of experience designing legacy resort destinations and multi-million-dollar private residences across the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, Krista brings an understanding of how spaces can be simultaneously high-design and emotionally resonant.
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Can you design a community, or does community have to grow on its own?
When Disney developed Celebration, Florida in the 1990s, the vision extended beyond beautiful homes and charming streets. Inspired by traditional American town planning and New Urbanism, Celebration was created as a walkable community where architecture, public spaces, and everyday life might naturally foster stronger human connection.
In this episode of Grandma's Silver, we look beyond the headlines and nostalgia to explore what Celebration, Florida has become over the past three decades. Allie Kochinsky is joined by Kathleen Sipio, the Executive Director of the Celebration Foundation, to discuss how traditions take root when a town has no historic roots, why recurring community rituals matter, and what it takes to transform a neighborhood of strangers into a place where people genuinely feel they belong. We also explore the Foundation's work in strengthening community through arts, education, volunteerism, scholarships, and civic engagement.
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with interior designer Lindsey Walsh to explore how our homes evolve alongside the lives we build within them.
Before launching her New Jersey-based design firm, Lindsey traveled the world for her high-level marketing job, experiencing architecture, interiors, and traditions across Asia, Europe, and South America. Today, she brings those influences together with an appreciation for classic design to create personal, welcoming, and enduring spaces.
The conversation goes beyond decor. Lindsey shares how travel shapes perspective, why meaningful homes are collected, and how developing your own sense of style is less about trend than careful attention.
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with Matthew Monk, the Linda Eaton Curator of Textiles at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, to explore the remarkable stories stitched into historic textiles.
Using Winterthur's exhibition Stitched in Place as their starting point, they discuss how needlwork projects preserve craftsmanship, but also reveal all sorts of things about identity, belonging, and family history.
Matthew shares how curators and historians "read" textiles as primary sources, the clues hidden in stitches and motifs, and why handmade objects continue to resonate in today's digital world.
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with Lauren Wodicka, artist, designer, and founder of LBW Studio, for a conversation about developing an eye for beauty, collecting intentionally, and creating homes that evolve over time.
Before launching her interior design studio, Lauren built a career as an artist and gallery owner, helping her fine art clients curate spaces filled with art and antiques. That foundation continues to shape her approach today as she helps clients create homes that feel personal and, as she puts it, "paints their story."
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky is joined by Sarah Moore, founder and principal designer of Sarah Catherine Design, for a conversation about character and the elements of a house that feel layered and detailed.
Growing up among historic Southern neighborhoods, Sarah developed an early appreciation for homes with stories. Today, she brings that perspective to her work, designing timeliness interiors across the Southeast that blend classic influences with a fresh, livable approach.
They discuss the impact of historic homes on modern living, why materials and attention to detail matter, and how to create spaces that feel collected and layered.
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As part of the Grandma's Silver conversation series surrounding American Craftsmanship with Colonial Williamsburg's WILLIAMSBURG brand, this conversation explores the journey of American cotton with Red Land Cotton, particularly what it means to preserve domestic textile manufacturing.
Anna Brakefield, co-founder, shares how a visit to Colonial Williamsburg inspired a collaboration with WILLIAMSBURG brand, translating historic textile patterns into a collection designed for modern homes.
Along the way, learn why everyday household linens were once heirlooms, what has been lost as textile production moved overseas, and why craftsmanship, stewardship, and quality still matter in everyday objects.
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with Peggy Cornett, longtime Curator of Plants at Monticello, former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, and author of Thomas Jefferson's Flowers, to explore gardens as living records of history.
Together, they discuss how historic landscapes preserve stories of daily life, seasonal rhythms, beauty, labor, and cultural exchange. Drawing on more than four decades of preserving Thomas Jefferson's botanical legacy, Peggy shares what the flowers cultivated at Monticello reveal about Jefferson's botanical interests, his international network of plant exchanges, and the many people, including enslaved gardeners and laborers, whose knowledge and work shaped the landscape.
The detective work behind restoring historic gardens is also explored, along with how historians reconstruct landscapes from letters, archaeological evidence, and plant records, and why heirloom plants can serve as a form of living inheritance.
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This week, Allie Kochinsky virtually travels to Summerville, South Carolina, a historic Lowcountry town that proudly calls itself the "Birthplace of Sweet Tea." At the center of the conversation is the town's Sweet Tea Trail, a self-guided experience connecting local businesses, history, food, and community through one of the South's most iconic traditions.
But this episode isn't simply about a beverage; it's about hospitality as identity. About preserving small-town character in a changing South. About tourism rooted in storytelling rather than spectacle. And about why certain traditions, even simple ones, continue to hold emotional power.
Allie, joined by Cassie Ford, Director of Tourism, explores the history of Summerville, the cultural mythology surrounding sweet tea, and what local traditions reveal about the places we call home.
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In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky is joined by Jessica Chaney, founder of Lycette Designs, for a conversation on needlepoint as more than just a pastime, but a practice rooted in patience, memory, and home.
Together, they explore why this traditional craft is finding new relevance today, and what it offers in a culture that often prioritizes speed and convenience. From heirloom pillows to hand-stitched canvases, needlepoint occupies a unique space, both decorative and personal, shaped as much by the process as the finished piece.
Jessica discusses the quiet discipline of making something by hand, how these objects evolve over time, and why they so often become part of a home's story.
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