As a long-standing KitchenAid ambassador, Garner stepped into the spotlight this week to help unveil the brand’s newest appliance: the 2026 Design Series Stand Mixer, Luminaire. Outfitted with a distinctive fluted glass bowl and an integrated light designed to illuminate the mixing process, the countertop appliance aims to make baking more intuitive than ever. Ahead of the official launch, Garner sat down to discuss her culinary habits, her home life, and the specific items she relies on every day.
When it comes to outfitting her kitchen, Garner admits she lives for the KitchenAid GO Cordless Collection. She relies on several of these battery-operated, cordless appliances during her cooking sessions, noting that the entire system serves as her favorite gift to give others. Among her most heavily utilized tools is the KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker, an appliance she uses on a daily basis.
Reflecting on her recent domestic purchases, Garner keeps things refreshingly simple. When asked about the last thing she bought for her home, her answer was immediate: picture frames.
To maintain her household, Garner has specific favorites that she continuously reorders because of their high quality. She swears by PlantPaper toilet paper, alongside Homecourt’s line of dish soap, surface cleaner, and hand soap, praising the products for their non-toxic formulas and pleasant scents. For organization, she relies exclusively on classic Mason jars to keep her spaces tidy and functional.
When entertaining guests, Garner favors a casual approach that almost always takes place outdoors. Her most-used items for hosting include pitchers, particularly those crafted by Blenko Glass, alongside cloth napkins and placemats. Rather than keeping a separate set of fine china for company, Garner prefers to use the exact same durable, everyday items that she and her children use daily—pieces that feel nice without being overly formal.
A recent minor upgrade has significantly transformed her daily routine and workspace. Garner added rolled woven willow fencing to a terrace above her outdoor seating area and installed wheels on an outdoor table. Because a particular spot on the terrace tends to receive intense heat and sunlight, adding wheels allows her to roll her table in the opposite direction as the sun moves, creating an ideal, shaded spot to work during afternoon hours.
For her personal wind-down routine, Garner keeps her rituals uncomplicated, turning simply to a cup of peppermint tea and a good book. When seeking design inspiration, she often browses through a curated selection of coffee table books. Her current favorites include Lara Porzak’s The Chemistry of Memory, The Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi, and the works of Steve and Brooke Giannetti, the architect and designer duo behind her own home. While she admires their books for design ideas, she emphasizes that any home refresh is far off in the future, as she deeply loves her current living space.
When selecting gifts for others, Garner recently surprised her sisters with the new KitchenAid Artisan Plus Design Series Luminaire Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. Beyond its striking color and glass bowl, she highlighted the integrated bowl light and the smooth gear shift that transitions effortlessly from a gentle folding function to a full whipping speed as major selling points that inspired the gift.
Inside her home, guests are most drawn to the custom stained glass windows created by Reed Bradley at Judson Studios, a feature Garner cherishes. When asked about her ultimate dream decor purchase, Garner offers a pragmatic and heartwarming perspective, noting that true dream decor is simply an environment that allows her dog to sit comfortably right next to her on the couch. Rounding out her home details, she notes that several faux sherpa chairs in her space frequently catch guests’ eyes, looking far more expensive and high-end than they actually are.
