Employee Spotlight: Dianna Campagna on Kitchens, Color & Design

If you’ve stopped by Cardinal Home Center’s Greenbrier store in Charlottesville to talk cabinets, colors, or a remodel, chances are you’ve met Dianna Campagna. She brings about 25 years of experience in home improvement and new construction sales, cabinet design, and interior decorating. Dianna joined the Cardinal family through Blue Ridge Builders Supply. She was designing kitchens there when MWP acquired the company, before the name changed to Cardinal Home Center.

A Day in the Design Center

Dianna’s day starts at 6:15 a.m. and stays busy until 5:00 p.m. She helps walk-in customers with designs, color consultations, flooring, and window treatments. She also visits homes to talk through projects, schedules installations, and handles all cabinetry ordering for each job. And it isn’t always a kitchen. “It could be a bathroom, office, mudroom, or even a piece of furniture,” she says. Her favorite part is hearing that she met and exceeded a customer’s expectations.

It Starts with Two Questions

Every design begins the same way. “What do you not like about your existing kitchen? What do you want from your new kitchen?” Dianna asks those two questions about any room in a home. From there, she builds a priority list of wants and needs. That list helps balance the look someone wants with how they actually live. It also helps with the biggest challenge she sees: understanding the cost of a wish list compared to basic needs.

Designing a Kitchen for the Holidays

Kitchens are where everyone gathers, especially this time of year. Dianna’s approach to a welcoming, entertaining-ready kitchen is to find a focal point and design around it. “It could be an island, peninsula, coffee station, or bar area,” she says.

For finishing touches, she treats cabinet hardware like jewelry. “It should complement the cabinets,” she says. Her personal preference is pulls over knobs.

A Designer’s Take on Webster Green

Benjamin Moore’s 2027 Color of the Year, Webster Green HC-130, gets Dianna’s seal of approval. She describes it as both soothing and welcoming. Her favorite places to use it are an entrance door, a mudroom, or a home office.

Life Beyond Design

Here’s something many people don’t know: Dianna went to culinary school, became a chef, and ran a catering business for 10 years. She also ran a daycare center with 117 children enrolled, ages 6 weeks to 12 years. Later, she went back to school for design and earned her certification.

Outside of work, Dianna spends her time with family, including her husband, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, and nephews. You’ll often find her cheering at their events and sports activities. She’s also very active in her church, which she calls “a peaceful place.” Family and church are where she’s happiest.

After all her years in design, one lesson stands out. “Each job, each customer, is different, and everyone needs to be treated individually based on their desires,” she says.

Planning a kitchen, bath, or mudroom update? Stop by our Greenbrier store and let Dianna help bring the plan together. Thanks, Dianna, for all you do for our customers!