Sarah Keenleyside is a Canadian interior designer, best known as a host of programming for both the Corus Entertainment and Rogers Media iterations of HGTV.Rebecca Keillor, "Designer Sarah Keenleyside knows a thing or two about impressive builds". London Free Press, May 4, 2017. She should not be confused with Canadian installation artist Sarah Keenlyside.Caitlyn Holroyd, "Ferris’s Room: Sarah Keenlyside Discusses New Doc That Explores Her Infamous Ferris Bueller Room". She Does the City, May 29, 2018.
Biography Formerly the principal designer for Qanuk Interiors,Jordan Pinto, "HGTV Canada greenlights two originals". Playback, July 14, 2016. with which she specialized in renovation of Victorian-style homes,Karen Valihora, "All Things County". Picton Gazette, March 25, 2026. her Corus-era HGTV show Backyard Builds debuted in 2017."Backyard Builds takes renos outdoors in new series". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, April 6, 2017. Cohosted with Brian McCourt, the series featured the duo helping homeowners to expand their living space by improving and adding structures to their back yards."Investing in backyard retreats". Windsor Star, April 29, 2017. The series received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lifestyle Program or Series at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018."Cardinal, Letterkenny and Kim’s Convenience top 2018 Canadian Screen Award nominees". TV, eh?, January 16, 2018. Production of Backyard Builds went into hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada,Gregory Furgala, "Sarah Keenleyside’s Backyard is (Finally) Fit For Shoulder Season". Designlines, September 15, 2021. with its final episodes airing in 2021.
In this era, she also appeared in HGTV's multi-designer shows Home to Win and Family Home Overhaul.
During the run of Backyard Builds, she married singer-songwriter Justin Rutledge in 2018.Graham Rockingham, "Justin Rutledge is alt-country with a little help from his friends". Hamilton Spectator, March 8, 2019. The title track of Rutledge's 2019 album Passages is a love song he wrote for her. They have two sons, and moved to Prince Edward County in 2023.
In 2026, her new show The County debuted on the Rogers version of HGTV. The series follows her as she builds her new design studio, SKDS, in Prince Edward County, both on client projects undertaken with design collaborators Jo Smeeth and Kate Lavender, and renovations to her own home with Rutledge, as well as highlighting the region's vibrant local culture of artisans and craftspeople.Lauren Richards, "Designing the County". Watershed, Spring 2026.
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