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Nate Berkus

Nate Berkus Books

Interior designer

Nate Berkus is a renowned interior designer, born on September 17, 1971. He is known for his unique aesthetic and creative designs, serving as a design consultant for many well-known magazines and television shows. Berkus' design style blends modern and traditional elements, which are highly appreciated by the public.

The Things That Matter

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“Your Home should tell the story of who you are, and be a Collection of what you Love.”

Architect Interior Design Interior Interior Decorators

Book:The Things That Matter

Source: The Things That Matter

“People first. Dogs second. Things last.”

People Firsts Lasts Dog

Author:Nate Berkus

“I was a boy with one dream and one dream only: I wanted - no, strike that, I was desperate for - a room of my own. You see, in those days I shared a room with my little brother, Jesse, and it wasn't pretty. He was the Oscar to my Felix: messy, careless, and just a little bit sticky - exactly the way a kindergartner is supposed to be.”

Way Littles Dream Wanted Bits My Own Rooms Boys Brother Little Bit Strikes Supposed To Be Desperate Oscars Messy Careless Sticky Little Brother My Little Brother

Author:Nate Berkus

“I have a large watch collection, and classic watches are especially important to me. I had a silver Rolex, and I actually gave it to my little brother. He wears it every day. He's an actor, so whenever he goes to an audition, he can look down, see it, and it gives him confidence. It was a great thing to pass on.”

Giving Looks Littles Important Actors Watches Brother Great Things Classic Collections Silver Auditions Little Brother My Little Brother Rolex

Author:Nate Berkus

“We hold back our true feelings and beliefs, whether it's from a sense of being polite or fear of hurting someone's feelings. But what I have seen on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' is that no one benefits from holding back and keeping things bottled up inside. So I pride myself on speaking my mind and not being afraid to give honest feedback.”

Giving Mind Shows Feelings Belief Hurt Honest Pride Benefits Polite Feedback Being Afraid Holding Back True Feelings Being Polite Hurting Someone Speaking My Mind Honest Feedback

Author:Nate Berkus

“I see it every day: People trying to create a home that somebody else tells them they should have. I don't care if it's a magazine or a bossy friend - when somebody says, 'This is what's elegant, this is what's trendy,' if it doesn't represent you, you're not going to be happy.”

People Ifs Should Trying Home Care Should Have Don't Care Magazines I Don't Care Elegant Trendy Bossy

Author:Nate Berkus

“There's something I call 'Moving Day,' which I've done for the last 20 years. Look at everything in your home, then think about how you could combine things in a different way. Maybe you break up your night tables and use one in the family room; maybe the dining room sideboard becomes a console table for your television, with storage underneath.”

Thinking Way Years Looks Different Done Use Home Lasts Moving Night Rooms Break Television Tables Different Ways Console Dining Storage Dining Rooms

Author:Nate Berkus

“About 90 percent of the pieces in my home are vintage, and I'm a ruthless editor. I only live with things that I love. There is not one thing in my home that doesn't have meaning to me.”

Home Pieces One Thing Percent Editors Ruthless Vintage

Author:Nate Berkus

“Even as a 10-year-old, I remember trying to explain to my mother and stepfather how upset and frustrated a messy room made me. But they just couldn't grasp it. They wanted me to be playing with baseballs and frogs while I wanted to be scouring garage sales.”

Trying Years Made Wanted Remember Mother Rooms Baseball Upset Frustrated Messy Frogs Garage Stepfathers Garage Sale

Author:Nate Berkus

“I didn't grow up thinking I'd be a decorator. Design is my greatest passion, and it naturally just pulled me down the path. Same with TV. Being famous or having a show was never the motivation. I got a call and was swept up by the challenge of that first small space redesign.”

Thinking Firsts Shows Motivation Passion Grows Challenges Space Growing Up Path Design Tvs Being Famous Small Spaces Decorators Redesign

Author:Nate Berkus

“I didn't necessarily want to be famous growing up, but I knew I would be a good famous person because I'm not offended if somebody comes up to me and knows things about me and wants to engage me in a conversation.”

Ifs Knows Want Persons Would Be Growing Up Growing Conversation Come Up Offended

Author:Nate Berkus

“I do shop online! But I’m shopping online mostly in the home categories - One Kings Lane and Gilt. At a lot of architectural websites, I buy a lot of hardware for cabinetry like hinges and things like that from England. So you know for me, I shop at Net-A-Porter, but I don’t really shop that much for clothing online.”

Knows Home Kings England Shops Online Categories Shopping Clothings Website Lanes Hardware Hinges

Author:Nate Berkus

“I knew that I was a gay boy fairly early; what was interesting to me was that my mother didn’t know. She made me play baseball - I had no desire to do that. I said, ‘Mom, I don’t like direct sunlight, I don’t like bugs, I don’t like grass, and I’d rather be in the house playing with your fabric samples.’”

Knows Made Said Play Mother Desire House Interesting Boys Mom Gay Direct Baseball Grass Sunlight Fabric Bugs Sample

Author:Nate Berkus

“I think that a lot of guys reach for electronics first, but the truth is that you can never keep up with electronics. You buy a flat-screen TV, and then six months later, there's one that has 3D and Blu-ray and all this business, and that is just going to keep continuing.”

Thinking Firsts Guy Tvs Months Truth Is Six Screens Flats Rays Continuing Six Months Electronics

Author:Nate Berkus

“'Priced to sell' - just the phrase makes me smile. When a dealer says all the items in his booth are priced to sell, he means he's tagged them as aggressively as he can to get you to buy them. Don't worry, though, I still haggle. You have to. That's the point of a flea market.”

Mean Stills Worry Sells Phrases Items Dealer Fleas Make Me Smile Flea Markets Tagged

Author:Nate Berkus

“When you buy things that are expensive, like a sofa or something that really feels like an investment, you need to keep it as plain as possible, as simple as possible. Make sure that it's a clean design that will work with whatever style you want it to.”

Want Needs Feels Simple Style Design Clean Investment Expensive Sofas

Author:Nate Berkus

“I can look at a photo and the dimensions of any piece and tell you if it's going to sit well with the four other pieces in your room.”

Ifs Wells Looks I Can Rooms Pieces Four Dimensions Your Room

Author:Nate Berkus

“I hate sets. I've always hated sets. I think that if you have a dining room set, break it up!”

Ifs Thinking Hate Rooms Break I Hate Hated Dining Dining Rooms

Author:Nate Berkus

“I live in a beautiful vintage building that was built in the heart of downtown Chicago.”

Heart Beautiful Building Built Chicago Vintage Downtown Downtown Chicago

Author:Nate Berkus

“I think I was the only kid on the block who knew about furniture scale by the time I was 8.”

Thinking Kids Scales Block Furniture

Author:Nate Berkus

“I'm interested in fashion; I buy fairly good pieces, and I think as I've gotten older, I've pared down a lot.”

Thinking Pieces Fashion

Author:Nate Berkus

“In a small space, you want to keep the bedding as simple as possible so it looks clean, calm and collected.”

Want Looks Simple Space Clean Calm Small Spaces Bedding

Author:Nate Berkus

“When you have a bunch of comfortable upholstered pieces, a single bronze or brass chair really turns the energy up.”

Turns Energy Pieces Comfortable Bunch Chairs Brass Bronze

Author:Nate Berkus

“In design-speak, 'a library' means a room lined with books, floor-to ceiling, but it all depends on the space you have. You may have a free-standing bookshelf of your favorite books if that's all you have room for.”

Ifs May Mean Book Speak Space Rooms Design Depends Standing Library Ceilings Your Favorite Bookshelves Favorite Book

Author:Nate Berkus

“My favorite thing about decorating is mixing different periods and styles. If you have something that's old, and you really do want to mix those styles, then you have to add something that's obviously modern with it. You can't put a kind of a mediocre thing in the middle.”

Ifs Want Kind Different Modern Middle Style Periods Add My Favorite Mediocre Favorites Things Mixing Decorating

Author:Nate Berkus

“Some kids spent their allowance going to see 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'; I spent mine on a great-looking lamp I'd found at the flea market and a ceramic bowl from a neighborhood garage sale.”

Kids Found Mines Temples Neighborhood Bowls Lamps Doom Garage Indiana Fleas Allowance Flea Markets Ceramics Garage Sale

Author:Nate Berkus

“When I take on a design project, I have to jet from the bookstore to the hardware shop to the lamp store and back again just to collect a small portion of the many items I need to fill a home. But, when you hit the flea market, they're all right there. From booth to booth, you have the bases covered.”

Needs Home Design Projects Bases Stores Shops Covered Portions Lamps Items Jet Bookstores Back Again Hardware Fleas Flea Markets

Author:Nate Berkus

“You can find a lot of reasonable buys at Wal-Mart. But one key to making it on a budget is by donating your time and labor to the project. Do-it-yourself projects will always help you save.”

Helping Keys Projects Labor Budgets Reasonable Do It Yourself

Author:Nate Berkus

“You don't have to paint your walls lime green just to try to have your home feel decorated. If you're a classic dresser or preppy dresser or a modern dresser, you wear a lot of black - whatever it is - your home should reflect that as well.”

Ifs Feels Should Trying Wells Home Black Modern Wall Green Paint Classic Limes Dressers Your Wall Preppy Lime Green

Author:Nate Berkus

“I always had this New York fantasy of living in a glass high-rise.”

Fantasy New York Glasses

Author:Nate Berkus

“It's my job to know what's available from every retailer, catalog, website, antiques mall, and craftsperson. A good designer or decorator has to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge.”

Knows Jobs Available Designer Website Malls Antiques Good Design Retailers Decorators

Author:Nate Berkus

“A lot of guys go in immediately for status, as opposed to comfort and allowing their home to tell a story about them.”

Stories Home Guy Comfort Allowing

Author:Nate Berkus

“As a kid, I think I rearranged the rooms of almost every house on the block.”

Thinking Kids House Rooms Block

Author:Nate Berkus

“Everywhere your eye travels in your home, it should land on something that resonates with you.”

Should Home Eye Land

Author:Nate Berkus

“I always want objects in my home that have a connection to me or something I've loved. It's still stuff, but it's stuff that has meaning.”

Want Stills Home Stuff Objects Connections

Author:Nate Berkus

“I am not ever in the business of making anyone feel bad.”

Author:Nate Berkus

“I love linen in soothing colors for any room in the house.”

House Rooms Color Soothing Linen

Author:Nate Berkus

“If you actually keep things very organized and clutter-free, you can have more furniture than you think you can in a small space.”

Ifs Thinking Space Organized Furniture Clutter Small Spaces

Author:Nate Berkus

“Layering in different patterns will keep things from appearing too studied.”

Different Patterns Appearing

Author:Nate Berkus

“The truth of the matter is being gay is the way I was born. I believe this to the core of my being.”

Way Believe Matter I Believe Born Gay Core Being Gay

Author:Nate Berkus

“Color is a very personal thing. You need to make sure to choose a color that makes you happy. But I don't recommend accent walls - choose a color you can live with on all four walls.”

Needs Four Color Wall Accents Make You Happy Personal Things Four Walls

Author:Nate Berkus

“I've always felt that color is intrinsically personal. It evokes a tremendous amount of emotion. If there's a color you respond to, that's something you can incorporate into your home. No one can tell you it's wrong.”

Ifs Home Felt Emotion Color Amount Evoke

Author:Nate Berkus

“We're not handling things anymore before they arrive on our doorstep. I like to feel how thin porcelain can be, run my hand over a textile, see if I want to sit in a chair.”

Ifs Want Feels Hands Running Chairs Doorstep Textiles Porcelain

Author:Nate Berkus

“Before you begin designing or buying anything, you need to get real and ask yourself: What do you really want to use this room for? What do you want to do in this room but can't now?”

Want Needs Real Use Asks Rooms Design Buying Get Real

Author:Nate Berkus

“Buying found objects means repurposing something that was already made years before, sometimes decades before. It strikes a nice balance between the new and used equation we should strive for in our lives.”

Should Years Mean Made Sometimes Used Found Nice Our Lives Objects Balance Strive Strikes Decades Buying Equations Found Objects

Author:Nate Berkus

“First and foremost, I'm a decorator and product designer. Everything I do, the television shows, the books, that comes from the design work. It's what I love.”

Firsts Book Shows Design Television Products Designer Working It Television Shows Decorators Design Work

Author:Nate Berkus

“I really can't live without my In-N-Out burgers. Honestly, I can't. Even when I'm doing the whole no-carb thing occasionally, I make an exception for these. They're too delicious to count.”

I Can Whole Honestly Exception Delicious Burgers Carbs

Author:Nate Berkus

“I'm not going to say paint is an easy spruce-up. It takes time, it needs touch-ups, and you have to be very methodical. But it is worth it, and it isn't particularly expensive.”

Needs Easy Paint Expensive Take Time Worth It It Takes Time Methodical

Author:Nate Berkus

“One of the biggest lessons I've learned during my time on 'Oprah' is that everyone wants to be heard. We all want to have our humanity acknowledged - to have others see us for who we truly are. We all want to know that we are valued, we are heard, we are understood.”

Knows Want Humanity Heard Lessons Understood I've Learned My Time

Author:Nate Berkus

“Thread count is actually a lie. Just because a thread count is 1,500 on a set of sheets doesn't mean that they're well-made sheets. Truly, the quality of the cotton and the quality of the way something is woven is much more important than thread count.”

Way Wells Mean Made Important Lying Quality Thread Sheets Woven Cotton

Author:Nate Berkus

About the Author

Born: September 17, 1971
Known for: Interior designer
Quotes: 83

Related Topics

Home Ifs Design Rooms Want Thinking Should Way Feels Space

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

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