Famous Interior Designers: Nate Berkus Style
Looking to give your home a makeover? We’re taking inspiration from one of the world’s most famous interior designers, Nate Berkus (yep, you’ll remember him from Oprah!). Here are five easy ways to incorporate his stunning style into your own home.
Bring the outdoors in
Nate often juxtapose organic and geometric forms, especially with actual plants. No matter the season, you can bring fresh flowers, dried leaves, driftwood decor elements, or other outdoor items into a room and give it new life. Use them as focal points or simply to break up a space. This is also an opportunity to incorporate colour and texture in fresh, exciting ways.
Play with pattern
Some design rules are meant to be broken. Nate believes the rule about not mixing patterns is one of them! Picking a few small pillows with different designs adds visual interest, even when combined with a larger patterned piece like a rug. Just make sure the colours don’t clash, the patterns are not all similar in size, and the total amount of patterns in one room is not excessive. The idea is to mix a few patterns in a fun way, not to overrun the space with paisley, dots, and checks.
Make colour count
Begin with a restricted palette consisting mainly of neutrals. Utilise several shades of the same neutral; for example, try placing beige and tan pillows on a russet or sepia lounge. Add in one or two bright accent pieces for a pop of colour. This also makes it easy to do seasonal changes in your decor simply by switching out those colourful accessories – think bright yellows and oranges for summer, cool blues and greys for winter.
Mix textures and fabrics
Nate prefers to make rooms interesting by drawing the eye to different surfaces with varying fabrics, finishes, and textures. Looking at his rooms you’ll often find chrome fixtures, a deep pile rug, both finished and unfinished wood furniture, leather pillows, and crisp linen curtains. Throw blankets and runners are a quick and simple way to add a little variety to a lounge room or bedroom.
Show off your books
According to Nate, a room should reflect the people who live in it and use it each day. An easy way to do this is with books. Whether placed neatly on open shelves, arranged between book ends, or stacked beneath an eye-catching paperweight, there are many options besides tucking books behind closed doors or just leaving them strewn about the room. Some books are beautiful or interesting enough to display as art in their own right, but you can just as easily show off a small collection of cookbooks or vintage books.
What are your favourite home decorating tips?
