Nate Berkus on Kitchen Design (My Interview!)

As a blogger, I get emails in my inbox on a daily basis from PR companies asking if I’m interested in interviewing this person or that one. Often the requests are kind of bizarre. Like do I want to interview this architect about the new wing he designed for a Florida monastery, this author of a book on LEGO crafts, this plastic surgeon with a new age-defying moisturizer, or this toilet company about the trend towards using bidets. All true emails. And while I guess that bidet one could have made for an interesting post (ha!), most are quick “no thanks” replies and deletes.

But then I got this email in my inbox about a month ago asking if I wanted to interview Nate Berkus. My first thought was that it was funny that there’s some other guy out there with the same name as THE Nate Berkus. And then I realized that this was THAT Nate Berkus – umm…. yes! Love him!

I’ve followed Nate Berkus ever since he was on Oprah about 15 years ago and have loved seeing the amazing path that his career has taken. In addition to founding an interior design firm, he was the host of his own TV show for two years, has written two books, has had collections at Target, Calico Corner, and The Shade Store, and currently has a TV show (Nate & Jeremiah By Design) on TLC. How’s that for accomplished? 

So what did we get to chat about? Kitchen design! One of my favorite topics at the moment since I’m currently planning our own kitchen remodel. You can check out my interview with Nate below – he had lots of great tips and ideas when it comes to designing a kitchen! They cut out the first minute or so of our interview when we just chit-chatted (I’m sure they’re used to editing for professional media outlets – next time, I’ll have to let them know we like chit-chat over here!) but it’s so worth a watch:

(If you have any issues with not being able to get the volume up loud enough, you might have better luck watching it directly on YouTube {here} where you can adjust the volume on both your computer AND the video itself – just click over, hover over the video on YouTube, and slide the slider on the bottom left corner to the right) 

A few of my favorite takeaways from our interview (and some pics of Nate’s past kitchen designs!):

What are Your Tips for Designing a Timeless, Yet Not Boring Kitchen?

Nate: “My best advice to keep a kitchen sort of timeless and classic and not boring is the color palette. The truth is that you can get away with using lots of different materials, lots of different new and interesting combinations as long as you keep everything neutral.” “You don’t have to have the white kitchen with the subway tile and Carrara, you can do things that are interesting as long as it’s still in the neutral family.”

On the video, Nate shows off his brand new kitchen (he had just finished it the day before the interview!) in LA while talking about a few things he did to achieve the “timeless yet not boring” goal. I LOVE how he stained his butcher block counter tops black – brilliant for inexpensive countertops that make a statement! 

 

What Do You Think About the Trend Toward Dark Cabinets?

Nate: “I think color is really personal and I think with a painted cabinet it’s obviously something that you can change in ten years or in five years you might need to because painted cabinetry requires some maintenance. I like the deeper colors. I think most people would look at original cabinetry from the ’20s and think, “Why isn’t this white?” and I look at it and think, “What color can it be?”.” “I think when you err on the side of safer, warmer, kind of deeper tones and neutral tones, the kitchen will last longer.”

This kitchen designed by Nate is one of my favorites of his that features dark cabinetry. It definitely falls into the “neutral but not boring” category – love the added detail of the gridded glass separating the kitchen from the living space!

 

What Are Your Tips for Using More Than One Finish Without it Getting Too Chaotic

Nate: “More than one metal I think can be beautiful. I think when you start to get four, five, six different finishes in the same kitchen, it looks like you just had a tough time deciding. I don’t mind mixing metals though.” 

His answer to this question is a must-watch on the video because Nate points out the different finishes in his kitchen including his black, stainless steel refrigerator (which is gorgeous!), brass hardware, and light oak cabinetry and how that all works together. He really is the master at mixing metals, this previous kitchen that he designed shows that as well with the silver stool bases, gold island and shelving brackets, and brass metal art on the backsplash:

 

Will the Beautiful Patterned Floor & Backsplash Tiles That Are Popular Today Stand the Test of Time? 

Nate: “Would I build a patterned tile into my own home? Maybe in a powder room or in a secondary bathroom or a laundry room. In a kitchen in the center of my home? The answer is no. I think if you want to incorporate pattern, get on Etsy, find beautiful dish towels, start collecting vintage pottery or dishes and mix that in, take your grandmother’s dishes and have those sitting out on the counter… I think that it’s pretty and I don’t dislike patterned floors or patterned backsplashes but I think that it’s just not as safe as doing something neutral.”  

I totally agree with Nate on this one – I LOVE all of the new patterned tile so much but don’t think I’ll be bringing it into my kitchen for fear of how quickly it might go out of style. It sure does look gorgeous though! He definitely had some good ideas for bringing in pattern with smaller items that you can easily change out in the future.

 

Budget Kitchen Remodels: What Are the Small Things You’ve Found that Can Make a Big Difference in Kitchen Design?

Nate: “For sure upgrading the hardware, for sure painting the cabinets. If you use the right primer and you sand first, you can do that yourself in a weekend. You can upgrade the window shade or the window treatment.  There’s lots of small expense, high impact things. But if you are renovating, let’s talk about what NOT to save money on because if you have the opportunity to renovate or build full scale, I would say that you need to invest in the best appliances that you can afford. It doesn’t matter how much time people like you or I can spend researching the perfect backsplash tile or the perfect brass knob, if you have a hungry family and your refrigerator doesn’t work, it’s over.”

You have to see Nate’s refrigerator demo on the video – you knock on the refrigerator door twice and you can see inside of it – how cool is that? I’m just starting to look at appliances for our kitchen and am amazed by all of the new features that are available! 

The interview wraps up with me asking Nate about how in the world he’s able to juggle everything he does, especially now that he’s added being a dad to his resume! Love his answer – definitely something I’m still working on myself. 🙂

I hope you all enjoyed the interview! I just started my YouTube channel where this video is hosted and I have all of… 1 follower – woo hoo! I’m going to start posting video tours of my home and a few other things so now’s a good time to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of it – you can do that {here} – just click the red “Subscribe” button on the right!

Thanks Nate – let’s do this again some time :)! I’ll be back next week when I’m sharing my all-time favorite “before” and “after” projects – see you then!