Nate Berkus’ Newly Refined Apartment

A great way to update your home’s interiors and keep your space looking new and fresh is to constantly re-arrange your existing furniture and this is an idea that interior designer Nate Berkus wholeheartedly embraces. I’m a huge Nate Berkus fan…I’ve paid close attention to his personal house tours on the Oprah show and have saved all of the editorials featuring his homes over the years. Needless to say I was beyond delighted to pick up the September issue of Elle Decor and see Nate’s Chicago apartment on the cover looking more refined than ever. In honor of his home’s recent transformation, I decided to take a look back and document how Nate’s apartment has evolved over the past few years.

Here is Nate’s living room again…this time in the winter 2006 issue of O at Home magazine. Here, the Mitchell Gold chairs are positioned in front of the fireplace, the chaise is moved toward the middle of the room and in front of it sits a new brown suede armchair.

Here’s another photo from his O at Home story which features Nate and friends in his dining room. Notice the oil and burlap God Bless America painting by artist Remigo Gudin on the wall.

Here is Nate’s newly rearranged living room as featured on the cover of Elle Decor’s September issue. With the addition of a few stylish pieces to polish up the space, Nate  simply rearranged his existing furniture to give his space a totally new look and the result is beautiful! The bold black and white Madeline Weinrib rug completely grounds the space. His linen sofa is repositioned on the wall where the French console once was. To the left of the sofa is an industrial looking steel shelving unit that was once positioned on a different wall in the room and to the right of the sofa is the God Bless America painting which once resided in his dining area. Behind the sofa is a different Joshua tree photograph by Bengoecha. In the newly created seating arrangement you can also see his Mitchell Gold chair, bergere chair, cocktail table and faux bamboo chairs from the previous photos.

Here’s Nate’s “new” living room from a different perspective. Here you can see more of his existing furniture rearranged. There are also a few new additions including a black linen sofa with a suzani from Nate’s travels draped over it, a green upholstered armchair from Jayson Home & Garden and a distressed looking chest of drawers with an antiqued mirror sitting atop. Nate also dresses up his windows with blue linen curtains from Smith + Noble. The curtains and the new green chair infuse a welcome dose of color into his space that was primarily neutral before.

Here is Nate’s office before. His glass top sawhorse desk was custom made. The rug is from Ralph Lauren Home and the wall hanging is actually an old folk art game board.

Here’s the “new “office. Nate’s additions include linen curtains, two new chairs and a small chest of drawers. The work chair is also reoriented so that Nate works facing the wall whereas before he faced the opposite direction.

This is Nate’s library before the recent transformation. Here you can see the Mexican chair that now sits in front of his living room fireplace.

Here is the same area now. In front of the fireplace is a custom tufted ottoman upholstered in a bright yellow Clarence House velvet. The large painting was replaced with a smaller grouping of artwork and other decorative objects.

Here’s another shot of the library before. The two sofas were Nate’s custom designs.

Here’s another photo of the updated library. A new round coffee table is positioned between the two sofas and against the adjacent wall are two beautiful black leather tufted armchairs that were once in Nate’s bedroom. The Hermes throw draped over one chair is a very chic addition. Could it be the influence of his fashionable boyfriend, shoe designer and Bally Creative Director Brian Atwood? Hmmm….

There’s nothing I love more than an organized closet and Nate’s is organized down to his color coded socks and boxers! The above photo is of his closet/dressing room before…

And this is what it looks like now. Nate updated his closet/dressing room with blue paint, grass cloth wallpaper and some stylish accessories.