Every now and then, I get the chance to sit down with someone whose influence extends well beyond the collecting world. For decades, Nate has been a force in interior design, an author, a TV personality, a collaborator with some of the biggest names in retail, and now the creative mind behind his new line, Nate Home. But beyond the career highlights, what drew me to Nate was his approach to collecting. It isn’t performative or trend-driven. It’s about living with objects that carry memory, history, and beauty. Whether it’s a 19th-century French table, silver ceremonial tusk ornaments picked up in Laos, or a Patek Aquanaut worn to mark a milestone, Nate understands how objects, when chosen with intention, can build the layers of a life.
My introduction to Nate actually came through my late Mother, who always had an eye for design. She once told me, “This is the guy you want to pay attention to. He’s the best.” That stuck with me, and years later it’s a full-circle moment to call him a friend (and, admittedly, the person I bug constantly for design advice).
Growing Up Surrounded by Patina
Nate’s early years in suburban Minneapolis were filled with estate sales, antique malls, and long afternoons spent watching his mother pick through objects for their history and finish. It was like an internship in taste before he even hit his teenage years. His chore as a kid was hauling wallpaper books out of her car, but more importantly, he absorbed her philosophy: patina gives an object soul, and the layers of age are irreplaceable. That early education never left him, and today it still guides how he sources for projects and curates pieces for clients or his storefronts on Chairish and 1stDibs.
After college, Nate spent time at an auction house in Chicago, where he got his first experience in the secondary market. He describes it with a grin as “the thrill of death, debt, and divorce.” The unpredictability of auctions, where you never quite know what you might find, shaped his love for the hunt. By 1995, he founded his own design firm not from a grand master plan, but partially because he didn’t want to keep paying fines for being late to Monday morning meetings. Design was what he knew he could do, so he went all in.
From Oprah to a Philosophy of Design
Of course, the turning point came when Oprah discovered him. For over a decade, Nate appeared monthly on her show, bringing makeovers to millions. That platform introduced him to publishing, licensing, and media on a scale he hadn’t imagined. More importantly, it taught him to play the long game with his brand like how to say no when necessary and avoid chasing quick wins.
What has stayed constant throughout his career is his belief in mixing old with new. In his interiors, he aims for roughly 85 percent vintage. For him, originality is everything. A home should feel like it has lived lives before its current occupants. He told me about a 19th-century French round table with an original black marble top that once anchored his West Village home. When the buyers insisted on keeping the table, he reluctantly agreed and still jokes that he’s bitter about it. That kind of attachment only comes when an object carries history.
The Thrill of Sourcing
Nate’s storefronts on Chairish and 1stDibs grew out of a simple need: helping clients resell pieces after projects wrapped up. But what began as a service turned into a passion. Today, he spends nights scrolling through auctions and online marketplaces, still chasing the same thrill he felt as a kid running through antique malls.
One recent find was a pair of Luigi Caccia Dominioni leather and brass reading lamps from the 1960s, weighted to perch perfectly on the arm of a chair. For Nate, they’re as sculptural as they are functional. These are the pieces that excite him: rare, beautifully designed, and versatile.
Collecting Through Joy and Hardship
Collecting has also been a lifeline through hardship. After losing his partner in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Nate wasn’t thinking about design or antiques. But about a year later, he found himself back in an antique mall. The familiar feeling of searching and spotting treasures became one of the first signs he was reconnecting with himself. For him, objects are markers of memory and survival.
Every major milestone in his career has been marked with a watch, usually vintage, and often tied to a story. Trips with his husband, Jeremiah Brent, are remembered through objects brought home like those silver tusk ornaments from Laos. To Nate, collecting is never just accumulation. It’s shorthand for life’s biggest and smallest moments.
Watches and Proportions
Naturally, watches have played their part. Nate wore his Patek Aquanaut during our conversation and spoke about how, for years, he would celebrate achievements with a new watch purchase. But never new from the boutique, always vintage, always with character. He admitted he’s a little disillusioned with today’s watch market, where prices feel absurd and some of his own pieces would now be out of reach. Still, he finds inspiration in their design. Case shapes, dial proportions, and finishing influence the way he sees furniture and interiors. For him, both are about detail and balance.
The Collectors Gene Rundown
The One That Got Away: A Patek Philippe steel Nautilus, reference 3800, from his birth year, 1971. It was stolen twice, once in the tsunami and once again in a burglary. Insurance softened the blow, but he still longs for it.
The On Deck Circle: Paintings and estate jewelry. Nate is slowly building a collection of artworks that bring him joy, from old masters to mid-century Spanish painters.
The Unobtainable: A Fontana slashed canvas. He tracked one at Christie’s hoping to slip in with a bid, but prices had already soared.
The Page One Re-Write: If money were no object, he would collect diamonds, based on cut, clarity, and scale, and maybe even old cars, though his lack of garage space keeps that idea in check.
The GOAT: AB Rosen and Samantha Boardman for their taste in furniture and jewelry, and Arie Kopelman for showing that humor and whimsy can shape a collection.
The Hunt or The Ownership: No hesitation, the hunt. The thrill of discovery, learning, and surprise never fades.
Do You Feel That You Were Born With The Collector’s Gene?: A thousand percent, yes.
Closing Thoughts
Talking with Nate Berkus proves just how universal collecting really is. Most of my guests lean into watches, cars, or narrowly defined categories of luxury, but Nate brings the same instincts to furniture, art, silver, and design. At its best, collecting is about how we mark time, how we connect with memory, and how we shape our surroundings. And in Nate’s case, it’s also about how you build a life. Layer by layer, object by object, story by story.
