by Nate Berkus
TALI MAGAL
I found this “driftwood angel” while walking along the beach in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, back in 2003. She literally washed ashore right at our feet and stood there shining in the sun like a dancing angel. She has now lived with me in all my New York City apartments since I found her and is always displayed in a place of pride. Our angel serves to remind us of nature, the oceans, LOVE … and it makes me feel protected.
KATHRYN STOCKETT
Sometimes it’s who the gift is from, other times it’s the gift itself that makes it so important to you. In this case, it was both. My favorite book in the world is Lolita. Amy Einhorn, my publisher, sent me this signed copy for my birthday. She searched and begged and haggled—I cried when I received it. It’s not just RARE—it’s pretty darn flammable. It’s what I’d grab if the house was on fire.
P.S. I wonder what Nabokov’s publisher gave him that he cherished?
MAYA ANGELOU
These figures, in The Passing of Sister Sookie by Phoebe Beasley, resemble women in my grandmother’s prayer meeting group. I have carried this painting all over the world and I hang it in a room where I spend most of my time. I was at 20th Century Fox as their first Black female writer/producer and I hung it on a wall opposite my desk. Wherever I am, anywhere in the world, and whenever I’m there, if I question the morality of a situation in which I find myself, I look at the painting and ask, “What would Momma do?” I can almost hear her say, “Now, Sister, you know right from wrong, do right, just do right.”
CARLOS HUBER
These books are important to me because they represent who and what I love. They were a gift from Nate from our first year together, and they are first-edition architecture books from 1738. The author, J. F. Blondel, was extremely influential in architectural history. To be able to appreciate the illustrations and read the texts MAKES ME SO HAPPY. I love these books, and books love you back.…
PAULA LEUTWYLER
Even though I have traveled extensively throughout my life, nothing prepared me for the extraordinary city of Venice. The first time we visited, we were fortunate enough to stay at the Hotel Danieli. Again, I was ill-prepared for the opulence and beauty of everything around me. At the end of the trip, I wanted something to remind me of this place. I could not find anything—except the key to the room where we stayed; please don’t tell anyone.…
DONNA BRAZILE
The masks are from Africa. Bought them or brokered for them in several countries—South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Somalia, and Nigeria. They are my connection to my ancestral homeland. They bring to life what only spirit can show—warmth, compassion, and grace.
CHRISTINA SALWAY
Our wedding cake topper is particularly meaningful to me and my husband, not only because it serves as a wonderful, everyday memento of our wedding, but also because it’s such a perfect symbol of our life together—a little kooky, definitely romantic, and always uniquely ours.…
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book—and, in fact, my life and joys as I know them—would not be possible without the following exceedingly special, creative, warm, often hysterically funny people who have mattered, and continue to matter, to me. I wish to thank:
My family, which keeps expanding, thanks to my two sisters-in-law, Yassi and Kelly. My niece Kate; her brother, Chase; my niece Chloe; and the Goose, otherwise known as Caden, whose three-year-old voice I hope against hope never changes.
To my siblings—Jesse, Steve, Marni, Dan, and Bob—you are all such an important part of my life; I respect and admire the lives you have created for yourselves.
My parents, Nancy and Marshall Golden, and Michael and Sher Berkus.
Kristin Giese, whose leadership, creativity, thrifting skills, Dairy Queen radar, and guidance have brought me to where I am, which happens to be exactly where I want to be.
The incredibly talented staff of Nate Berkus Inc., in both Chicago and NYC, who continue to inspire me each day.
Holly Jacobs and the Too Live Crew at Sony Pictures Television.
All of my dear friends at Harpo.
Executive producer of spectacular birthday dinners, Nantucket holidays, casino security, as well as TV shows, Corin Nelson.
Julie Grau and the team at Spiegel & Grau and Random House.
Richard Pine, Rich Heller, Richard Hoffstetter, for your solid advice 24/7, I thank you.
To all of you who agreed to be a part of this new sort of design book, I thank you for allowing all of us into your homes and telling your stories.
Michael and Brooke Hainey, Carlos Huber, Brian Sawyer, Ahmad Sardar-Afkhami, Andre Viana, Andre Mellone, Marjorie Gubelman, Alondra de la Parra, Princess Olga of Greece, Claudia Levy, Jonathan Lelonek, Pierre-Henri Mattout, Barbara Marion Berger, the Soboroff family, the Stone sisters, Steve Berg, Amanda McPhillips, Jason Kurtz, Kevin Boyer, the Bengoechea family, Oprah Winfrey, Sheri Salata, Scott Seviour, Barri Leiner, and Rich Baretta.
To photographers Roger Davies, Rainer Hosch, and Kevin Trageser, as well as writer Peter Smith and book designer Gabriele Wilson, you made this dream a reality.
And to Lisa Kogan, the sensitivity, grace, and vulnerability with which you captured my story and the stories in this book have brought me to free-falling tears of gratitude on more than one occasion. Thank you, friend with a magic pen.
MANY THANKS TO
AHMAD SARDAR-AFKHAMI
ALISON WILCOX
ALYSON WEDER
BARBARA BERGER
BARRI LEINER-GRANT
BILLY BENGOECHEA
BOB BERKUS
BOE BENGOECHEA
BROOKE CUNDIFF
BRYNN OLSON
CADEN BERKUS
CARLOS HUBER
CHASE BERKUS
CORIN NELSON
DAN BERKUS
DEBORAH KIERSCH
DONNA ULNER
JESSE GOLDEN
JULIE GRAU
KATE BERKUS
KELLY BERKUS
KELLY GEHRS
KRISTIN GIESE
LAUREN GOLD
LISA KOGAN
LIZ LYNCH
MARCELO BENGOECHEA
MARILISA BENGOECHEA
MARNI GOLDEN
MARSHALL GOLDEN
MEREDITH SMERCHEK
MERV LEVIN
MICHAEL BERKUS
MICHAEL HAINEY
NANCY GOLDEN
OPRAH WINFREY
PHOEBE CRAIG
RICHARD HELLER
RICHARD PINE
SASHA ADLER
SHER BERKUS
STEVE BERKUS
TARA SHADE
YASSI BERKUS
(Illustration Credit bm1.1)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
All photographs by Roger Davies, except:
The art of Fernando Bengoechea: 2.20 and 2.21; photographs by Fernando Bengoechea.
Photograph courtesy of Fabiola Beracasa: 12.3. Frame by Davies and Starr/ The Image Bank/Getty Images.
Photographs courtesy of Nate Berkus: col8.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.13, 1.15, 2.2, 2.3, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, 15.4.
Photographs by Corbis: 2.14 (map) © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS and 2.17 © Oliver Strewe/Corbis.
Photographs of shells by Jules Frazier/Photodisc/Getty Images: 2.14 and 4.3.
Photograph by Evan Gaffney: 9.1 and 9.1.
Photograph by Anthony Hatley/Millennium Images, UK: 13.1 and 13.1.
Photograph courtesy of Barbara Hill: 9.3. Frame by Davies and Starr/The Image Bank/ Getty Images.
Photograph of Barbara Hill courtesy of The Miss America Organization: 9.18.
Photographs by Julie Holder/Sony Pictures Television: 15.6 and 15.7.
Photographs by Rainer Hosch: col5.1, col6.1, 15.2, 15.8, 15.23 (bottom left and upper right), 15.26, 15.29.
Photograph 5.1 and 5.1 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY.
Photograph of starf
ish by Siede Preis/Photodisc/Getty Images: 4.3.
Photograph of temple on 2.14 by Martin Puddy/The Image Bank/Getty Images.
Photograph by Chip Simons/Gallery Stock: 3.3.
Photographs by Kevin Trageser: col3.1, 1.1, 1.14, 2.1, 2.13, 2.14 (beads), 2.15, 2.16, 2.19, 3.1–3.1, 3.4, 3.7, 3.10, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 3.17, 3.18, 8.1–8.1, 8.2, 8.5, 8.7–8.8, 8.8, 8.10, 8.12, 8.15, 8.16, 8.17, 12.1–12.1, 12.5, 12.6, 12.8, 12.10, 12.13, 12.16, 15.1–15.1, 15.4, 15.5, 15.11, 15.17, 15.22, 15.25, 15.29.
Image on 7.1 and 7.1 © 2012 by Florence Broadhurst. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Jenny Mörtsell: bm.1.
Photographs courtesy of the subjects: bm1.1.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nate Berkus is founder of the interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates. For two years he was the host of The Nate Berkus Show, an Emmy Award–winning, nationally syndicated daytime talk show. His work has appeared in Elle Decor, O: Oprah Magazine, InStyle, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and House Beautiful. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Home Rules. He lives in New York City.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Roger Davies arrived in New York at the age of 22, after studying photography and film in England. His work was taken him around the world and his photographs have graced the of Architectural Digest, AD (France), Condé Nast Traveler, Harper’s Bazaar UK, and Elle Decor. He lives in Laurel Canyon, California, with his wife and son.