Nate Berkus's 5 Secrets For Creating a Home You’ll Never Want to Leave

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Nov 19, 2025

Nate Berkus, a renowned interior designer and author, shares his secrets for crafting spaces that feel like home. He highlights the importance of personal history in design and provides tips for avoiding fleeting trends. Vintage finds are a game-changer, adding soul to your space, while practical advice on sourcing and furniture quality ensures your choices are both stylish and meaningful. Nate emphasizes the joy in the creative process and urges listeners to define their unique style with confidence—transforming any bland space into a warm, inviting sanctuary.

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ADVICE

Add Character To Rentals With Vintage Finds

To add character to bland rentals, prioritize vintage finds and unique small objects.
Nate recommends pottery, salvaged pieces, and consistent stylistic choices over random eclectic clutter.

INSIGHT

Learn Style Vocabulary To Mix Confidently

Knowing the furniture eras and styles helps you mix pieces confidently and create cohesion.
Nate teaches that learning style vocabulary reveals natural pairings across periods.

ADVICE

Use Flowers And Branches For Instant Drama

Use fresh low-cut flowers and tall branches to add immediate scale and polish.
These inexpensive touches create drama and elevate a photographed or lived-in room.

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Have you ever walked into someone’s home and instantly felt something—warmth, calm, personality, creativity—and wondered why your own space doesn’t give you that same amazing feeling? In this episode, I sit down with the world’s top interior designer Nate Berkus to unpack the psychology behind creating your dream home—a place you're so proud of you never want to leave.

Nate breaks down practical tips to find your style, avoid trends, and insert more of you into your home, sharing that the real key to great design isn’t money or square footage—it’s your personal history. He also encourages you to shop local, lean into sustainability with vintage or thrifted finds, and enjoy the creative process of finding “that special piece you’ll have forever”.

Whether you're living in a bland rental or renovating a house, this episode gives you practical steps and advice you can use today to have a landing place that makes you feel incredible.

🎧 What you’ll learn:

Why “eclectic style” is often code for “I don’t know what I like”
How to figure out who you are at home—and why that’s the start of great design
The real reason your rental feels flat (and how to fix it with cheap vintage finds)
Why trends exist (hint: they’re not for your benefit)
The four principles Nate uses to create personal, elevated, collected spaces
How to build confidence in your own taste—even if design intimidates you
Why vintage pieces instantly add soul and character (and what should never be vintage)
How to combine contrasting styles without creating chaos
A simple assignment to instantly sharpen your design direction

✨ Homework: Find a photo of a room you genuinely love. Identify three things you love about the room and three things you don’t. Use the details you love as search terms to start uncovering your design language.

For more from Nate Berkus:

His Book, Foundations: Timeless Design That Feels Personal
His Website
His Instagram, @nateberkus

Visit www.liveauctioneers.com to find a live auction for special vintage finds near you as suggested by Nate.

Check out the previous episodes of The Liz Moody Podcast discussed today: Style And Success Secrets With Fashion Icon Rachel Zoe.

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This podcast and website represent the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions.

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