How are you supposed to have a sophisticated home without sacrificing the safety of your little ones?
Are there any recent trends that you just can’t wait for them to end?
Although, it is comfortable and super durable, so I get it.
Those would probably be my two main.
Mirrored furniture, too.
We do give our kids mini fake Christmas trees that they can decorate in their room.
They’re only like two feet high, and that is a free-for-all.
But our tree looks like, hopefully, the cover of a magazine.
My toddler is now at the age where she helped me decorate the tree.
That’s a thing.
So your two little ones help you decorate?
Is that a family tradition every year?
So all of it is part of, you know, has become our family tradition.
We don’t have any expectations on our kids.
But our kids are definitely very sensitive to their environment.
If I, like, move something in one room, sometimes I’ll find it pushed back.
Can you tell us more about it?
The importance of it can’t be undermined.
I teamed up with Duracell because they’re a company that really cares about safety and safety of children.
[I’ve] been working with them and understanding.
Those go in string lights.
They go in flameless candles.
They go in remotes for our Christmas tree lights.
They have coated them with a super bitter coating that discourages kids from keeping them in their mouths.
If they tasted it, it’s really gross.
They also have made their packaging virtually impossible to open without a scissors.
You’ve done that, I’m sure, tried to get the battery out.
Why is this so hard to do?
I don’t know especially for kids' toys!
I know, and they’re waiting for you to put that in and let the doll speak.
You’re like, “I’m working on it!
Just give me a minute.”
You’ve got to cut around the entire thing.
But the truth is, there’s a reason for that.
Like, why wouldn’t you do that?
Yeah, I think that’s the ultimate question as a parent.
I mean, listen, safety is a non-starter for us.
We used to have a glass coffee table.
She was 2 years old.
No one was hurt.
But as a parent, you just look through your environment, and everything is a disaster.
You’re meant to have eyes in the back of your head.
We’re all busy.
Because as a parent, you’re always multitasking.
Something’s going on the stove.
You’re, like, cleaning something on the other side.
We’re busy right now.
What is the hardest part about your job?
It’s a good question.
Sometimes it’s getting the things I really want for a particular interior.
But I think the hardest part is probably just trying to keep everything in balance.
Like anybody else, I have my career, and I have my family.
I have my business obligations and my television obligations and my friendship obligations and my daddy obligations.
So it’s trying to always achieve some semblance of balance with that.
I want to bring upOprah, because that’s how you were introduced to the world.
What’s the best advice she gave you when you were starting out?
Ooh, there’s a lot.
Someone stood up and said, “What’s your best advice as a parent?”
And I never forgot that.
I’m with my children.
That’s their time."
“Good morning.”
“How was school?”
What do you like to watch on TV when you get a chance?
Well, I mean this past 18 months, basically everything, truly everything.
My husband [Jeremiah Brent] and I are super into “Yellowstone” right now.
We watched “Succession.”
We watched “Squid Game,” albeit somewhat uncomfortably, but still did it.
[Laughs] There’s so much good TV on right now.
I can’t really watch that at home.
It’s not for me.
That’s what our show, “The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project,” is about.
It’s really about getting to know these people through their things.
Do fans ever stop you on the streets of New York City and ask for design advice?
Do you get that all the time?
Not New Yorkers, but tourists, yes.
It’s always followed up by, like, “Where are you from?”
And it’s like, “Dallas.”
But New Yorkers don’t care.
They’re like, “Hey!
There goes that family that’s on HGTV.
Hey, guys.”
Is there a question that they always tend to ask you?
That’s more of a line.
It’s not necessarily design advice.
What’s next for Nate Berkus?
You have had such a successful career.
What’s something you still want to do that you haven’t accomplished yet?
I come from a place of gratitude.
My work ethic hasn’t changed since I started 26 years ago.
I get to work with a team of people.
Most of my team has worked for me, like, 15, 16, 17 years.
It’s not ego-based.
So I’m not really focused on what I’m doing next.
I really love what I do.
I crafted this life.
