Nate Berkus on timeless design

Nate Berkus is telling homeowners to stop buying for the moment and start buying for the long haul. (designerstoday.com) In a March 10, 2026 interview, Berkus said he is “more intentional about quality and creating pieces that will endure” after 30 years in design. He tied that approach to his new book, *Foundations*, which distills his process “room by room.” (designerstoday.com) Berkus also said, “I’ve always been anti-trend,” while repeating a line he has used for years: “A home should tell the story of who you are.” CBS News described him in November 2025 as a designer with 30 years of work across apartments, celebrity homes and product lines. (designerstoday.com) (cbsnews.com) That stance is landing as color-heavy decorating keeps spreading online and into retail marketing. Living Spaces describes “color drenching” as covering a room in one color or close tonal variations, and it is currently promoting terracotta, green and warm brown versions of the look. (livingspaces.com) Berkus is not rejecting color outright. In the same March interview, he said fatherhood made him more open to “color and pattern,” while still aiming for rooms that feel “layered, lived-in and personal from day one.” (designerstoday.com) His own 2026 comments point to a narrower palette than the fast-turn trend cycle usually does. In a January 6, 2026 interview, he said he was noticing “deeper, earth-rooted colors” paired with hand-finished woods, plaster and stone “with irregularity.” (homesandgardens.com) That puts earthy greens and terracotta closer to Berkus’s taste than novelty shades, especially when they show up in natural materials or as accents around older pieces. Hunker, citing his earlier work, describes his palette as warm whites, beige, browns and muted greens, with stronger color added in smaller doses. (hunker.com) The business around him is built for that mix of permanence and refresh. His firm says its projects are guided by interiors that “evolve over time and feel deeply personal,” and his current partnerships include RugsUSA, The Shade Store and Living Spaces, alongside new 2026 lines in tile, wallpaper and children’s furniture. (nateberkus.com) (designerstoday.com) The result is a decorating formula that is less about swearing off trends than controlling where they show up: buy the sofa, table or rug for 10 years, then change the room with paint, textiles or a saturated wall color. That is the same balance Berkus has been describing in 2026 — quality first, personality always, and trends only if they fit the story already in the room. (designerstoday.com) (homesandgardens.com)