Nate Berkus's 9 Tips For Living More Luxuriously on a Budget

Nate likes to take inexpensive grocery store bouquets and split them into smaller arrangements, so he can enjoy them around the house. "Regardless of how much money we have or don’t have or where we live, everybody wants to live better. These kind of little moments make that easier," said Nate.

Nate admitted he isn't the hugest fan of accent walls — especially in new construction rooms without a lot of architectural details — but thought there are ways to work around that. "Painting a wall or a room black can be really effective: the walls start to recede, and it feels really sexy and very elegant," he said. He recommends experimenting with niches, like these shelves.

You should never splurge on a headboard, Nate insisted. "They’re online — you can find them everywhere. I tend to personalize headboards by draping a textile over the back of it. That way, it's very easy to change out," he said. This shibori fabric is a great example!

Nate reasoned that it's more important to have comfortable, quality pieces that you really love. One of the biggest small-space culprits? The studio-size sofa. "If you don't put four chairs in the room or two huge chairs, you can get a proper 84-inch-size sofa in the space, and you're going to have more comfortable seating than if you had lots of small pieces that were 'designed' to fit in the apartment or small space. I would rather have graciousness than quantity," said Nate. His advice? Take measurements.

Nate believes that people are happiest with their space when they take risks and are honest with themselves about what they really love. He said he likes when people decide, "I'm going to use this room in this way. Even though it's a formal dining room, I'm going to put two sofas facing each other in it, and I want to hang out in here in a different way than the home builder intended or how my neighbor next door has it set up."

"If something is made by hand or vintage or unique, chances are, it’s going to feel like your home has been assembled over time," Nate said. His Kryptonite? Nineteenth-century gold-framed mirrors, baskets, and Peruvian textiles.

Nate attributes his neatness to being a Virgo, but thinks adopting daily tidying rituals like making the bed every morning help to cultivate a sense of pride at home. "It literally always looks like somebody could come in with their lighting and take photographs of my home that afternoon. I don't understand how to live any other way. That may change because there's a baby on the way — then I'll probably be stepping on Legos and saying, 'Remember when I made my bed every day?' But we'll see," he said.

As a strong believer in the psychology of scent, Nate loves to layer his home with fragrances that put him at ease. "I gravitate toward lavenders, vanillas, anything that indicates that the home just got out of a bath. I like everything to feel sort of beachy and light and very fresh," said Nate.

Photo by Samantha Goh via Homepolish