20 Ideas From Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent’s New LA Home That We Can All Afford

If you’ve missed Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent’s new L.A. home video tour, you can watch it below. The two interior designers opened the doors to their renovated 1920 Spanish colonial, a house that not only came with splendid architectural elements, but also with  love and good energy, as they describe in this Architectural Digest story.

By all means, the house is stunning and while it’s not possible for everyone to make decorating and furnishing choices in that same price range, I picked up a few ideas/details from the duo’s new home that can easily be replicated by many of us. Some of these ideas will not cost too much, others involve just re-arranging decorating pieces and/or furniture, a few will require nothing more than basic do-it-yourself skills, while a couple of ideas are totally free!

Here they are in the order I spotted them on the video [note: all photos are screenshots from the video]

1. A metallic tag for each book category

All the books in Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent new home library are arranged by theme – and that’s something you can easily do if you own many books and haven’t yet organized them. What I liked, though, is that each section was defined by its own little metallic tag, engraved with the books’ category [i.e. modern art, fine art etc.] and attached to the shelf. This may be a tiny detail, but quite a sophisticated one! The tags are actually dog tags ~ as Nate mentions ~ and  they would be easy and inexpensive to make ~ here is a link that can customize similar tags.

2. Concrete Decorative Balls

The owners have placed concrete balls inside the fireplace ~ they’re simple and modern, and because there’s a lot of them, they make quite a statement. Here’s a link for a do-it-yourself project if you want to make decorative concrete balls, at a low cost.  Note here that decorative cement balls would also look nice in any other spot other than the fireplace, like inside an oversized wooden dough bowl, or outdoors in the backyard.

3. Candy Cabinet

In the “Game of Thrones” room (the family’s rec room), the owners store candy, jelly beans and more treats in an antique cabinet. What a great idea for a house that has a playroom or a basement dedicated to movie showing, games, family time and fun! People tend to keep more serious stuff in antique cabinets so candy in display is certainly unexpected! And an antique cabinet is much more elegant (and can sometimes be less expensive) than a builder grade cabinet that has no personality! You can get the entire look of the room and of the cabinet on the video.

4. Inside light in an antique cabinet

Whether you keep family heirlooms, a valuable collection or just candy in an antique cabinet, take note of the interior cabinet light detail, affixed under the shelves. We’re used to seeing interior cabinet lights in more modern cabinets, or in curio cabinets or china and display cabinets, but not in inside an antique piece of furniture. Adding light to an older cabinet (or an armoire with glass doors) sounds like an easy and inexpensive project.

5. Cabinet table lamp

And if you don’t want to deal with any type of light installation, take note of this table lamp inside the closed glass doors of a cabinet ~ what a great and unexpected idea! It adds such warmth to the cabinet and to the space!

6. Cabinet mirror

Another simple and interesting idea is the mirror that the owners hung inside the closed glass doors of the cabinet above. Similar mirrors can be found at most antique and thrift stores at low prices.

7. Curtain Panel Detail

If you like a pom pom trim on your curtain panel or on your shower curtain, but you’re tired of seeing them everywhere, take a look at the little girl’s room ~ her drapes come with a cute detail; at fist, I thought that there were pom poms along the border of the panel, but after a closer look, it seems that they are wooden spheres.  Either way, what makes the difference is that they are of different colors and spaced unevenly along the border of the panel. It would be such an easy do-it-yourself project to glue pom poms or to sew wooden spheres at uneven intervals, along the border of a curtain panel. 

8. Spacing out shoe pairs 

If you can afford to have a splendid shoe closet as well as many many pairs of shoes, do yourself a favor and space out each shoe pair, just like Jeremiah did. My sister noticed this detail and I have to admit that it gives a clean and organized look to the closet. (note: google “shoe closet” images and you’ll agree that entire closets of shoes can sometimes look very messy and unorganized, unlike this one below). Only the owners know if the shelves were made this size intentionally or accidentally, but the space between the shoes surely makes it all look uncluttered and neat.

The kitchen is one space that truly stands out; Nate & Jeremiah kept the cabinets and appliances and replaced the countertops. They painted the walls white and the cabinets taupe. Apart from the layout, the abundant day light and and the few renovations, there are smaller details that also play an important role in making this kitchen so beautiful.

9. Table lamps by the stove

On the left and right sides of the stove, the owners placed a pair of identical table lamps. I’ve often mentioned that adding an ordinary table lamp on the kitchen countertop brings so much warmth and coziness to the kitchen, but I would never had thought of a pair by the stove. They give a “liveable” feel to the kitchen and they add symmetry. I really love this idea!

10. A mirror above the stove

I’ve seen mirrored backsplashes and mirrors above the kitchen sink, but it’s the first time I see an antique mirror above the stove. And I really love it! I couldn’t possibly estimate the price of this mirror, but similar size antique mirrors can be easily found for about $10-$20 at most thrift stores.

11. Greenery in the kitchen

It doesn’t cost much nor does it require a lot of effort to create a little green area on one of the kitchen’s corners~ if space allows for it, of course. Such an idea can be achieved with just a couple of succulents, one or two herb plants and classic kitchen utensils such as a mortar and a pestle, all nicely arranged.

12. Chicken wire cabinet doors

Of course this is not new, but it’s always a nice and totally inexpensive touch: chicken wire on a couple of cabinets always adds that little charm.

13. Stand alone outdoor table

It is very possible that the round table on the left was part of the photo shoot staging ~ or maybe not. Either way, I love a stand alone table in some part of the garden, beautifully decorated like this one, especially when it can also be seen from the indoors, all year round.

A stand alone table in the garden makes also a good additional spot for entertaining outdoors ~ guests can gather around and rest their plates & glasses.

14. Umbrella with a trim & tassels

Take a simple outdoor patio umbrella to a next level by adding a trim and tassels ~ it’s such a simple and easy do-it yourself little project. Just make sure to use good quality trim and thread (or cord) so that they don’t fade from the sun.

15. Small Planters

This garden is full of beautiful and expensive large planters (you can see them on the video). But here’s a totally affordable idea, as seen on the photo above: small Terra Cotta planters & saucers with a succulent or any other small plant, positioned along the back wall, all placed at equal intervals. Of course, we do not all live in California, but many climates would allow for such an idea year round. The same idea can apply to an external windowsill, a small retaining wall, or on a balcony wall. Make sure to use small planters that go with the style of your home.

16. Master Bath Furniture 

I wasn’t able to take good screen shots, but I love the wooden pieces of furniture in the master bath. There’s an antique chair by the bathtub that holds fresh folded towels, a console with a mirror in a corner of the bathroom (that is in addition to the two vanities), but what I like most is the round table in the middle of the bathroom, nicely decorated with a silver tray, a few bathroom essentials, a small photo frame and some greenery. It’s not very often that we would see a round table in the middle of a bathroom (just like in an entryway), but if I had the space, I would definitely consider this idea.

17. Fresh greenery in vases 

You can see one or two small olive tree branches in a vase in most rooms of the house, and that includes the bathroom, the kitchen and hallways. For all of us who do not have an olive tree in our backyard, there is certainly some greenery we can clip from our garden or our balcony all year round. That is a cost free idea, but one we tend to forget.

18. Wood bead garlands 

Pottery Barn used to sell them and I’ve always wanted to make a few decorative garlands with wood beads for the coffee table or to wrap around a table lamp (photo above). I spotted them on a couple of table lamps throughout the video.

19. Smudge sticks

Buy or make your own smudge sticks, burn them or just use them as part of your décor – Nate & Jeremiah have them all over the place!

20. Neutrals, neutrals, neutrals

I know that many people do not totally agree (and of course, everyone has his/her own personal style) but I do believe that using neutrals is not only a beautiful way to decorate a home, but also one that can save money in the long run. Love for a color will eventually wear out or will just go out of style; strong patterns become easily dated. Keeping everything muted with only one or two pieces in strong colors is a much better way to go, it allows for switching things around in the home, leaves less room for mistakes, and gives endless styling possibilities. Plus, neutrals work with any style!