Home Rules By Nate Berkus Reviewed
From The Oprah Show To The Written Word; A How-To Design Guide
Apr 22, 2009
On the Oprah Winfrey Show, designer Nate Berkus has long been responsible for transforming many of the talk-show host's guests' homes, revamping and redesigning décor across the U.S.A for both members of the public and also for celebrities in need of a bit of home help. But does this collection of the designer’s Home Rules live up to the spectacular TV transformations?
Home Rules as Taught by Nate Berkus
Nate Berkus presents a collection of his favourite home transformations in Home Rules, with carefully chosen before and after shots by talented, and sadly departed, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, giving clear dos and don’ts on how to furbish each room in a house, from rules on how to pick the best palette of colours, to how to create interesting and beautiful window dressings.
Home Rules goes further than many other design books, as, rather than spending a fortune on new furniture, designer Nate Berkus encourages the reader to be brave and revamp old furniture from flea markets or from on-line auction sites, whilst also suggesting that, when cash is available, the home owner chooses one central piece of furniture they really love and obtains it, even if the item is pricey.
Especially informative in Home Rules is the section author Nate Berkus entitles “Easy Updates” which relates quick and simple ways to transform a room without spending a massive amount of time, simply by changing just one or two key elements, just as the designer often did on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Breaking the transformations into three sections, be it an hour, a day or a weekend, Home Rules designer Nate Berkus offers ways to make simple but effective decorative changes from re-dressing and painting a mantelpiece for a quick fix, to blitzing a room of its clutter and investing in one item of new storage such as an antique set of shelves or a bespoke wardrobe.
Nate Berkus Creates a Philosophy of Design in Home Rules
What becomes clear whilst reading Nate Berkus’ Home Rules is that, far from being simply another home design book that is really a thinly disguised catalogue for affiliated department stores, Berkus has created a philosophy for life in his book Home Rules, and therein highlights ways that almost anyone can manage to make a positive impact on their living space, from the tiniest of studio flats to the grandest town house or country retreat, and empower themselves by doing so.
It's all very much about good energy and positive vibes as Nate Barkus uses Home Rules to introduce the novice to the art of mixing colour palettes, making furniture selections and even in how to sort out closets filled with junk. Whilst to some this might be patronising, author Nate Burkus draws on the up-beat style of the Oprah Winfrey Show where he, in part, made his name, to make the whole process seem fun and organic, if a little fluffy.
Whilst it is fair to say those already experienced in home design may find Home Rules superfluous to their collection, virgins to the home decorating world will rejoice in Nate Berkus’ straightforward, instructional and colourful design book that breaks down redecorating the home into specific, room orientated sections so that every task seems manageable and every idea easy to pursue.
Nate Berkus Helps to Create a Home to Love in Home Rules
A lively and interesting book with some truly helpful sections, Home Rules by Nate Berkus is a thoughtful compendium of decoration staples designed to help the novice in creating their dream home. It is not meant to be daring or even flashy, but a solid foundation of rules to give a reader confidence in making decorative choices, and in that sense, Nate Berkus' Home Rules is an excellent read, but for the experienced it might seem little more than common sense. As to which category the reader belongs, it is up to them to decide.
(Co-writer: Barri Leiner; Principal Photography by Fernando Bengoechea, John Bessler and François Dischinger; Publisher: Hyperion; Pages: 137; Hardback Published 1 November 2005; ISBN 10: 1-4013-01371; ISBN 13: 978-1401301378)
