Inside Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent’s Nursery for Daughter Poppy
Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent have unveiled their biggest labor of love to date.
In the October issue of Architectural Digest, the couple share the nursery they designed for their 5-month-old daughter, Poppy, in the family’s new apartment in New York City. Even cuter: Poppy joined her proud dads for the cover shoot, showing the world just how much she’s grown since making her debut in PEOPLE in May.
“We knew we wanted to have a family and that we wanted to raise our child in New York,” Berkus, 43, tells the magazine. Adds Brent, “The day we closed on the apartment, we were walking through Washington Square, and I told Nate, ‘We have to treasure this.’ For two kids from Minnesota and California to be living in this apartment on lower Fifth? It’s insane. I always wanted to live beautifully, and the idea of Nate and Poppy and me creating a life here together…”
Douglas Friedman/Architectural Digest
Berkus and Brent and are known for bringing the best of glamour and comfort to their designs — and the interior designers didn’t disappoint when collaborating on Poppy’s bedroom. Complete with grey and white wallpaper, a traditional crib, and metallic accessories, the nursery is a continuation of the aesthetic the dads chose for their Greenwich Village home.
“In all of my work, I look at a house and think about the moments that will happen there, the moments we all long to create,” Brent, 30, explains. “Where will I hold my daughter on Saturday mornings? Where will my husband and I sit and reflect and recharge?”
Douglas Friedman/Architectural Digest
Personal touches that hold deep meaning for the couple pepper the home. An image of Joshua Tree National Park taken by photographer Fernando Bengoechea, Berkus’ former partner who died in the 2004 tsunami while the two were vacationing in Sri Lanka, hangs above a reading nook.
“That work is central to Nate’s life,” Brent says. “So we put it in the center of our house, Poppy’s playroom.” Adds Berkus, “Everyone should be able to sit in a room with pieces that spark memories. If you create the feeling that a home is a vessel for stories and memories, you have succeeded.”
Douglas Friedman/Architectural Digest
When the duo weren’t creating a chic space for their little one, they got to work on a shoe closet that looks straight out of Sex and the City. As daunting as it can be to renovate shared spaces with a spouse (let alone a fellow design star like Berkus), Brent says the process was rewarding.
“The energy we discovered working on our home together is unlike anything else,” he says. “It’s totally unfiltered. We do our best work when we are together.”
Berkus echoed the sentiment, saying Brent, who is the new host of Home Made Simple, has inspired his work. “I look back and realize that before I met Jeremiah, I had sort of stopped seeing,” he says. “Being with him and starting to see through his eyes — I was rejuvenated.”
Douglas Friedman/Architectural Digest
It’s been a big year for the couple, who welcomed Poppy in March and celebrated their one-year marriage anniversary in May. The designers tied the knot at the New York Public Library in 2014.
Douglas Friedman/Architectural Digest
— Nick Maslow