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Nate Berkus Biography

Interior Decorator

Nate Berkus is a Chicago-based interior decorator whose many appearances on television have made him a national celebrity. He has appeared many times on the Home and Garden and Do It Yourself cable channels, and is a regular on Oprah Winfrey's daytime talk show. Berkus grew up in California and Minnesota and began his career in decorating as an intern in Paris and Chicago. He opened his own firm in 1995, at the age of 24, and quickly became well-known in high society as the decorator to hire for residences, restaurants and retail stores (his firm requires a $50,000 minimum budget). In December of 2004 Berkus and his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, were swept away by a tsunami while vacationing in Sri Lanka. Berkus survived, but Bengoechea disappeared.

Extra credit: Berkus's mother, Nancy Golden, is also a decorator who appears on cable TV... Some sources list his birth year as 1972.