Nate Berkus Best of House Proud

Nate Berkus Best of House Proud

One of my favorite shows, The Nate Berkus Show, has a segment called House Proud.  This segment embodies his motto to “love the way you live”.  It showcases viewers who are proud of their resourceful decorating efforts, many of which achieve this on a budget.  They shop at thrift stores, flea markets, and even search dumpsters!  House Proud is a great resource for design inspiration.

Here are some of my favorite House Proud guests.

Carole from Philadelphia, also known as the “Dumpster Diva”, has an entire room made out of trash!  She and her girlfriends have dinner and then go dumpster diving as a hobby.  She has found some amazing things including two 1930’s fireplace mantels.  She placed one on top of the other to create height and framed out other treasured finds. She refurbishes or repurposes her finds and literally turns trash into treasure.

Michelle from Tuscan has some great ideas. She used a white slip cover on a pair of office chairs with clean modern lines similar to the one below.  She found them on the side of the road and picked them up for free.  She used the two chairs at each end of her dining table.  Another idea she had was to sew two linen napkins or an old baby blanket to make throw pillows.

Mandi Gubler calls her style thrift shop glam.  She used acid on these mirrors to eat away the reflected coating and then placed fabric behind them to make this vintage design.  She also collected old mirrors and painted them all one color and displayed them in the entryway of her home for a dramatic effect.  Mandi also combined two inexpensive rugs by cutting out a zebra pattern and merged them together…genius!

Lizzie Carney lives in a small 1930’s bungalow.  She definitely has a knack for decorating for a small space.  Many of her finds are from reclaimed wood and lumber and salvaged materials.  She has seven chandeliers, three of which are in her kitchen. She also turned her den into a gorgeous dressing room; a room she uses every day.

I saved the best for last. Barbara’s home is an old dance hall.  Her design is all natural materials, concrete, wood, metal, steel, and has no paint.  Her coffee table is made out of and old postal sorting table similar to the one shown below.  Her home has an amazing industrial style that I love.  She used a giant metal sign on hanging rollers as a room divider that slides to create privacy.  She also attached skateboard wheels to metal armoires that also doubled as room dividers.