I knew that I was a gay boy fairly early; what was interesting to me was that my mother didn’t know. She made me play baseball - I had no desire to do that. I said, ‘Mom, I don’t like direct sunlight, I don’t like bugs, I don’t like grass, and I’d rather be in the house playing with your fabric samples.’

Buying found objects means repurposing something that was already made years before, sometimes decades before. It strikes a nice balance between the new and used equation we should strive for in our lives.

I was barely in grade school when I helped my mother rearrange the living room furniture for the first time.

It's important how we feel in our homes, because feeling good makes us more gracious. And that makes it easier to welcome others not only into our homes but into our lives.

I think I was the only kid on the block who knew about furniture scale by the time I was 8.

Working on 'Big Give' was an opportunity that I felt compelled to do. It was my chance to share in showing people how they can give big in their own life, to send the message that giving goes way beyond the gift of money. We want to share that the best thing you can give is your time and understanding.

The Things That Matter convincingly lays out Nate Berkus’s philosophy that things do matter. Our homes tell our stories, they reflect the places we’ve been and the people we’ve loved along the way—and there can be no more beautiful design for living than that.