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Bobby Berk chats to us about Australia, Queer Eye & his design business

August 19, 2020 Leave a Comment

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From his perceptions of Australian style to how we can feel happier at home, I thoroughly enjoyed my Zoom interview with American interiors icon and my favourite Queer Eye host, Bobby Berk.

Photo by Luke Fontana, courtesy of Bobby Berk

Bobby Berk’s a global name thanks not only to being the face of his own successful design business and furniture range, but one of the popular hosts of Netflix show Queer Eye. His first and only visit to Australia however, was to film an episode of the makeover show in the NSW farming town of Yass, sparking many riffs on their catchphrase “Yass queen!” That was clever!

Queer Eye season 5

While he may not have see the best of Australian interior design on that trip to Yass (which later experienced a tourism boom!) in 2018, Bobby says he loves our style, and thinks it’s come a long way.

“It used to be that people I met from Australia said please bring your stuff over here because we don’t have anything good design wise! But in the last five-to-10 years, I’ve noticed some of the best design coming out of Australia.”

Bobby mentions “beautiful” brands like Jardan as standouts, and says he’s been insta-buddies with stylist Jason Grant for years. “I absolutely think Australia’s at the forefront of design with some beautiful neutral and natural palates, it’s quite like the relaxed California vibe to me.”

His own furniture line has been stocked here at Max Sparrow since the start of the year and has been well received. “They do a great job with the design of their stores and I love the way they present my pieces. That’s really important to me.”

He hopes to come back when he can, revealing Australian followers are the third largest in number on his social media.

Of course, I had to ask Bobby for some tips for our everyday homes, especially with us all spending so much more time in them since Covid. For many, this has meant being frustrated with our spaces not working as well or looking as good as they could! “I think the best thing you can do first is get on top of your organisation,” the self-confessed minimalist says. “Often people think they need to add to make their homes better, but in reality they need to get a lot of stuff out of there! So start organising and donating what you don’t need. Start small with something like your junk drawer and it will be less overwhelming.”

Bobby says bathrooms are commonly frustrating rooms for people with overflowing medicine cabinets and a mess of unused products. “We start and end the day in these rooms and if they’re a mess, that’s reminding us day in, day out, that we haven’t achieved what we want to, and makes us feel like failures.”

Other top tips for making your home happier include splurging on quality bedding (even when he was “dirt poor” Bobby says he saved up to buy quality linen). “It’s so important. It’s so nice to crawl into a bed that feels like a luxury hotel bed at the end of the night. It’s so mood-boosting.”

Another tip is to move around things you already own, like art, to other rooms in your home, to create a fresh feel.

Bobby, who usually has a hectic travel schedule for Queer Eye, admits that he hasn’t found spending so much time at home lately a chore. “I’m pretty low key. I’m certainly not someone going to Hollywood events, and bars and nightclubs aren’t fun anymore.” While Bobby loves his fans, being so well known means it’s hard to spend time with his friends in public places and actually get to talk to them, because he gets approached so much. Added to that the pressure of not wanting to seem unfriendly or ungrateful, it can be a tough balancing act.

That precious time off has become increasingly hard to come by as the popularity of Queer Eye has exploded across the globe. And Bobby admits being the name and face of his brand can be overwhelming at times. “I felt that way even before Queer Eye,” he says. “I always said when the store became successful that I wish I’d come up with a different name,” he jokes. “But when your brand is your name, if it fails, there’s no coming back from it.”

Equally, when the show started, he still tried to keep across every aspect of his business before quickly realising that just wasn’t possible anymore. “I had to know every little thing. I micro-managed and had no life at all. But now I have a great team and I’ve learned to let go.”

Queer Eye season 5

One thing that never gets tired is his part in making over the homes of the people featured on Queer Eye, revealing he gets the same budget, no matter the space, so can often have more fun in small spaces. “These can often be more satisfying because you have to get creative, plus a little bit of design can make a big impact.”

The show’s makeovers are living proof that our surroundings at home go further than just aesthetics and can really affect how we feel. “If you’re surrounded by chaos, it’s chaos in your mind, ” he says. “It’s so important for our mental health to keep our homes together and nice, and being surrounded by things we love can really make us feel happy.”

Queer Eye season 5

Bobby says his own home in LA (before moving there in 2018, he lived in New York for many years) is minimalist and neutral. “There’s not much colour. It’s a lot of ivories, black and browns from timber.” While his husband, surgeon Dewey Do, used to give him carte blanche with decorating their home, Bobby says as he’s exposed him more to design, he has started having more opinions! “He didn’t used to care,” he says. “Now I’ve learned to give him three options I like, so he always has a choice!”

Bobby is excited to be giving a keynote speech at this year’s virtual Decor + Design Show (Decor + Design 360 from 28 September) but only wishes he was coming here for real!

Last but not least I had to ask Bobby: is it normal to (like me) cry at every episode of Queer Eye? “Even I sometimes cry when I watch them,” he says. “We aren’t with each other all the time throughout the show, so there are many moments we don’t see. We still watch the show like everybody else and it’s very much a surprise.”

Bobby’s own website is full of interiors inspo | For more on Decor + Design 360 and to register for Bobby’s talk

Me interviewing Bobby from LA via Zoom (the new normal!)
Bobby Berk, Abigail Ahern & Martyn Lawrence Bullard at Decor + Design 2020
It’s been heartening to see many of the industry’s favourite events embrace technology and go virtual for 2020 as we all struggle with the uncertainty of where Covid-19 will end.…
Bobby Berk
Queer Eye: Bobby Berk launches range in Australia
While I love Queer Eye, I usually find myself fast forwarding to the interior makeover segment of the Netflix show. Do you relate? The personal style overhauls are always interesting,…

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Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
I'd love to see more colour in Aussie interiors! I'd love to see more colour in Aussie  interiors! 🎨 

At the end of the day though, it's a matter of personal taste. I love pops of colour but it's not for everyone. 

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Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest including one of the best playrooms we've seen in ages!

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📸 @philcrozier
Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis o Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis on light and nature.

That was the brief for the conversion of a corner shop and a warehouse bakery into a luxury family home in Sydney's Newtown. And how about the library?!

Take the tour of this very special @annacarindesign project on the blog now, via link in bio.

Pic: @justinalexanderphoto
The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭 N The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭

None of us enjoy laundry (OK, there are a few of you out there who do. Weird!) but we have to do it. And often. So if your laundry bin can be as good looking, functional and space saving as this, then why wouldn't you?!

I've lost track of how many baskets I've thrown out because they've gone soggy or mouldy. They look pretty, sure, but they're not fit for purpose and they're often messy and overflowing.

Here's what I love about his @brabantia_australia one:

✔️ ventilation holes
✔️ no need to remove the lid for small items plus it hides your dirty laundry from view
✔️ easily removable and washable inner laundry bag that velcros back on 
✔️ corrosion resistant so fine in bathroom or laundry 
✔️ Brabantia make things as sustainably as possible
✔️ compact, sleek, European design
✔️ 10 year warranty
✔️ tall and skinny so takes up less floor in my tiny laundry

The Rolls Royce of laundry bins? I think so 👌🏻

TOLD you this was going to be exciting!

Now I need to know, do you have your laundry basket in the bathroom, the laundry, every bedroom? We used to have one in each bedroom but moved to the laundry-only situation which I much prefer (one for colours and one for whites). My boys know to put their used clothes in the bin in the laundry each night and they're 7 and 3!  #raisingfuturehusbands

#gifted
"Living rooms are important spaces where our publi "Living rooms are important spaces where our public and private lives intersect."

So says stylist @nataliewalton in her gorgeous new book Style, the Art of Creating a Beautiful Home.

"They are where we gather to welcome guests and entertain. But they are also where we decompress and relax at the end of the day. Increasingly, they are open-plan spaces and need to work within a greater scheme. Bringing all the elements together cohesively requires care and consideration. And, if you want a space that lives up to its true potential, make it personal and create with conviction."

Read an extract, the chapter on elevating your living room, on the blog today via link in bio.

Published by @thamesandhudsonau Pix by @chriswarnes 

#livingroomdesigns #nataliewalton #coffeetablebooks #designbooks #interiorsbooks #livingroominteriors #elevateyourspace
Kids and husband messing with my vignettes again🤨

PS. The coaster was RIGHT THERE 🤪
#weatherforit 🥶 Need a new blanket? Look no fu #weatherforit 🥶

Need a new blanket? Look no further than these gorgeous South African blankets from @baobabcollective, sustainably sourced, ethically crafted and imported by a Southern Highlands couple.

On the blog now via link in bio.
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About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. Interiors Addict has been her full-time job for more than 8 years. She is married to Damian and mum to Sebastian and Charlie.

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