Nate Berkus' baby girl may only be 6-months-old, but she's already a star!
Poppy Berkus—the first child for Berkus and his husband Jeremiah Brent—looks adorable posing in pink with her parents on the October issue of Architectural Digest.
In the new issue, the design duo share details about the nursery they put together for their little girl and how they went about finding their dream apartment in New York City.
"We knew we wanted to have a family and that we wanted to raise our child in New York," Berkus, 43, tells the magazine of looking for a home in the city's prestigious Greenwich Village.
Brent adds, "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. Where will I hold my daughter on Saturday mornings? Where will my husband and I sit and reflect and recharge?"
The couple ended up getting lucky and landing a penthouse with a terrace on lower Fifth, falling in love and knowing immediately it was the perfect place for them to raise Poppy.
"The day we closed on the apartment, we were walking through Washington Square, and I told Nate, ‘We have to treasure this,'" Brent adds. "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?" He shakes his head in disbelief.
As for designing the perfect space for their little ball of joy? The dads collaborated to make it a continuation of the aesthetic they chose for their apartment overall—grey and white wallpaper with hints of brass and gold and pops of bright color.
Mixed with the vintage furnishings and décor, Berkus and Brent made sure to pepper their home and Poppy's nursery with personal touches that hold deep meaning.
For example, they agreed a hand-woven photograph of Joshua Tree National Park by Fernando Bengoechea—Nate's former partner who died in the 2004 tsunami that struck Thailand—should be at the focal point in the home.
"That work is central to Nate's life," Brent says. "So we put it in the center of our house, Poppy's playroom."
Berkus adds, "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."
Other than designing the most adorable nursery, the couple's overall home turned out better than they could have ever imagined—complete with the walk-in closet of a lifetime (an obvious essential, duh).
"The energy we discovered working on our home together is unlike anything else," Brent says. "It's totally unfiltered. We do our best work when we are together."
Berkus echoed the sentiment, saying his hubby has inspired his work. "I look back and realize that before I met Jeremiah, I had sort of stopped seeing. Being with him and starting to see through his eyes—I was rejuvenated."
The couple got married in May 2014 and welcomed their daughter into the world on March 23, 2015.