Many TV viewers are most familiar with openly gay interior designer Jeremiah Brent from his stint on Bravo's Rachel Zoe Project, as well as his marriage to another celebrity designer, Nate Berkus. This fall, however, Brent is a regular on season five of OWN's DIY reality program Home Made Simple.
Largely self-taught—he gradually shifted from fashion to interior design, with Zoe's encouragement—Brent runs his own design firm in Los Angeles and New York City, where he and Berkus just completed redoing a Lower Fifth Avenue apartment that was showcased in the October Architectural Digest. The couple have a 1-year-old daughter.
Windy City Times caught up with Brent during a recent Chicago visit.
Windy City Times: Are you excited about joining Home Made Simple?
Jeremiah Brent: I'm really excited. I had no idea about how much of an impact it would have on my life.
I'm a firm believer that design is psychosymptomatic—it can change people's lives, it can help you through things, lift you out of things. The show is my own master class on humanity, because the show is really about gratitude, coming into these people's lives who move through the world in a beautiful way. They're gracious and supportive, whether it's a stay-at-home mom, or people who put others first in their community.
The idea of coming in and creating this room that's just as beautiful as how they're living their lives is powerful. My job throughout the season is just to be a best friend to the homeowners. It's something I've taken a lot of pride in. I'm still in touch with a lot of the people we've had on the show.
WCT: How do you mediate between your own sense of design and style and what your show's subjects need in their spaces?
JB: That's the funny part. The show is an exercise in vulnerability for me, because I'm used to being the boss when it comes to the design. Usually, I accept a design [job] and I design it for you. With the show there's a team of really talented designers, and their job is picking up parts of these people's personalities and really translating that into the space. There was one moment where they wheeling a tire into room, with some rope, and thought, "What the hell is going on?" They said they were going to make a coffee table. It ended up being beautiful. DIY is not my strength—it wasn't [before]—but the show has been great for me to find inexpensive ways to translate high design, which is fun to do.
WCT: If DIY is not your strength, how did you get yourself in that space for the show?
JB: I surrendered, which is not as easy as it sounds. In two of the episodes, I actually designed the spaces. So much of a space is really an extension of people's lives—I really believe a room should be an homage to your past and your present, and, more importantly, leave room for your future. There was a woman who had been collecting beads, so I showcased them on a twig I found in the backyard. I created this piece of art in my own home. It forces you to think outside the box, and that's what good design is about—not how much money you can spend, but how to translate who you are into your home.
WCT: What message about design is most important for you to impart with the show?
JB: Not to follow any rules. The last decade of television has been about telling you what you can or can't do in your space. I don't believe that. One thing I love about Home Made Simple is that we shatter all those preconceived notions. Anyone can make their room look like page 40 out of a catalog; [however,] you can walk into that room and not connect, so you're not home.
WCT: How do you balance this show with running your own firm and having added a family into the mix?
JB: I am very lucky. My husband has been doing this type of dance for a long time, and that's been very inspirational for me in a lot of ways. We have always felt like you have to put your own oxygen mask on before the other person's—really take care of yourself so you can take care of your family in the right way, so it's really been about prioritizing. We have a great infrastructure at home. My husband is the best dad, as well as the best husband. And I'm very organized, for a Sagittarius.
WCT: If readers were to see your home in an "unstaged" moment, what might surprise them?
JB: It would look exactly the same as when it's staged. I am so OCD. I love the idea of waking up and everything being in its own spot. I think readers would be more surprised about my state than that of the house. I have the most unattractive sweats. I look like a shell of who I am.
The new season of Home Made Simple airs Saturdays at 8 a.m. CT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
