Star Power – Home & Design Magazine

As a member of Queer Eye’s Fab Five, Los Angeles-based designer Bobby Berk consistently demonstrates the power of design to transform lives. H&D caught up with the star on March 1 at Belfort Furniture in Dulles,
Virginia, where he was promoting his new furniture collection, Bobby Berk for A.R.T. Furniture (visit belfortfurniture.com). Following is an excerpt from the conversation.

Where did you find inspiration for your furniture collection?
I was inspired to design things I would want in my own home. When you design what you’re passionate about, it shines through. My collection is modern but warm, minimal but not too minimal. It’s all about mixing the right materials to make modern, clean-lined pieces feel warm and inviting.

How do you define a well-designed home?
A home that is well-designed functions well. I always first worry about how a room needs to function, then I worry about how it’s going to look. A well-designed home makes your life easier, not harder.

What do you love about your own home?
I love the views. Our house isn’t big, but it’s perched up on a hill where we have 360-degree views of L.A. There’s a lot of glass so nature is part of the home.

What’s happening in design that excites you?
Colored cabinets are something that I’m really loving. Painting the cabinets is a great way to modernize your kitchen without spending a lot of money, and colored cabinets just look cool. In Season Four of Queer Eye, I did a yellow kitchen with open shelving that has been one of my favorites.

What do you want viewers to take away from Queer Eye?
Your spaces can affect your mental health and how you interact with your friends and family. If your phone doesn’t get a good charge, it’s not going to make it through the next day. It’s the same with you. I want people to really realize that your home has a huge effect on that. The show allows me to help way more people than
I would ever have been able to help before.