A Fieldtrip to New York + Nate Berkus

Note from Design Mom: I met Nate Berkus at BlogHer last summer and think he’s fabulous! So when I was invited to an event featuring his partnership with Lowes and Valspar Paint I was super excited. But alas! I couldn’t go, and I asked Melanie to attend in my place. Mel’s report is below — it sounds like she had a ton of fun!

When Gabrielle asked me if I’d like to represent Design Mom at the event in NYC, I couldn’t push the reply button quick enough. My life is not what you would describe as glamorous, so an opportunity to be surrounded by hip design bloggers and Nate Berkus was jump-up-and-down-excitement worthy.

The event was sponsored by Lowes and was held in an all white, breezy loft in Tribeca (entering the space was like walking into a Scandinavian design blog). It was the perfect backdrop for the bright selection of Valspar Signature Colors paint featured throughout. Guys, I didn’t know I could get this excited about paint. Basically, it paints over everything (including those black zig zag lines!) with one coat, no primer needed. My weak arms are all over that.

Of course the most exciting part was the appearance of Nate Berkus Yes, he’s pretty short. Yes, he’s really cute. Yes, he’s just as nice and genuine as you would expect him to be (he complimented my dress!). Yes, I acted like a complete crazed fan in front of him.

Nate spoke about his passion for using color. He admitted that early on in his career he stuck with all neutrals but nature, travel and fashion inspired him to gradually add color into his rooms. Now he can’t imagine designing without it. Although he did decide to stick with his favorite neutral, gray, for the side table he was painting.

Thank you to the entire Lowes team and Nate Berkus for putting on a fun and inspiring event. I’m off to paint my entire apartment.