HGTV's Nate & Jeremiah Shed Light On Downsizing While Maintaining Your Personal Style

There are plenty of pros and cons to the decision to downsize a home. For HGTV's Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, their move was based on their need to return to New York City after spending years in Los Angeles. In order to scale down their home, the couple leaned on built-in storage and expanded their closet space by taking square footage from the bedroom — decisions that helped make their NYC oasis feel more personal to them. While the designer duo have more space and money at their disposal than the average person, they have plenty of useful tips and advice that anybody could benefit from when downsizing their home.

Berkus and Brent had famously bought their Los Angeles dream home, a Spanish colonial house measuring almost 9,000 square feet. However, after missing the vibrancy of New York City, the HGTV stars opted to move back east into a 3,400-square-foot townhouse in the coveted West Village. That meant their space was cut in half, so the pair had to face some sad truths about decluttering and downsizing. They made the choice to eat into some of their bedroom space and give that square footage to their closets so they could have a bit more storage. "We don't need a huge bedroom with, like, 20 seating areas," Berkus remarked via his husband's website. 

If changing up the floor plan of your downsized home isn't in the budget, there are still plenty of tricks to help you downsize before moving into a smaller space. Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent revealed that their Los Angeles home had a whopping 30 pieces of furniture in the living room, and their New York home only had space for six. "But, what you see is the best that we've got," Berkus said via his husband's website. The couple pared down their beloved items by holding onto the most important pieces, and you can too. View this as an opportunity to showcase your most treasured items. Lean into the pieces that are unique, authentic, and spark the most love. Do this with cookware, clothing, and everything else that will take up space in your house.

After selecting which items to keep, the HGTV couple sold some of their excess belongings. Consider utilizing reselling sites like Depop and Facebook Marketplace to make some cash from items you'll no longer have space for. For the pieces that don't fit your new space but still feel impossible to let go of, you can follow Berkus and Brent's tip of finding an external storage home for them. Use a shed on your property or rent a locker nearby to house the excess pieces that you can eventually swap back into your home when you feel the need to refresh your decor.