This was Oprah's personal space before Nate Berkus worked his magic. Her main office wasn't conducive for holding creative meetings with her producers; her inner conference room was uninviting and unused. And her closet...well, she had been using an empty office as a walk-in wardrobe!
After seeing what Nate had done for our viewers, Oprah knew he was the right man for the job. When she took him on a tour, he couldn't believe what he saw!
Nate's vision: Turn her office into a serene, open living space and create one organized closet that looks like a store!
Once the consulting was finished, Oprah was banned from her office for the entire summer! Nate called in the troops including Julie Morgenstern, the queen of organizing, who supervised moving nearly a decade of Oprah's personal mementos and furniture into storage.
Then the fun began! First up: the construction crew gutted the space, knocking down walls and raising the roof. Nate said, "I'm not usually nervous when I begin a project, but this is a huge, huge deal for me...Can you tell why I haven't slept in two weeks?"
Eight weeks, four rooms and nearly 1,000 man-hours later, it's time to show Oprah her new office!
Nate wanted Oprah's main room to feel more like a home than an office. So at one end of the room, he added new sofas for extra seating and created a "mini-screening room" complete with a new flat-screen TV! "I can't believe how big this is!" says Oprah.
He refinished Oprah's coffee table in gold leaf and a new limestone top. And with fewer walls and a higher ceiling, Nate could add new windows. Now, natural light plays on the rich fabrics!
Higher ceilings also made room for additional storage space and bookshelves. Nate kept Oprah's favorite table as her desk and put a matching TV and computer screen behind her desk. And, all of the electronics in the room can be controlled with one remote control—including her TiVo!
After hours of unpacking boxes and putting Oprah's personal mementos back in the space, Nate tells Oprah, "You have the coolest stuff of any one I've ever met!"
In perhaps his proudest moment, Nate reveals the piéce de résistance: Oprah's new closet!
Nate added floor-to-ceiling custom-made cabinetry to display Oprah's wardrobe. The room is complete with every girls dream—shelves for 192 pairs of shoes!
Now Oprah can go shopping in her own closet any time she wants!
How does Oprah like her new digs?
"Now this is the way to live!"—Oprah
