Ep. 465: Nathan Turner's New Book "I Love Decorating"

We are thrilled to welcome a designer who perfectly embodies American laid-back, high-style design: Nathan Turner! As a fifth-generation Californian, his work is infused with sunny colors, natural textures, and bold, fun touches. Nathan joins Caroline, Taryn, and Liz to talk about his highly anticipated third book, I Love Decorating: Creating Stylish, Thoughtful, and Personal Spaces.

Nathan shares the hilarious and serendipitous story of his career, from getting a double major in business and economics to working as an antiques buyer in Europe simply because he spoke Italian. He also reminisces about his first Los Angeles shop, where his legendary in-store dinner parties accidentally launched his entire interior design career.

Quick Decorating & Career Takeaways:

• Be Open to the Unexpected Pivot: Nathan stresses the importance of being open to new opportunities, especially early in your career. Despite having a practical degree in business and economics, he leaned into his love of Italy and the Italian language, which eventually landed him a job as an assistant and buyer for an antiques dealer.

• Make Your Space Feel Like a Home: When Nathan opened his first shop in LA, he didn't just display items on shelves—he reinstalled the building's little kitchen and started cooking for friends and decorators. By setting the shop up to feel like a real home and hosting events, he naturally showcased his aesthetic and inspired people to hire him.

• Embrace the "Adventure Yes": Even when clients first started asking Nathan to design their homes, he didn't have formal interior design experience. He describes himself as an "adventure yes" kind of person: he agreed to the projects and trusted his eye, esthetic chops, and work ethic to figure it out along the way.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

• 00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Nathan Turner

• 00:57 Discussing Nathan's new book, I Love Decorating

• 01:41 How Nathan started his design career completely "by accident"

• 02:07 Getting a degree in business and economics to appease his parents

• 03:19 Studying abroad in Siena, Italy and embracing his "Italian era"

• 05:18 The chance meeting with an antiques dealer in San Juan Capistrano

• 06:12 Prematurely opening his own LA shop and running out of money by January

• 07:14 The famous LA shop dinner parties and the LA Times feature

• 08:22 Hosting elaborate events, like tenting the shop for a Turkish dinner

• 08:51 Transitioning organically into residential interior design

• 50:53 Closing thoughts and finding Nathan's fabrics at Ainsworth Noah

Also Mentioned:

• New Book: I Love Decorating: Creating Stylish, Thoughtful, and Personal Spaces by Nathan Turner

• Previous Books: American Style and I Love California

• Ainsworth Noah (Fabric Showroom)

• Shop Ballard Designs

Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.

Happy Decorating!

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