Queer Eye’s resident interior design expert, Bobby Berk, has a promotional video for Airbnb Plus answering design questions. The video is sure to make a lot of us reconsider our own interior design decisions. Bobby says that as far as form or function, he favors “both” and that Venetian blinds are”horrible.”
If I didn’t love this guy enough, he also supports the correct way to place toilet paper onto the holder which, in case you didn’t know is in the “over” position. He’s also #TeamJapaneseToilet over #TeamBidet. When I was in Japan, I fell in love with those things and as soon as I win the lottery, I’m putting them in every bathroom in my house.
Bobby says his favorite decade for design is the 1970s and that he thinks wood paneling can still work. Oh, honey, no. I grew up with shag carpeting, flocked wallpaper and paneling. None of those ever need to come back. He does make a good point when he says that the current trend we will regret in ten years is mauve, “just like we regretted it when they did it in the ’50s.” Is mauve a thing now? I thought it had its heyday in the 80s. But, hey, no one pays me for design advice.
And for those of you (myself included) who use the excuse of “well, I’m just going to have to hang them up again next year” as an excuse to keep Christmas lights hanging in your place, Bobby says that the lights are never acceptable indoors. Agree to disagree on that one.
If you like pillows, good news, as Bobby says 50 is your max and, as far as plants go, he takes a playful dig at fellow QE star and avocado aficionado Antoni Porowski, stating, “If you ask Antoni, there is not a number of plants that are too many.” Finally, when asked if you can fix ugly, Bobby asserts “Ugly does not exist.” I guess since he’s okay with paneling, ugly truly doesn’t exist in Bobby’s world.
This is such a cute video, even though it will probably prompt an IKEA run in my near future. I miss Bobby and all of the Queer Eye guys…and I can’t wait for season three.
Photos: WENN
I could care less about what other people think my house should look like. My favourite part of Christmas is all the lights, I can’t wait until December to out my lights on the banister for my stairs!
Same, from the day after Thanksgiving until Jan 4, our house looks like Christmas threw up on us, and I LOVE it!
Haha, love this description! Love me some Christmas throw up!
This is how I feel, we start lights in October – all the little orange lights go up for Halloween with pumpkin and ghost and purple lights. Then I take the extra October-y lights down and leave orange up for all of November and the day after Thanksgiving the house gets decorated for Christmas! Those stay up until January at some point. I would like them to stay until February and then convert to Mardi Gras, but I have to expand my light/decor collect for that and at this point storage is a problem! lol
@ lucky
We do the same! We start with fall lights in September, bring in the Halloween lights in October, and keep up the fall lights through November. Christmas? Those are up right after Thanksgiving.
He needs to expand on the christmas light thing. He thinks they’re tacky? Maybe a little, but they are fun.
He won’t like my home. String lights everywhere and I change them for each season. They give a softer glow, just enough lighting so I’m not walking into furniture. My little nieces call my house “fairy land” because of it.
Sounds lovely. I just added some strings of globe lights to our basement and the glow is just so pleasing.
College students everywhere use string lights as the centerpiece of their dorm decor. They really do a nice job of warming up otherwise sterile spaces. Of course my son said “um, no thanks” when I sprang some on him on move in day, lol.
I really love them. It’s a nice soft glow. In my living room, I have several large mirrors and large pictures with glass frames. I wrap the lights around them and they reflect the light beautifully. My Halloween ones are little jack-o-lanterns and the whole place will have a nice orange glow. In March, everything is green. February pink.
Brilliant idea (no pun intended) Lightpurple. I suffer badly from SAD in winter and lights help, a lot. I can’t believe it never occurred to me to use coloured ones. I’m going to the same thing you do with the colours. The green in March is especially appealing. Thanks so much for the idea, it really is brilliant.
@ Lightpurple, Your house seems like a fun place! I love the colored lights for season but never do it. Maybe now I will……
😍
Same! I hardly use lamps because of the more soothing, lovely glow fairy lights give my house. I keep neutral warm white LED lights on 24-7, and can’t wait to put up my holiday lights come November 1st (because I’m that girl).
So…yes. Agree to disagree.
I had to make sure he didn’t mean because of some insider knowledge on how dangerous they are. Now that I am assured he means for purely poor aesthetic reasons, I can carry on stringing fairy lights everywhere. I’d even string them around my *lady garden* if I could. So there.
Also, Halloween decorations are for year round too. I’m an adult now and you can’t stop me! *raspberries*
The 70’s are his favorite period to get inspiration from? THE SEVENTIES?! I’m getting hot flashes.
EDIT: Sorry Morrissey I don’t know why this published as a response to you. Although you did make me LOL
I loved you’d string them in your “lady garden” if you could!! 🙂 My son is getting married, and for 2 seconds I considered battery powered tiny white lights wended through my side braid. Decided not to, since the focus should not be on me. But for my next anniversary party…
I love wood paneling. It can be done well and is a classic feature of many well built homes.
Those classic mid century modern houses make good use of wood paneling.
What idiotic nonsense. Berk by name and nature.
@Skylark Brilliantly put. What a buffoon.
I hate Christmas, but I still have lights in my house in the winter. The longs nights and dark mornings really get to me sometimes. But the glow from the string lights makes me feel better, so I light my house up.
Been thinking of them here too…live in the north and we need a little extra lighting.
They’re also useful alongside dark stairways, especially for older people and people with low vision. Like the lights along the airplane floor.
Well, color me unimpressed by this guy.
I agree. His choices seem so arbitrary and without any explanation. And if he thinks the 1970s was a great decade for interior design, I really question your taste, Bobby boy.
What’s the issue with Venetian blinds? Truly curious what’s wrong with nice, custom fit wooden blinds?
I’m assuming he means those white plastic kinds. Custom wood fit blinds look nice. White plastic one, not so much.
Years ago I had a co-worker who bought a big gorgeous house, he was single with a kid at the time. In this beautiful house he put blinds in every window and door. I told him he was an idiot, he spent over a million dollars on this house and he’s make it look like an apartment. He eventually married and the first thing she did was rip out the blinds and put up draperies. LOL
At Christmas I am as tacky as I wanna be. #teamindoorlights
What makes Queer Eye good is their kindness and open-mindedness.
I follow beloved Jonathan on Twitter and sometimes it’s a bit of a downer to see an opinion.
This comes across strange, I know, but opinions are like ***holes, everyone has one; and the Fab 5 are not the best designers, dressers, cooks and coaches out there. That is NOT their skill.
The way these guys make a difference is by being almost angelic.
I think I may be over them if this string of celeb friendships sightings and incredibly subjective opinions continues.
I think a lot of the celeb friendships are netflix supported.
I no longer care what others decree is tacky or great. I never liked those glaring industrial-type lightbulbs which were in every single HGTV makeover, and now I saw them on a list of trends that have to go. Why do anything at all because someone else says thumbs up or thumbs down? Variety is the spice of life, and everyone’s home should be personalized.
Well I will not only put up interior Christmas lights I will also put up Halloween lights again so just call Ms. Tacky 🙂
Nah – it’s your house, do what makes you happy.
Joyce Byers disagrees with that headline.
I LOVE BOBBY BERK. Hardest-working person on Netflix!
I think this video is just intended as a bit of fun? Interior design has no “rules.” (Or, it does, but it’s stuff like “all your furniture should touch a rug.”)
I personally love the 1970s for design inspo — my favorite style is “mid-century Scandinavian cabin,” which the ’70s nailed. Our living room has its fair share of brass, teak, geometric shapes, and goldenrod throw pillows. (No avocado or linoleum, haha, but hey, EVERY decade did its share of design crimes.)
Three goache items NOT allowed indoors (because if the optics &work commitment)
1. Contained mammals/reptiles/fish/arachnids
2. Big screens
3. Indoor holiday decor of any variety
I like bobby berk. I’m really used to designers, architects or impassioned people make big statements about their design tastes/style. I do it too, lol, it’s fun! Of course, usually you shift your opinion to have exceptions to the rule to have more nuance or depth – it’s hardly ever set in stone. Some people who aren’t used to it, might take some comments as a negative judgement on their own taste but I personally don’t care if a good designer thinks mauve or Xmas lights are devils work! It’s Hilarious to discuss with people who have passions 😂 love him
Yeah! An interior designer is like a movie critic. He’s expected and paid to have strong opinions, but even he knows it’s not an end-all judgement. The most important design tenet of all is “you’re the one who has to live in it, so YOU tell ME,” hahaha. (I don’t think he was even serious about indoor Christmas lights — it looked like it was the first time he’d ever been asked to contemplate them. Not a decisive “no,” I thought.)
<3