THE EDIT

THE EDIT

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THE EDIT episodes

  • The Australian Home of the Future: Smaller, Smarter, More Human | The Edit Live (Part 2) Home Beautiful x Metricon

    Should a robot ever be allowed to fold your laundry? It sounds like a throwaway question, but it cuts right to the heart of what the Australian home is becoming. In Part 2 of this bonus episode, recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit, Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock hands the microphone to the audience, and the panel of Ali Whelan (Breathe Architecture), Michael Leung (Balanced Earth Architects), Neil Hipwell (Futureflip) and James Treble takes on questions no one saw coming. 

    Together they imagine the Australian home of the future, smaller, smarter and far more adaptable, explore why builders who’ve created some of the most high-tech houses in the country are quietly stepping away from the tech, and answer the question that nearly stumped all four of them: what’s the internal compass that drives you? 

    Moments You’ll Hear: 

    • Why the Australian home of the future is smaller, smarter and more adaptable
    • The affordability and trade-shortage puzzle shaping what we can actually build
    • Why a half-a-million-dollar smart home taught Neil an expensive lesson
    • The case for “low-tech first”, and why a little friction is worth protecting
    • Whether a laundry full of robots would quietly kill a building’s community
    • The question that nearly stumped the panel: what’s your internal compass? 

    Thank you for listening ❤️ before you leave… 

    🗣️ Get in touch What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/homebeautiful/ 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-edit/id1852946910 Listen and follow on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1y7phZb4CeMhYzFssKZVcq?si=9c224c6461c24caf

     👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag 

    This bonus episode of The Edit was recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit. A huge thank you to Metricon for welcoming Home Beautiful into a room so full of ideas. https://www.metricon.com.au 

    Credits:  

    Our guests: Ali Whelan (Breathe Architecture), Michael Leung (Balanced Earth Architects), Neil Hipwell (Futureflip) and James Treble (interior designer & colour expert)  

    Host Elle Lovelock  

    Edited by Thomas Crnkovic 

    Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain 

    With thanks to our fabulous Home Beautiful team. 

    Learn More: The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/ 

    👀 See more: Missed Part 1? Pushing Boundaries and Building Community is waiting in the feed - why not watch it on YouTube! 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 min
  • Karlie Verkerk: MasterChef Secrets, Building an Outdoor Kitchen & Why Bouclé Has to Go

    After decades spent thinking deeply about food, beauty and family, Karlie Verkerk has finally built a home that reflects all three. 

    In this episode of The Edit, Karlie joins Home Beautiful Editor Elle Lovelock from her Northern Rivers home to talk about the many moves that brought her family here - from inner-city Sydney to the Blue Mountains, Singapore and finally the coast, and what each place taught her about what she really wanted from a home. 

    She also shares the story behind FIN, the world's first food fragrance she's just launched with her husband James, why she went on MasterChef and kept it secret for months, and the outdoor kitchen built from recycled bricks that's slowly becoming the heart of the house. 

    Plus, the renovation mistake she and James made under cover of darkness. Hint: it involved a tin of paint, a washroom, and very misplaced optimism about the colour yellow. 

    Warning: If you have boucle items at home, this episode could be triggering! 

    This episode covers: 

    • Karlie Verkerk's Northern Rivers home tour 
    • Moving from Singapore to the Australian coast with young kids 
    • Going on MasterChef and keeping it a secret 
    • Launching FIN, the world's first food fragrance 
    • Building an outdoor kitchen with recycled bricks and Facebook Marketplace finds 
    • Cooking over fire and wood-kissed flavours 
    • How to transform a small courtyard for entertaining 
    • Collecting art as a couple and what it means to inherit a collection 
    • Raising kids with an eye for art 
    • Why cooking is Karlie's greatest source of calm 
    • The butter yellow bathroom disaster 
    • What homemaker means in 2026 
    • What makes a home beautiful 
    • The soundtrack of Karlie & James' lives: https://bremermccoy.com/
    • Karlie & James' Fin Food Fragrance: https://www.finfragrance.com/
    • Karlie's recipes on Home Beautiful: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/author/karlie-verkerk/

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts 

    Listen and follow on Spotify

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful's YouTube

    Watch full episodes 

    Credits:  

    Host: Elle Lovelock 

    Guest: Karlie Verkerk 

    Supervising Producer: Leah Porges 

    Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

    With thanks to our wonderful Home Beautiful team. 

    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/  

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    40 min
  • Pushing Boundaries & Building Community: Live at Metricon’s Love of Design Summit (Part 1) with Ali Whelan, Michael Leung, Neil Hipwell & James Treble

    What if the secret to a happier home is being able to smell your neighbour’s burnt toast?

    Recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit, this bonus episode brings together four of Australia’s most exciting designers and makers: Ali Whelan of Breathe Architecture, Michael Leung of Balanced Earth Architects, Neil Hipwell of Futureflip, and interior designer James Treble, fresh off the plane from Milan Design Week. Expect a basement golf simulator that’s brought a whole street together, a skate bowl built for rainy days, and a very strong case for waving at your neighbours through the window. 

    Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock sits down with Ali, Michael, Neil, and James and together, they get honest about what it really feels like to push boundaries with clients and councils, and why a beautiful home is about so much more than how it looks. 

    This episode is brought to you by Metricon.

    Moments You’ll Hear: 

    • Why pushing boundaries can be frustrating, thrilling and deeply rewarding all at once 
    • How to know when to push a trend a client isn’t ready for, and when to hold back 
    • The “burnt toast” theory: why small moments of friction make a home feel alive 
    • The basement golf simulator that brought a whole street together 
    • A skate bowl built for rainy days, and designing homes people actually want to gather in 
    • Building community the old-fashioned way, through barn-raising and hempcrete 
    • Why Australian design is turning heads on the world stage at Milan Design Week 

    Thank you for listening ❤️ before you leave… 

    🗣️ Get in touch

    What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts

    Listen and follow on Spotify

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips 

    This bonus episode of The Edit was recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit. A huge thank you to Metricon for welcoming Home Beautiful into a room so full of ideas. https://www.metricon.com.au 

    Read more about Metricon at Home Beautiful:

    The new Australian home: Design trends shaping the way we live today

    These family homes in coastal Adelaide and Sydney show great design isn't about creating a one-size-fits-all home

    Credits: 

    Our charming guests: Ali Whelan (Breathe Architecture), Michael Leung (Balanced Earth Architects), Neil Hipwell (Futureflip) and James Treble (interior designer & colour expert)

    Host Elle Lovelock

    Edited by Thomas Crnkovic 

    Supervising Producer Leah Porges

    Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain 

    Our wonderful team at Home Beautiful

    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/ 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    22 min
  • Matty J On Sharing The Mental Load With Laura Byrne at Home & A Surprising Renovation Discovery (Part 2)

    The renovation may be finished, but the work of creating a beautiful home never really ends. 

    In Part 2 of this episode of The Edit, Matty J is back with Home Beautiful Editor Elle Lovelock to talk about what life looks like now that Chante Mer is open to guests - the letting go, the worrying, and the welcome basket decisions he probably overthought. 

    He also gets into parenting, sharing the mental load, raising three daughters, and the lessons he hopes the next generation will inherit. And he shares the item discovered during the renovation that deepened his connection to the home's original owner, Val.  

    Plus the one thing that keeps him up at night as a holiday-home owner. Hint: It involves lemon juice and marble. 

    This episode covers: 

    • Running Chante Mer as a holiday stay  
    • Opening a family home to guests  
    • The realities of short-term rentals  
    • Holiday home hosting tips  
    • Sharing the mental load at home  
    • Modern fatherhood and parenting  
    • Raising daughters  
    • Family life with Laura Byrne  
    • The mystery photo album discovered during renovation  
    • The legacy of Chante Mer  
    • What makes a home beautiful  

    Photo Credits: @chante.mer.house and Home Beautiful.

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts 

    Listen and follow on Spotify

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful's YouTube 

    Watch full episodes

    Credits: 

    Host: Elle Lovelock 

    Guest: Matty Johnson 

    Videographer: Charlie Potter 

    Edited by: Leah Porges 

    Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

    With thanks to our wonderful Home Beautiful team. 

    Learn More 

    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media. 

    https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/  

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min
  • Matty J & Laura Byrne’s Chante Mer Renovation: Kids, Cameras and a Baby on the Way (Part 1)

    Thousands of people followed Matty J and Laura Byrne's NSW South Coast renovation online. We all chimed in with suggestions on tile colours, furnishings and design ideas, and the end product is like a dream house by the sea. And as anyone who’s taken on a renovation project knows, beneath hose happy snaps and gorgeous exteriors lies a whole lot of grit, stress and family logistics.  

    In this episode of The Edit, Matty joins Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock to talk about transforming Chante Mer (or Song of the Sea) from a run-down coastal property into a much-loved family retreat and holiday stay. 

    He shares what it was like renovating while raising two young children and preparing for a third baby, how he and Laura navigated design decisions together, and why opening the home to guests changed the way they think about living spaces. 

    This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Matty J. Make sure you follow The Edit wherever you're listening now, so you can be among the first to hear Part 2.

    This episode covers: 

    • Matty J and Laura Byrne's Chante Mer renovation 
    • Renovating a holiday home with young children 
    • The first walk-through of Chante Mer 
    • Mould and unexpected renovation challenges 
    • Designing a family-friendly coastal retreat 
    • Renovating under public scrutiny 
    • Opening a holiday home to Airbnb guests 
    • The reality of running a short-term rental 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts: 

    https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-edit/id1852946910 

    Listen and follow on Spotify: 

    https://open.spotify.com/show/1y7phZb4CeMhYzFssKZVcq 

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful's YouTube: 

    https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag 

    Watch full episodes: 

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1c73iMScLqZ357jQ_0A3eDGTysM1SUxO 

    Credits 

    Host: Elle Lovelock 

    Guest: Matty Johnson 

    Producer: Rachel Fountain 

    Videographer: Charlie Potter 

    Edited by: Leah Porges 

    Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

    With thanks to our wonderful Home Beautiful team.  

    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media. 

    https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/  

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min
  • Shona McElroy: the “fantastically ugly” apartment she turned into a beautiful home

    When interior designer Shona McElroy first walked into her Edgecliff apartment, most people would have walked straight back out. The layout was awkward, the kitchen was hidden away, the bathroom opened into the living room, and a closed-in balcony came with terracotta floors, popcorn walls and a popcorn ceiling. 

    But Shona, founder and principal of Smac Studio, saw what it could become. 

    In this episode of The Edit, Shona joins Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock to talk about turning an old 1920s apartment into a beautiful, functional home, why north-facing light matters, how to avoid the dreaded “Pinterest house”, and what interior designers really think through before a room comes together. 

    She also shares how she helps clients edit their belongings when downsizing, why a coffee table book can be the beginning of an entire room, how virtual reality is changing interior design, and the deeply nostalgic item she brought from her mystery drawer. 

    This episode covers: 

    • Shona McElroy’s 1920s Edgecliff apartment renovation 
    • How to fix an awkward apartment layout 
    • Why natural light can make a smaller home feel better 
    • What to know about popcorn walls and ceilings 
    • How to design cupboards, shelves and drawers around real life 
    • Downsizing, decluttering and editing sentimental pieces 
    • How to avoid creating a “Pinterest house” 
    • Styling travel mementos and meaningful objects 
    • Coffee table styling tips from an interior designer 
    • How virtual reality is being used in interior design 
    • What makes a home feel beautiful, personal and lived-in 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts: 

    https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-edit/id1852946910 

    Listen and follow on Spotify: 

    https://open.spotify.com/show/1y7phZb4CeMhYzFssKZVcq 

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube: 

    https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag 

    Watch full episodes: 

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1c73iMScLqZ357jQ_0A3eDGTysM1SUxO 

    Credits: 

    Host: Elle Lovelock 

    Guest: Shona McElroy 

    Producer: Charlie Potter 

    Consulting Producer: Jessie-Lee Klass 

    Edited by: Pro Podcasts  

    Executive Producer: Jessie-Lee Klass 

    Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

    With thanks to our fantastic Home Beautiful team

     

    Learn More: 

    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media. 

    https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/ 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    34 min
  • Briellyn Turton: renter-friendly interiors, whimsy and the art of making home easier

    Should you decorate a rental like it’s your forever home? According to interior designer, Studio Brie founder and Australia’s Best House host Briellyn Turton, the answer is yes. Known for her personality-driven interiors, love of vintage pieces and playful approach to home, Briellyn joins The Edit to talk renter-friendly styling, whimsical interiors, hosting, lighting, TVs, resale myths and why the most beautiful homes are the ones that make everyday life easier. 

    In this episode of The Edit, host and Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock sits down with Briellyn Turton to unpack how she creates homes with character, comfort and function. Briellyn shares how she uses fashion as a starting point for interiors, why she believes in decorating slowly, how to personalise a rental without waiting for the “forever home”, and the one hosting habit every busy homemaker should steal. 

    Together they explore why home should feel personal, playful and deeply useful, from where you drop your bag to how you make your coffee in the morning.  

    Moments You'll Hear: 

    • Briellyn’s take on dressing your home the way you dress yourself
    • How to personalise a rental with art, vintage finds and moveable pieces 
    • A tour of Briellyn’s much-loved loft-style rental 
    • Why she moved for a courtyard, hosting space, and a bedroom with beautiful light 
    • The empty dishwasher and empty bin hosting rule
    • What “whimsy” really means in interiors
    • How Briellyn gets clients to trust their own taste 
    • Why your home should support your rituals, from skincare to coffee
    • The renter’s dilemma: do you buy for now or forever?
    • How to de-beige a rental without panic-buying generic furniture
    • Why downlights should not be the default
    • What to do when the TV has to be in the living room 
    • The design mistake Briellyn wishes Australians would stop making 
    • Why timeless homes are built slowly, not bought in one Saturday

    Thank you for listening ❤️ 

    before you leave... 

    🗣️ Get in touch 

    What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram  

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts 

    Listen and follow on Spotify 

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit This on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips – and don’t miss our home tours! 

    Credits: 

    Our friend: Briellyn Turton 

    Host Elle Lovelock 

    Edited by Pro Pods 

    Producer: Charlie Potter 

    Consulting Producer Jessie-Lee Klass 

    Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain 

    Learn More: The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/ 

    👀 See more 

    Follow Briellyn Turton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briellynturton/ 

    Explore Studio Brie: https://www.studiobrie.com.au/ 

    Read Briellyn’s Home Beautiful piece on the whimsical era in interiors: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-ideas/2026-interior-trend-whimsical-studio-brie-briellyn-turton/ 

    Follow Home Beautiful on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homebeautiful/ 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    42 min
  • Steph Ottavio On Life After The Block, Japandi Homes & Finding Herself Again

    What happens after you win The Block, sell the house, have a baby, launch a business and start again? 

    In this episode of The Edit, host and Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock sits down with Steph Ottavio, architect, designer, founder of Japandi Estate and one half of beloved The Block duo Steph and Gian. 

    Steph opens up about the pressure of renovating on national television, what she and Gian carried from The Block into real life, and how she renovated her own home while pregnant, with a five-month deadline and her mum living across the road. 

    But this is also a more personal conversation about the strange quiet that can come after a huge, formative chapter. Steph talks honestly about experiencing “post blues” after The Block, feeling disconnected from purpose, going to therapy, and learning to strip life back to the basics: community, connection, conversation, morning rituals and the little moments that make you feel like yourself again. 

    Together, Elle and Steph explore what really makes a home beautiful, from decluttered spaces, layered rugs and 12 skylights to the feeling of walking into a home that has been designed for real family life. 

    Moments You'll Hear: 

    • Why Steph says her home has to be organised so life can be chaotic  
    • What The Block taught her about pressure, outsourcing and working with Gian  
    • How Steph renovated while pregnant and moved in before her baby arrived  
    • The truth about her “post Block blues” and rebuilding a sense of purpose  
    • Why community became the brief for her next home  
    • Steph’s take on Japandi style, character within minimalism and why she does not love cold modern homes  
    • The clever design ideas inside Steph and Gian’s home, including the Jack and Jill bathroom, 12 skylights and a pool craned in through the neighbours  
    • Her rules for shoes, scent, clutter and the design trend she would happily leave behind  

    Thank you for listening ❤️ 

    Before you leave... 

    🗣️ Get in touch 

    What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/homebeautiful/ 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts 

    Listen and follow on Spotify 

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag 

    Credits: 

    Our friend Steph Ottavio 
    Host Elle Lovelock 
    Edited by Pro Pods 
    Producer: Charlie Potter and Thomas Crnkovic 
    Consulting Producer: Jessie-Lee Klass 
    Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain 

    Learn More: The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media:  

    Inside Steph and Gian Ottavio’s stunning home transformation 

    Steph and Gian Ottavio’s Home Beautiful Tour on YouTube 

    Steph's Instagram

    Steph and Gian's Japandi Estate Instagram

     

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  • Wendy Moore: The Renovation Decisions That Changed Her Home

    What actually makes a home beautiful once the cameras leave, the renovation dust settles and real life moves back in? 

    In part two of our conversation with Wendy Moore, the former Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief, Selling Houses Australia interior designer and all-round interiors authority invites us inside her own Sydney Inner West cottage. And this is not a polished show-home tour. It's far better. 

    Wendy takes host and Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock through the hydrangeas, past the dodgy fence, into the side entrance, the light-filled void, the petrol-blue kitchen, the unfinished reading nook now claimed by the dog, and the freestanding bath in the main bedroom that everyone warned her against. 

    Together they talk about what really works in a home after six years of living in it, from natural light and kitchen colour to family dinner tables, awkward layouts, builder contracts, renovation regrets, vintage silver, fireplaces, bed linen and why the homes we love most are rarely the perfect ones. 

    Moments You’ll Hear: 
    · Wendy’s audio home tour of her Inner West Sydney Californian bungalow cottage. 
    · The clever renovation choice that flooded a dark older home with natural light. 
    · Why Wendy still loves her petrol-blue kitchen, and what she would rethink about natural stone. 
    · The reading nook that never got finished and quietly became the dog’s favourite spot. 
    · The bedroom bath everyone said was a bad idea, and why Wendy loves it. 
    · The renovation regret she wishes she had budgeted for from the beginning. 
    · Wendy’s advice on choosing a builder, reading the contract and staying across every dollar. 
    · How to beat renovation decision fatigue with a moodboard and a clear edit. 
    · A smart fix for awkward living rooms where the sofa blocks the flow. 
    · The vintage silver tea strainer and “jam spoon” that became an Antiques Roadshow moment. 
    · Why the best homes are full of chatter, memory, imperfect corners and real life. 

    Thank you for listening ❤️ 

    Before you leave... 

    🗣️ Get in touch 
    What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homebeautiful/ 

    🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-edit/id1852946910 

    Listen and follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1y7phZb4CeMhYzFssKZVcq?si=9c224c6461c24caf 

    👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips: https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag 

    Credits: 
    Our friend: Wendy Moore 
    Host: Elle Lovelock 
    Edited by: Pro Pods 
    Producer: Charlie Potter and Thomas Crnkovic 
    Executive Producer: Jessie-Lee Klass 
    Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain 

    Learn More: 
    The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/ 

    Part one episode with Wendy: 
    https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/shopping/wendy-moore-career-selling-houses/ 

    See Wendy’s Home Beautiful home tour: 
    https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-tours/home-tour-house-to-home-beautiful/ 

    Follow Wendy Moore: 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendymooreedit/ 
    The Interiors Edit: https://www.theinteriorsedit.com.au/ 

    🙏 Our special thanks for making The Edit our new home: 
    Luxaflex - our beautiful studio home curtains 
    Oz Design - furniture Australians love 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    37 min
  • Neale Whitaker on Authentic Homes, Art That Tells a Story & Tiny Edits That Change Everything

    What does a truly beautiful home look like when you stop chasing trends—and start telling the truth? In this episode of The Edit, host (and former colleague) Elle Lovelock sits down with interiors heavyweight Neale Whitaker: the gently opinionated eye behind some of Australia’s most-loved design titles and TV shows, from Belle and Home Beautiful to Love It or List It—and now Reno Rules on Seven.

    Together they take an audio home tour of Neale’s “patchwork quilt” South Coast cottage, from the wraparound verandah draped in wisteria to rooms packed with art collected everywhere he and partner David have lived and travelled. Neale shares why he buys art on pure instinct (and why it should never ‘match the sofa’), how he and David blend antique and contemporary tastes, and what ‘dog-friendly’ design actually looks like when the dogs are absolutely allowed on the bed. Plus: the entertaining rituals he can’t give up (candles, music, the perfect table), why being a TV judge doesn’t mean judging your house, and the tiny home edit he wishes he’d made years earlier—one that punches well above its weight every winter.

    Moments You'll Hear: 

    • An audio walk-through of Neale’s quirky ‘patchwork quilt’ cottage (yes—there are two front doors).
    • How Neale buys and hangs art: instinct-first, story-driven, and never matched to the furnishings.
    • Why a home that’s “perfect” is usually boring—and how to build comfort, layers, and soul.
    • Designing with dogs: choosing what you love, then problem-solving (towels, throws, and muddy paws).
    • Hosting without the stress: beautiful table, candles, music… but always relaxed.
    • The tiny edit with a big payoff: underfloor heating (and the power of lamps in dark corners).
    • Authenticity over trends: mixing old and new to make a home that feels like you.

    This is an episode with permission to ignore trends and buy what you actually love. Confidence that your art doesn't need to match anything. A renewed appreciation for warm lighting and the ritual of turning on lamps. Practical solutions for real design dilemmas. The reminder that homes should feel like you - layered, honest, maybe a little eccentric. And possibly a new perspective on your throw situation.

    Thank you for listening ❤️

    before you leave...

    🗣️ Get in touch

    What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram.

    Part one episode with Neale: here 🎧

    👀 See more

    Neale Whitaker Joins My Reno Rules as a Judge in 2026

    My Reno Rules Just Gave Us Our First Look

    Inside Neale Whitaker’s Country Cottage

    The New Season of Love It or List It Australia Has a Release Date

    My Reno Rules All The Details For The New Series!

     

    🙏 Our special thanks for making 'The Edit' our new home:

    Luxaflex - our beautiful 'studio home' curtains

    Oz Design - furniture Australians love 

    Credits:

    Our friend Neale Whitaker

    Edited by Propod 

    Production by Thomas Crnkovic and Charlie Potter 

    Our wonderful Home Beautiful team 

    Learn More: HOME BEAUTIFUL

     

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    28 min

About THE EDIT

From the publisher's feed

There are so many choices that people have to make when decorating, renovating and building. But there is such joy in creating the homes and lives we all want. This inspired The Edit, a fresh new…