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March 29, 2026 41 mins

If you’ve ever stared at a paint swatch until it went blurry and thought, maybe I’m just not a 'design person', this conversation is for you. In this episode of The Edit, alongside Editor Elle Lovelock, we sit down with design editor, author Greg Natale, interior designer and TV regular on Home Made and The Renovators, known for bold, glamorous, pattern‑heavy interiors that somehow still feel totally livable.

Greg Natale has built a career using pattern on pattern, marble on marble, late ’70s glam and yet he’ll be the first to tell you your home doesn’t need to look like a showroom to feel beautiful. He talks about growing up obsessively collecting Home Beautiful, sneaking his first project into the magazine via his sister’s townhouse, and why your kitchen and sofa should work harder and age better than your latest trend purchase.

In this conversation, Greg and Elle step inside the real questions you bring to your group chats and Pinterest boards: how to make colour feel grown‑up, how to design for three generations under one roof without losing your mind (or your resale value), and what to do when your 'neutral for now' turns into 'neutral forever because I’m too scared to change anything.' Greg breaks down the late‑’70s references behind his own apartment, how he layers burgundy, midnight blue and mixed metals without it looking like a costume, and shares the one rule he’s more than happy to break: that maximalism can’t be livable. 

You’ll also hear him walk through a listener’s very real dilemma, building a home that works for ageing parents, kids, and future buyers, right down to where the grab rails go and why you probably need three different living rooms if you want everyone to stay sane. And yes, we end with his “mystery drawer” moment: the chaotic corner that proves even the king of maximalism has a place where real life piles up.

Moments You'll Hear: 

  • How Greg went from a Home Beautiful-obsessed 10-year-old to one of Australia’s most recognisable interior designers and why that first tiny townhouse still holds up 30 years on
  • Why kitchens, bathrooms and sofas need to be timeless workhorses, and where you can safely go wild with paint, fabric and pattern
  • A simple way to build a colour story (hello, moodboards and one strong starting point) so your home feels intentional, not chaotic
  • Real‑world advice for multi-generational living: step‑free ground floors, “disguised” kitchenettes, beautiful grab rails, and how to design a house that your parents can age in and you can still sell

If you’ve been waiting to paint the wall, buy the stripe, or finally pick a rug that isn’t beige, this is your sign.


Thank you for listening ❤️

before you leave...

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👀 See more

Greg Natale Website 

Tall, dark and handsome: The secret to masculine kitchen design

Australia’s top design influencers on styles, trends and changing interiors

Not Terrified of Multi-Generational Living

Halston: Inventing American Fashion - hardcover book

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

Luxaflex - our beautiful 'studio home' curtains

Oz Design - furniture Australians love 

Our friend Greg Natale

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is an our media podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's taking Can you believe I'm actually saying that I
can't actually can't believe the King of maximalism is saying
about taking away a home is beautiful. When I think
there's meaning and there's a narrative, it's you know, it's
not just about more is more, but sometimes more is more.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I couldn't agree more. This episode is brought to you
by Luxeflex, transforming homes with beautiful, functional window coverings designed
to change your life and lifestyle. Today's set has been
thoughtfully curated by os Design, sharing life with you since

(00:51):
nineteen seventy nine. Welcome back to the Edit, the show
about your Style and your Sanctuary, where we step inside
the homes, habits and headspaces of the people who help
us live better. Today, I'm sitting down with a true
modern classicist interior designer, Greg Natali, the man who can
lay a pattern on pattern, marble on marble and still

(01:12):
make a room feel like someone you actually want to
curl up with a book and a bowl of pasta.
We're going to talk about all the things color, proportion,
and grown up glamour in a really livable way. The
one design rule he'll always break, and how to tackle
a very real dilemma. Building a home for three generations
still feels like a beautiful family house now and it's

(01:33):
easy to sail down the track. Greg's also stepping into
our room for advice hot seat answering your questions about
multi generational living, fearless color in bedrooms, and how window
coverings can completely change the mood of a room. And
because this is the edit, we'll finish with our mystery draw,
one chaotic corner in Gregg's own home that proves even

(01:54):
design icons are secretly human. Settle in because this is
one part master class, part pep talk for anyone who's
ever been afraid about a bold stripe or a deep,
moody wall color. Greg Natale, thank you for coming onto
the edit.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Welcome, Welcome to a home my pleasure. Thank you for
having me Elle, And in.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
A sense, it's a bit like coming home for you,
because you've got a long history with Home Beautiful.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I have got a long history. So I was one
of those lucky kids that from a very young age
my crazy mind decided to be an interior designer. And
Home Beautiful is the first magazine I ever bought so
I used to collect it as a ten year old.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
And Home Beautiful was the first magazine I was published
in in the year two thousand.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yes, I do have a special history with the magazine.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Do you remember the project that was published? Because I
have it in my mind.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I do because guess what I did, You've brought it
with you. I went and grabbed the magazine out of
my archive. I actually have an archive of everything that
I've ever been in, and also a physical archive and
a digital archive of everything I've ever been in. Gosh,
I had all this planned out with a bookmark, so

(03:12):
this place here. So what it was is that my
sister got married. God I'm show my age thirty years ago,
and she just bought a little two bedroom town how
she was young. I redid it for her. It was funny.
Is that I had a friend who was at Pacific,
So this is when you guys were at Pacific, and
she ran me and she said, do you have anything?
And I went, well, this is a bit naughty of

(03:35):
me because I'm actually technically working for someone, but yes,
I do have a project. I do have a project,
and she had just moved out into a new house,
but like the furniture was still there, her clothes weren't
even in there. So it was like about a day
or two to shoot this house.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
And so for our listeners, how would you describe it?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Look, it was minimal, It was definitely minimal. It was
white and white. Have a look at it. El time,
it was of the time, it was other time. I
think I was showing my team. They loved it, they
thought it was still great. I mean, I did this
in nineteen ninety four, so that's more.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
That's what year are we now, twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
So that was I did that thirty one years ago. Look, well,
I think it has stood the test of time.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Definitely.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
When I look at.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
It, it was mineral. It's it's of the era. So
that era was dominated by Billy Caad and Holliday England
more John Pauson, So it's all of this.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
They're all interior iconic interior.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Design, iconic interior designers, and you know, they're the interior
designers that I really looked up to in that era,
and I still do. I think, you know, they you know,
they're all creative geniuses when I look at.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
This, The thing that strikes me most is how timeless
the kitchen is. And that's something people are afraid to
spend their money on. You know, you want to make
sure if you're spending a lot of money, you want
it to last a long time.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I think that kitchen sofas, you want a level of
timelessness because, like I said to you, with the sofa,
the leather did get old. I mean her kids are
now in their twenties, so you know, as kids, the
leather got old. So we repulsed it in an amazing
nol fabric. I think those sort of things should be timeless.
And I was speaking to a client the other day

(05:16):
and I feel like everyone is so serious at the
moment about interiors, and I was like, can we just
have some fun? And you can have fun with color,
you can have fun with paint. Furniture can be in reappulsed.
But I think that there definitely should be a level
of timelessness when you're doing a kitchen and bathroom.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yes, yeah, we'll talk to us about that color and fun.
What is Greg Natali style?

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Around that same era, actually around the same era, I
did another apartment for another sister and I went the
total love a way.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
How many sisters do you have?

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Four?

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (05:50):
So I've got four. It is a big family. I'm
the youngest, I'm the baby. So around that era I
went totally the opposite way. It still had clean lines,
and the other sister said, I don't want that. So
she said I don't want that. She said, I want this.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's actually a really good point about communicating with professionals.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
She said, I want this, which I'm pointing to pattern
and it definitely Pattern became part of the DNA of
the practice. So then Serena had a little one bedroom apartment.
It's become really iconic. Around that time, I discovered signature
print in Florence Broadhirst, So you know that apartment. There
was that apartment for that sister, and that's the apartment

(06:28):
that really went viral. At the time. Broke Through won
me my first award with Bill magazine. It was published
by Wallpaper at the time, which is the design bible.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
It really is.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
That is so impressive. Definitely now pattern is you know,
it's part of what we do. But still clean lines. Yeah,
I think in this world either you're a modernist or
a classicist and I've sort of on my Instagram, you know,
branded myself as a modernist who loves maximalism, and I
often get asked that really what it is is just

(07:01):
putting layers over clean lines. That's really what it is.
So that's really what I do, is I put layers
over clean lines.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
So you've talked about two sisters homes. What's your home
like now?

Speaker 2 (07:14):
So we live in the Horizon and.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
So for anyone listening where.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
So the Horizon is an ariconic tower by Harrisidler in Darlinghurst.
So I'm a huge Harricydler fan. So the kitchen and
bathrooms are actually quite timeless. The kitchen is white gloss
with a torato floor, the bathrooms have a green toato
floor and one of my white mosaics, and even the
joinery is white glass or the cabinets white glass. I

(07:41):
kept that really neutral because what happened is when we
bought the place and we did, it happen really quickly,
so I was really unsure what to do. So then
the decorating evolved. So it actually evolved. Jason, my partner,
and I were in Paris and he fell in love
with like Burgundy and Marone carpet, which is the color
of Paris. So then after we had done all the

(08:05):
cabinetry and everything, we put carpet down and then I thought,
you know what, it's only paint. So then we painted
the doors and the walls morone amazing, and then everything
sort of started layering. We have like a midnight blue
sofar and the midnight blue leather chairs, So now the
apartment is predominantly Morone with pops of midnight. There's a

(08:30):
bit of black marble and then the white cabinetry, and
so how.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Do you pull it all together if you're using a
lot of different colors and quite strong bold colors. You know,
we talk about having a common thread or something that
carries through the design.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
What is it for you just out there? I think
the easiest way to do it is to always have
a starting point. So just have some sort of starting
point and some concept and then actually put things down
on some sort of moods. Yeah, and then you'll see
how things are flowing. But look, for me, the look,
definitely the common thread in the apartment was all the

(09:07):
white cabinetry or the glossy cabinetry, so already it was
already started looking a bit seventies. Okay, so then we
went so we went down that sort of like that
late seventies era, which is actually my favorite era of design.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
And then the color palette became burgundy, and then they
had like these these these pops of you know, these
pops of blue. And then with medals, I actually mix
mixed the metal, Actually mix the metals. I do. I
love mixed metal. So there's brass and then there's some chrome,
so actually mix the metal. But there's you know, the
theme of it is late seventies, so you know out there,

(09:45):
I'm sure that there's got to be I think Canva.
I think Canva. I think you can do simple mood
boards on canber. Just put things on paper, have like
a starting point, have a concept. Always go to that,
you know, always go back to your concept, because when
you're on sure, you know you are so will that work?
Will that work? Will that work? Will will that work?
With it? Just go back to your starting point and
the concept. What happened with me? And I don't even

(10:07):
do that with clients. Like I said, you had happened
really quickly, so I went really neutral, and then I
actually did need time to go back and work out
what was going to be on the floor, what was
going to be on the walls.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
Talk to me more about that, because it is such
a common story and I've done it myself and I
still haven't gone past updating the neutral on the walls.
What is the thought process for you? You move in, you
just go, oh, just do it neutral.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
I look out there. I think, give yourself a bit
more time. It's just that we actually did not have time.
We bought it and then there was a really small
window to renovate. We sold our last place. Try to
give yourself a little bit more time. We actually are
working on our new place, which I will talk about,
and I've given myself a lot of time. And now
that my office has it's actually been a bit of

(10:58):
a revolution. We actually are working three D now, which
has been a game. Yeah. So it's a program called revit.
We were always an auto CAD office, which is like
drawing in two D, very traditional, but drawing into D
Revet is an Autodesk program which owns AutoCAD, so they
are interconnected. So about like maybe eighteen months ago we
made a decision to go into three D. That has

(11:20):
been a game changer. So I'm not sure out there,
there's got to be some sort of like AI programs
where you can three D your interiors. There has to
be like something basic. But that's been a bit of
a game changer as well. Is now we're designing in
three D and our clients see three d's and we
do walk throughs.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, walk us through your vision for your new house.
So what's your new place compared to the look?

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Look it is? It's a It's not a revolution, it's
an evolution of like my last few places, because I've
been collecting art, I've been collecting furniture, and everything's coming
with us. It's late seventies in spir which is my
favorite era, and Jason, my partner, loves that era as well.
My favorite architects are Paul Rudolph in America, Harry Seidler.

(12:10):
Modern architects are David Chipperfield and one of my favorite
buildings ever is Helston the Fashion Designers Townhouse.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
What do you talk about it?

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Look? I love I love how clean it is. I
know this is hard to probably imagine, do not understand,
but my own personal style is actually quite clean? Is it? Yeah?
It actually is quite clean.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Well, so I didn't sound so surprised.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
I know everyone is surprised. So in this new place
you'll really see my own personal style. It's really clean.
But when it comes to materiality, I do love rich materials,
so I love glossy textures, I love marble, I love metal.
So the materials are there's a lot of torato, so
I think Holston's Townhouse really super a lot of block color.

(13:02):
The bedroom suite will be marone as a bit of
homage to this place. The main areas will be white
and gray, a bit of a homage to the Holston's Townhouse,
and then the kitchen and living areas are going to
be continuing with that blue theme that we love from
this place. But it's clean, it's masculine.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
So, Greg, we're talking about Holston and quite you know,
fashion and interiors and high design. How do you make
high design work for family homes for example?

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Look, I mean I'll just explain who Holstoon was. Holstein was.
It was a fashion designer from the seventies. He really
pioneered licensing like the modern fashion designer and even modern fashion.
What everyone's wearing is from Holston. And like I said,
he was the first one to go into licensing and
answering your question about how do you make that work?

(13:53):
It's really easy. It's really really easy. Well, for example,
Holston's townhouse was really quite clean and minimal, and that's
a really easy style to get at home, just like
I did with my sister. Yep, Masta's first house was
really much that style. Easy. The first one I did
was just take the cornerses off. Okay, so we had

(14:13):
it so we had a clean canvas that was really inexpensive, yep.
And then we painted the whole place white.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
That's incredible.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Just care about we just we you know, we just
pairted it all back. You know. We did the same
thing with the bathroom. The bathrooms aren't shot for that,
but they were just all really clean and white tiles.
All the joinery was super clean, and we we we
added a lot of silver. So it's it's it's yeah,
it's you know, it's easy to take it. I don't know.

(14:42):
Maybe for me, I think you need to take probably
concepts and maybe just relax them a bit. If that
doesn't sound too abstract.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
No, I understand it. We hear so much about the
trends for people adding so adding moldings and adding layers,
but sometimes it's.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Take Can you believe I'm actually saying that, I actually
can't believe the King of maximalism is saying about taking away.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
But then you know what you're working with and you
know how it feels. And to your point, having a
more simplified home, particularly for a family, you can breathe,
there's less clutter around.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
But like we were saying early on, but then you
can add the layers. So look, I do love layers.
And you know, my clients are all walks of life
and they like different looks, and you know, we still
we still do some clean work, and you know, we
do all different types of work. And I think that

(15:40):
I think for me, it's more fun being a designer
because you know, like a project I would do in
New York or London or Sydney or in the country
or a city pad, they are all different. I think
it's actually more fun to be versatile. That's what I've
liked about, you know, what we do. And I think

(16:01):
it's fun to try different styles and different colors, and
you know, I think it's Thatt's have fun again.

Speaker 1 (16:06):
So let's go into the maximalism a little bit, all right,
because we were talking about materials before. You are wearing
some fabulous shoes.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Oh, thank you, thank you, And they are a they're
mock krock, mock krock, not real Crocs like Croc. I
know they're mock Roc and it's.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
A real thing. I was saying, I want to get
a pair of mock Croc shoes. But in interiors as well.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Look, it's it's really about texture. So just like what
I was saying about my type of minimalism, I suppose
my type of minimalism is more of like a mes
Vandero minimalism. Who is if out there you don't know
who means Vandero is? He really is the grand the
godfather of modernism. But his materials were rich. He's travetine

(16:49):
and marble and chrome. They were rich. So layering the
materiality is really easy to do. And like you know,
I'm actually glad we're talking about my sisters parent because
I had such a low budget. But you picked up
on the marble. But that marble splashback was just Carra tiles,
is it, Yes, So it was done on a real budget.

(17:11):
It was just Carratiles. So there definitely is ways to
you know, get that you know to get that richness
and the layers.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
So we mentioned Holston before and fashion and interiors. I
often think, show me a person's wardrobe and I'll tell
you what their house looks like. So you agree, Is
that something you talk about with your clients?

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, Look, I look a lot of times their wardrobe
becomes a starting point. Yeah, their for their home, and they.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Can be for anyone. Even if you're not working with
an interior designer. You don't know where to start. Look
at your wardrobe, what do you wear?

Speaker 2 (17:41):
I mean, well, when I was at UNI, the hardest
part for me was always finding that starting point. Yeah,
and now it's easier because you know, I get a
brief and the starting point can be the client or
it can be you know, the house can be the
mews or the area or whatever. But that's always the
starting point. And even for my own projects, the starting

(18:02):
points always the hardest. But because I've been doing this
for a while, I've had a few places and I
know what I like, And like I said to you,
my favorite era is a late seventies. It becomes easier.
But the starting point can be your your personal style.
It could be a piece of art that you want
to bring. It could be a coffee table that you
want to bring over, It could be the style of

(18:23):
the apartment or house. But just once, once you form
that starting point, it is easier to start a concept
and yes, and then you know that concept really answers
all those questions you have what should my floor be?
Or you know, what should the color of the kitchen
bee or whatever.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
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(19:07):
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I think this is a really good point to segue
into this thing that we do called Room for Advice, Yeah,

(19:30):
where we have listener questions. So we've had some questions
sent in that I think you are just the expert
to answer, I go for it. Else we'll bring those
up first. One is high home Beautiful. I need some
advice on what to do about creating a home for
three generations. My husband and I live with two teenage sons,
and my elderly parents are going to move in with us.

(19:52):
The plan is to knock down our house and build
something new. Our sons will probably leave home in the
next five years and my parents won't be with us
for a seas so we want to make sure that
the house we build is one that will sell easily
in the future when we need to downsize. How do
we build a house for three generations now that won't

(20:12):
feel like an apartment block when we come to sell
in the future. So thank you from Carolyn Ell.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
This is becoming very common now though it's very common. Look,
the way we would do it is that we would
put the parents on the ground floor. Make sure the
ground floor has got no steps. Yeah, and then there's
the obvious things. I had to do it with my
I had to do it with my parents. You know,
have grab rails everywhere. And now with grab rails, they
don't have to just be silver and brushed stainless so

(20:41):
they look utilitarian. You can get brass, you can get
you can get different colors.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
I didn't know that.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, no, it's really good, like so grabbroows. You can
get any different colors. I would put the parents downstairs,
so that becomes the guest bedroom when you sell it
one day. Okay, so off the guest bedroom, I would
have the former lound room. But that's the lound room
where the parents hang out, so they have their own space.
Got it off the In that formal loundroom, I would

(21:07):
have a bar that's really a kitchenette, so they can
cook themselves and have their own space. So it is
like a little it is like a unit, but it's
all connected. Then I would have a family room that's
quite close to the parents, and that's probably where i'd
have the parents hanging out. And then you know, you know,
on the ground floor, you know, we'd have like the
kitchen and all that sort of stuff. Upstairs, i'd have

(21:30):
the master well we don't say master suite anymore. I'd
have the principal suite off that is like the boys' bedrooms.
And then I would have like a rumpus room, which
is just another loundroom, but you probably need about and
it's normal, you probably need about three lounge rooms. So
everyone has their own space and he's quite comfortable. But
i'd structure the house like that. But something that was

(21:53):
pretty amazing about my parents. My parents built their dream
home in nineteen seventy eight, and my father really thought
about the future. So there's no there's no steps on
the ground floor. There is upstairs because there was four kids,
no steps. There was only one step to the front,
only three steps at the back. So it meant they

(22:13):
could get old in the house. My mother's ninety three
still at home, which is amazing, so she can and
then she's had to move downstairs now, so there was
like a guest so there was a couple of guest bedrooms.
But they really thought about it. About ten years ago,
when my father was still around, we had like grab
rails installed. We had one of the bathrooms downstairs. Oh god,

(22:36):
what's it called like accessible where it means you have
a really large shower or the shower doesn't have any
doors on there. There's grab rails, you know. We put
grab rawls around the house. So my mother's ninety three
at home, very comfortable. She lives really good but they
thought about that back then in nineteen seventy eight, which
is pretty amazing. He was thinking that, I know, he
was really thinking about it, this forever home. Yes he was.

(22:59):
He was a up and oh, okay, yeah he was.
He actually was. He was a carpenter, and then in
the seventies he got into form work, which out there
if you don't know what form work is, it's the
plywood mold that carpenter's make where you pour concrete in yep.
So he got into form work in the late seventies.
So yeah, he built the family home.

Speaker 1 (23:19):
So that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
So he understood all that sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
And you have good memories from living in that home.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
I yes, I do have good memories. And I actually
have an amazing memory. Yes I do. Just generally I
have a really good memory. No, I just have a
really good memory. Like you know. Actually I'm really digressing now.
But on Sunday I went and saw Elvison concert and
one of the guys said, do you remember Elvis? And
I said, I actually remember, and they said, how do
you remember Elvis? He went on Google he said he

(23:45):
died in August or September nineteen seventy eight or nineteen
seventy seven, I was three and a half. But it's
actually the first memory I actually remember when Elvis died. Well,
it was such a big thing.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah, absolutely, I know.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
We're really like going somewhere else now, going.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
Back to actually Carolyn's house.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Going back to Yes, yes, I love what.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
You were saying about the parents being on the ground floor.
But in the future that's the guest.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Bedroom and the filmal lounge room and the bar. The
kitchen is really the bar.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
So you go from parents living to guests and entertaining truly.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, yeah, it's easy. It's easy. Yeah, So that's how
it doesn't become like this, like this house with three
different units.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, well, Carolyn, hopefully that helps. We have got another question.
This one is from Lisa in Subiaco, and she or
this is perfect for you, Greg. She writes in I
have a color quandary. I'm redecorating the bedrooms in my
home new carpets, blinds, paints, and bed linens. I love

(24:52):
bright colors, but I'm scared I'll make a mess of things.
I've tried mood boards, but I'm just not sure. Are
there any rule around how to mix and match colors.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
Look, I always say that you need to have a base. Ye,
I would say, it's current, isn't it? This one is Lisa,
I would say, Lisa, go back to the mood boards
and start with like like I said, to a starting
point in a concept. Look, it could be an era,
it could be anything. Just start with something you love,
because it's something will resignate. Start with something you love,

(25:26):
but look really easily, just have some sort of base,
like is the house, you know, is the house going
to be cream with pops of color? Or is the
house going to be one color? There's really good neutrals
that if you do want to paint the whole house
of color. I think green always looks amazing, or like
light blue, which I'm obsessed with light blue again me too.

(25:50):
And then you have like a secondary color, which let's
just make this up. Just say, for example, we're going
to paint your whole house light blue. There's colors that
work really beautiful light blue, like red or burgundy. So
you could have red or blue burgundy pops and then
have one more color, Just have one more color for fun.

(26:11):
I actually love green with all that color combination, maybe
it could be green. So maybe just stick to like
three colors.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
And taking that back to fashion. Light blue, denim totally,
everything goes with denim.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And I'm glad that you're making this
analogy to fashion because fashion and interiors are really are
more linked than what people think.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Absolutely so. Also, I think color on all surfaces. You've
talked about it. In your own home, you have these, yeah,
well that's what we did Burgundy carpets.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
And the wars as well, So you can do that,
or else you could go the other way. You could
paint your house white or cream and just have the
pops as well. You know, we're just finishing a terrorist
house at the moment where the client is actually maximalist,
but the house ended up being cream. So we painted
the ceilings, which is really cool. So the color's actually
on the ceilings. And then something really fun. All the

(27:07):
doors are matching the color of the ceilings in the bedrooms,
all the doors, so all the doors are different colors.
But with that amount of color, the walls are cream.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
What do you do with window treatments?

Speaker 2 (27:19):
Then the window treatments are matching the ceilings in this house, Okay, yeah,
they're matching the ceilings. There are more muted version, but
they're matching the ceilings.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
Exciting.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, but look, I you know you could go that way.
But you know, I'm a big fan of color drenching. Yes,
just painting everything one color me too.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah, And I think as well, like you're talking about,
you can get these colors in all different materials. So
we're talking about the carpets, we're talking about the paint
we're talking about the you know for Lisa and her
bed linens, and in the window treatments. You can get burgundy,
you can get deep green, you can get color. And

(28:00):
it's not just in pattern curtains. So we were having
a look the other day at Swatchers for the lux
of Flex. They've got this amazing honeycomb product.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
I love that product. It's so clever.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
We're going to shoot with it soon.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
So clever. Yeah, they do a really amazing stuff. Luckx
of Flex.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
I couldn't believe the range of colors that it comes in.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
It's really really good. We've been using a lot of
Luxe Flex lately actually click to well. I just think
that their products are really amazingly technically. Like ye, the
honeycomb is so good for like East or West facing rooms. Yeah,
in the office, we're really obsessed about the liminet as
fold product. It's an all in one blind and curtain

(28:41):
and it means that you only need one layer and
it's perfect for a bedroom.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
That is fantastic. We'll link that in the show notes
so everyone can have a look. All right, Greg, I
know that interior designers, from the outside, you have this
immaculate life. But I am wondering, are there any parts
of your home or life where you have the drawer
or the room with the random stuff in it?

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Because at the moment, oh god, at the moment everything like,
at the moment, the guest bedroom has become a dumping ground. Yeah,
and it's it's the end of summer here. Yeah, and
it's super humid. And you know what's happening to one
of my wardrobes is we're getting mold. Oh no, I know,

(29:30):
I know, So I bought I bought these amazing like
things on Amazon where they're collecting all the water. So
all my clothes are dumped on the guest bedroom. But yeah,
it's the guest bedroom has become the dumping ground. But
I do. I like every morning I'm really tidy, you know,
I fix the bed and I tidy up and it's
always photo shoot ready.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Oh, it's good to have a routine.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
It is good to have a routine. But yeah, the
guest bedroom has become the dumping ground.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
So we also we do a mystery drawer. Yeah, have
you brought in something from your a street draw what
have you got?

Speaker 2 (30:02):
So I've actually brought in one of my favorite books
is the book on Houston, Ah brilliant. So this here,
so we'll just show everyone. So this is the house
that's inspired. That's it there, that's the house that's actually
inspired our new place.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
It really really is beautiful.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Beautiful, isn't it? And again timeless.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
We'll see if we can find a link to this book.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
But you know, look it's still got a lot of drama. Yes,
you know the type of minimum or you know the
modernism or minimalism are like, still has a lot of drama,
has beautiful materials, glossy surfaces.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
How would you describe that room if you were to?

Speaker 2 (30:45):
So it's so for us, it's going to be our
formal lounge room. It's a sunken landroom. It's going to
be our formal lounge room. And off that it's going
to have like a formal dining room, and it's going
to have a bar that's also a kitchenette.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
Oh are you preparing for the future.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
Well, I mean, look, mother's three, so I don't think
that she's going to be living with us. Off that
area is two guests bedrooms, so you know, yeah, yeah,
you never know, you never know, you never know. And
then and then there's like a principal suite for us.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
Well, let's get into a few quick five questions.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
First word that comes to mind when I say home
home beautiful. Oh, best answer ever, here's a good one.
And your house shoes on or off?

Speaker 2 (31:30):
On? I'm actually not that precious on. We keep them
one relaxed. Yeah, it's yeah, we keep them on.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Then we have signature Greg Natali color You'll never quit.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
I'll never quit. God, there's there's a few. I'll say Burgundy.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah, it's a good one.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
It's burgundy. Yeah, it's actually going to be the color
of our of our life. Principal sweet is going to
be burgundy.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
So yeah, no.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
And it's a color of Paris. Who doesn't love Paris?

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Oh exactly, It's a city of love. Is sitive lights? Yeah,
descos blurge. You will always.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
Justify a good quality.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
So far, couldn't agree. More Like you're saying you can reappolse.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
You can repolse it now. The first sofa I ever
bought twenty five years ago, I still have, yes, yeah, yeah,
so yeah, I saved up. It's by Minotti A saved
up and Minotties still make new covers and that's what's
quite ingenious about their furniture. And we're buying new covers
and it's going into this new place that's brilliant. Yeah,

(32:34):
it's amazing. Yeah, it's really really good. And like I
said to you, I've been collecting for twenty five years
on all the art and the furniture. So it's an
evolution this place.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, it's an evolution.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Next question I have is about wallpaper. Every house needs
it or only sometimes?

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Well that's a hard one because I just love warpaper,
and lord, look, I could say it needs it, and
you know the way I've incorporated warpaper. I'm actually lining
the back of the because I love war paper and
I am a maximust. I'm lining the back of the
wardrobes with warpaper, just like a jewel box. It's like
a jewel box because look, warpaper doesn't probably really suit

(33:15):
this look, but I still love warpaper. So y, I
think every house needs it.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
It could be anyway, I think it in anyhow, tell
us one design trend you will happily never see again.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Oh god, this is a hard one. I get asked
this all the time because every time I say this,
it's so funny. Every time I say this, the office goes.
We ended up doing it, Like I've said, like fews,
I said feature Wars, but now I love Feature Wars.
I love a war paper feature War.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
I think that's lovely. I think that really ties into
what we try to do at home. Beautiful. It doesn't
matter what you love.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Just do it. Just do it, I think, just do it.
And like you know, I used to say Terra Cotta,
but now like terror Cotta's back. Look, maybe right now,
and I can't believe I'm saying this is probably maybe
a pause on like bright gold accents in a home. Okay,
maybe just for now. I love I love brass and

(34:13):
I love gold and for you today, thank you. Maybe
bright brass right now, just a bit of a pause,
like now the brass color that we're using is aged. Yeah,
so maybe just bright, but not forever. Just a pause,
just a pause.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Okay, We've got a few more questions. What makes a
home beautiful to you?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
It's a home is beautiful when I think there's meaning
and there's a narrative, and there's a reason why you
are doing things. And if there's a reason why you
have painted your wars are color, you'll never ever get
sick of it. Like I'm never ever going to get

(34:53):
sick of the Burgundy because for me, it's about that
trip with Jason and he fell in love with the
Burgundy carpet and we just love Paris, and I think
of Paris, so I'll never actually get rid of Burgundy.
So I think houses with meaning, with narrative, then I
think you'll just never get sick of it.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
So you don't have to attach memory to a house.
It can be to a color, to a finish, to
a piece of furniture.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, I think definitely if And that's what I love
about maximalist homes. I love that maximalist homes are about
people collecting and people, you know, people collecting and people
traveling and having meaning. Then sometimes you know, unfortunately minimalist

(35:44):
houses can be a bit soless because they don't have
any meaning. And that's what I do really love about
maximalism is that it has so much meaning. It's you know,
it's not just about more is more, but sometimes.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
More is more, but I couldn't agree more.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
And look and I don't, but you know, and sometimes
I know that design is always about restraint, but maybe
it's not always about restraint. Maybe it is about meaning
as well. So I think if I think, if your
home has meaning, and you know, the new place that
we're doing has so much meaning. It's furniture that I've
collected that we've collected over twenty five years, it's art
we've collected, it's places we've traveled, it's colors we love.

(36:23):
So I think if houses have meaning and it is
really minimal you know, then you like, you know, we'll
never get sick of it. For me, it's really about meaning.
But that's what I really love about maximalism is all
that meaning.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
One of my favorite questions, what does a homemaker mean
to you?

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Look? A homemaker to me is someone who loves their home,
who's got pride in their home. Look, I was really
lucky el In nineteen seventy eight, my parents built their
dream home. So there was so much pride in that home.
I saw my mother like decorate. My father built the house,
all those layers of doing the curtain and she they
went to Italy and they bought all their furniture and

(37:03):
LARTs from Italy. It all came on on a container.
So it's really having that pride in your home and
keeping a.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
Tidy keep says the maximalist.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Keeping it tidy. But look, look, you know my maximalism
is very tidy.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
I have no doubt. What about people who are just
lacking a bit of confidence. They love interiors, they really
want to express themselves. How can you get through that?
I call it design paralysis, where you just you're stuck.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
Look like I said to you really really early on,
is somehow digging deep and finding that starting point and concept.
There's like I keep saying, is that the house? Is
it like you said, is it your personal wardrobe? Is
it a favorite color? Is that like a coffee table
you don't want to part with and it's coming over?
Is it like a piece of art, just something that

(37:59):
is a stuffing point? And then like I said, get on,
canva just put things on paper. And I'm going back
to what you said about personal stye, a style and
clothing when you leave. When you leave in the morning,
you always look in the mirror and you're like, are
your shoes going with your belt? And actually, I've got
I've got I've got a matching croc belt on. Are

(38:22):
your shoes going with your belt? Is everything working? Think
of your home like your wardrobe, like you're dressing. Are
things tying in? Are things flowing? Do you want something
to pop? Just think of it as like a wardrobe.
That's really the easiest analogy. But you know, just get
on you know, get on Pinterest or get on Canva,
or just get something, just put something on paper, but

(38:44):
just somehow dig deep and find that starting point and
form your concept. I know it's easier said then done,
and l I struggle with my own places. It's really
easy doing it for a client, and I struggle with
my own places. You know, having a three D program
has made it easier because you can see it. But
I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure that AI and all

(39:05):
that sort of stuff and chat GPT, they all do
three D stuff, so it makes it easier to see
it in three D.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
You might have a duck on the ceiling, but you
can still get it an image that looks close to
what you need exactly.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
I know, I know, I know. Although I'll put like
some sort of weird thing, but you know, it'll give
you some sort of three D visual representation we can see.
Oh yeah, that's working. I like that because we all
don't have a visual mind like us, so it's easy
for us. It's easy for us to see things in
our crazy brains.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
I always say, take a photo on your phone, if
you've decorated your room, or even if it's just a
bedside table, take a photo and look at the photo
and it becomes apparent pretty quick if something's not work.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
But you know, you can put all this stuff in
chat chpt now though it's pretty amazing. You could put
your photo of your room in chat cheopt and say
put red carpet, blue walls. It'll do it. It's pretty amazing
out there. Yeah, it's really good. AI is the way
I eyes away. But yeah, and also, like you know,
three D programs is really good.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
Greg, thank you so much for joining us on the
having to take fun. I have to say a bit
of a masterclass Thank you. We'll see you soon. I
feel like we've just had a private design consult and
a PEP talk to be braver at home all in one.
If you want to see more of Greg's work, we'll
link his projects, books and collections, including some of his

(40:28):
Luxe Offlex collaborations in the show notes. And if you've
got your own room for advice dilemma from multi generational
layouts to color panic, email us or DM at home
beautiful and it might become our next question. This is
the edit, your style, your sanctuary, and a little design
courage to take into the rest of your day. This

(40:51):
episode is brought to you by Luxaflex, transforming homes with beautiful,
functional window coverings designed to transform your light and life lifestyle.
Thank you to Oz designed for our beautiful set. Come
and visit the experienced team in store and see the
collection for yourself.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
This is an Our Media podcast
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