June 22, 2026 • 39 mins
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
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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. You said you have
been renovating. Have you committed any design crimes in your
own place?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Oh, yes, we have. We painted our washroom and we thought,
you know what, this would be beautiful as a really
soft butter yellow. We were painting at night and we thought, well,
this looks quite bright. It's probably brighter than we thought.
And then we did another coat. We woke up in
the morning and yeah, it was definitely not a buttery yellow.
(00:36):
It was more of a Mexican restaurant toilet yellow. And
we walk in there in the morning and think, oh no,
what have we done today.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
On the edit, we're at home with one of my
dearest friends, Carlie Verkirk. There's something so revealing about where
people gather in a home so Carly. It might be
the outdoor kitchen where something is always cooking and everyone
ends up standing around watching, but there's also the art
collection that has slowly taken over the walls, the food
(01:09):
memories her kids will carry with them, the scent and
ritual behind Finn, and the story of what came home
with her after big moves, big career shifts, and a
life spent thinking deeply about food. Beauty and family, Carli
for Kirk, Welcome to the edit.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thank you l Lovelock. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
We have known each other for a very very long time,
and we've worked together and we're just the best of friends.
Well that's how I feel. I hope you feel the same.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
The feeling is mutual. Trust me, Yeah, we are the
best of friends.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I can't remember if I've told you about my sour
dough journey.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You have briefly, but tell me more, please, I would
love to know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So the starter initially was a non starter, but now
it's worked and I'm baking loaves every week and I
think you and I think, can Carli do this?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
But the answer is no, I cannot do this short answer,
but believe it or not, I'm so glad to hear
that it's working out for you, because I know how
hard it is to actually keep a starter alive. A
and B make sourdough bread that tastes good enough to
just justify not buying it anymore, because usually people make
sourdo and go, oh what have I done? And I've
(02:23):
spent all this time and money and I could just
buy it down the road, you know, I know, no,
I can't do this. And actually it was just my
birthday last week and James, my husband, bought me a
sourdough making class, so I'll be joining you on the
sourdough journey very soon. So I'll have to get your
tips and.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Treat The tables have turned because you are the ultimate foodie.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I definitely am. But yes, I haven't gone down that
sourdough track yet, but yes I am. I just have
loved food my entire life. I love cooking, I've loved experimenting,
I love cooking for friends.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
The first time I realized how into food you were,
it was quite a shock, really, when you like I've
always known, yes, you're a good baker, and you'd bring
in treats to the office and that was all nice.
But one day you shared with me and some friends,
I've got something to tell you, Oh my god, what's happening?
(03:24):
Is like, is she okay? And you said you're going
on Master Chef.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
That's so true. And actually one of our mutual friends
thought that I had unfriended here because I hadn't written
back to his message for what was it, six months,
and he thought, oh my god, we're not friends anymore?
What's going on? Why hasn't you written back to me?
He invited me to his birthday party and all these things.
And after six months I got my phone back. And
(03:49):
the backstory is I went on Master Chef and when
you're on the show, you have to give up your phone,
your computer, everything, and it can take up to seven
months to film. And I'm ever turning my phone on.
I had all these messages from people and they were like,
where are you, what are you doing? I haven't spoken
to you. Are you okay? And yes, So it was
a shop to a lot of people, I think, and
(04:10):
I kept underrupts for a long time. But yes, that's
it's a light in the open now.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You have moved a lot in recent years. So you
started in the inner city, and then you moved sort
of to the country, and then you moved to another
country and then came back to Australia, but you moved
to the coast.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I can't believe you've kept up with all the moves.
That's too many. I'm watching you.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I'm watching you. Yes, And though I know all of that,
we've never really discussed. Why do you know what?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I have moved a lot in my life, even from
being young to being a teenager, I moved around a lot.
Our parents, sorry, my parents love to renovate home, so
we would always be moving to different homes because they
would renovate and sell. So I think we did that
about five or six times. So I'm not a stranger
to moving house. So I've always loved moving around. I
(05:03):
love new fresh beginnings. I love trying out new areas.
So when I was about in my early twenties, I
decided to move from you know, my family, the area
I grew up in, sort of the Northern Beaches, to
move over to the city. I got a new job,
which is where we met each other, and I lived
the city life in a city life Paddington and being
(05:24):
in Surrey Hills, and I absolutely loved that because also
I was exposed to more food and more people and
new things, and I love that so much. And then
I met my now husband on a work trip and
we were planning to have a child, and we lived
in a terrace house and you know what it's like
(05:44):
living in a terrace house with children.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Oh I remember the stairs.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, the stairs. And we had an English bulldog as well,
but he like a big potato and he really found
it hard getting up and downsteep stairs. So we thought,
you know what, let's just give up inner city life
and move somewhere with a bit more space, and we
chose to move to Blaxland in the Blue Mountains. Not
either of us really had any connection to the Blue
(06:10):
Mountains or we just bounder house and we loved it.
It looked out to the park, sort of like the
National Park, and it was just beautiful and we thought,
let's just give us a go. And it meant that
we could have space for a pizza oven and we
had a compost be in for the first time. We
just loved it so much. Life goals, I know, life goals.
We had worms and all the amazing things. But we
(06:32):
were renting at the time, and of course we were like,
we would love to have something like this that was
our own. So the next step after that was to
move overseas with my husband's work and ended up being Singapore,
which is also an amazing a new culture and a
new way of life. And the year we took our
young kids there, they were I think our daughter was
only three months old when we moved there and our
(06:54):
son was one and a bit. I remember it was
quite a big move and I remember family saying to us,
are you sure you want to be doing this with
such young kids? And the move over there meant that
we could in two years save enough money to move
back to Australia, which was always our goal, and to
buy our first home together. So that's where we are now.
(07:15):
We're in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, which
is right up the top end as you sort of
twenty minutes from the Queensland border. And we love it here.
It's just so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So let's get into the home tour. So you know,
we do house tours at home beautiful and I would
like you to take us on a sensory tour of
your home. So I'm coming to stay for the weekend.
What's the first thing we see when we get to
your place?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, the first thing you will see now is a
beautiful big fence.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How welcoming.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I know, it's like it's like a fortress now, which
we're loving because obviously gog A and the young children.
So basically, when we bought our home, it's an early
nineties suburban salmon brick home, not salmon brick anymore. Because
we've painted it since we've moved in. But single level,
(08:13):
very you know, humble home. But it didn't have a fence,
so when we moved in, we really struggled with We
love having the doors open and the windows open and
let the kids go outside in the mornings, which we
didn't get to do a lot of in Singapore because
you know, we were in such a small place. So
step one put a fence in and we did that
and we love it. It's an aluminium button fence which
(08:36):
has a beautiful sliding gate that we use daily and
I love. It was quite expensive, but it was worth it.
But once you get past the fence, we're now walking
through to our front door. And at our front door,
we have a beautiful caffeine lime tree, well I should
say makred lime tree, which is a tie style Southeast
Asian lime. Does it taste differend I don't know how
(08:58):
to describe it, but it's probably it's more fragrant than
a regular line. And then you walk into our home
and look, there's a lot in our home. There's a
lot of natural materials and easy wash materials because you know,
as I kept saying, we have young kids, so We've
just recently put in size a carpet in all of
the bedrooms, and we have lots of jute and sea
(09:22):
grass and linen.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So it's really beachy because how close to the beach
are you?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, if you drive, possibly one minute and if you
walk about fifteen minutes. But yeah, so I would say
it's quite beachy without trying to be beachy. More neutral
tones and as I said, easy materials that can be
pulled off and washed and wiped down, and you know,
lots of the jute and the sea grass can be
(09:48):
whited and you don't see a lot of the stains
and things like that.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And I know you've recently overhauled your outdoor. Do you
call it an outdoor kitchen?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, we've got a new outdoor kitchen, which is so exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Tell us how did you build it?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We both, my husband and I really wanted to lean
into the outdoor cooking, and so what we ended up
doing was there was this awkward sort of debt connect
to our pool that was rotting and horrible. So we
decided to take that out completely and reclaim that part
of the land and we've turned that into a beautiful
brick paved sort of a brick area with a outdoor
(10:23):
kitchen and looks. It's funny because I have closted a
bit about it online since we've put it in, and
it's definitely work in progress. It's not entirely finished yet.
I still need to put some doors in and some
storage and things like that. But we have built the
kitchen base with recycled bricks and we had a builder
(10:44):
doing some work at our house and he actually said,
you know what, I can build that easily, and he
did it in almost less than two days, the base
and the whole brick area. Really yeah, it was amazing.
And it was a reclaimed stone bench stop as well
that we had cut to size.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
How do you find the material? How do you know
where to go?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So do you know what? We use Facebook Marketplace so
much and it's just the best sauce to find second
hand goods, as you know, I know you love Facebook
market It's so good. I'm on their most night. It's
just so great to give these things a second home
as well, and not to buy brand new every single time.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So what did you put in yours?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So it really is just a basic kitchen bench shop
with a pizza of it. On one side, which is
gas or wood fire, and then on the other side
we have a wood fed grill. So it's like a
porea grill. It's almost quite I don't know, medieval, but
if you put your beautiful wood in there and you
create these charcoal embers and then you can cook over fire,
(11:46):
and it has this sort of you can wind the
grill up and down, and it's really impressive. For people
who've never seen it before and they come over and
you're cooking the mistake on this grill, they're like, oh
my gosh, what are you doing? Like a show, So
it's quite impressive.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And is that why you wanted the outdoor kitchen? Is
it the cooking method that did it? Or do you
just cook stinky food?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Oh? Look, a bit of both. I think stinky keeping
stinky for read outside is great and also oily food
is great to keep it out of your kitchen, but
also the cooking method, because you can't achieve these flavors,
these beautiful woodkiss flavors in your kitchen. You just can't.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
I'm always so fascinated to see where people naturally gather
in a home. Sometimes it's around the kitchen bench. Sometimes
it's the backstep. Sometimes it's outside standing around while something's cooking,
pretending not to hover. For Kari, food and home are
completely tangled together, which is why her outdoor kitchen says
(12:45):
so much more than just good entertaining area.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
What do the kids.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Think of living there now? Because they went from an
apartment in quite a built up city to basically free
range exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
You know, it's like chalk and cheese. I think having
them so young, as well seeing them grow up in
a very busy city. We were in a very small
apartment with no outdoor area, only a very tiny balcony,
and you know what, our dog did not like that
very much at all. I think he actually came home
quite depressed. So look, now that the kids are here,
it's it's as I said, it's like black and white.
(13:24):
When we first moved here, they would we would take
them down to the beach and they would wouldn't want
to take their shoes off, and the feeling of sand
and the feeling of grass on their feet was like
they were sort of freaked out. And so slowly over
time they've gotten used to not wearing shoes and now
actually we went to the beach the other day, and
(13:44):
they weren't wearing shoes and are walking on pebbles, and
they was on an issue. I'm like, wow, you two
have changed a lot. So yeah, they're loving.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
This of kids now exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I remember I asked you recently what do you and
James do all day? Because I know you both work
from home home, But what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Usually I'm in my pajamas, So you're actually quite lucky
when I got out of my pajamas today, although I
do my odd boots on steel. The most exciting thing
lately is we've just launched a new business.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I know, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Something I prepared earlier. It's right here.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I was wondering I didn't have one with me, so
I thought, oh, I wonder if you're going to do
a show and tell. But you go right ahead.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I know you have one at home. I know you've
been using it. You've said you've loved it. So I'm
so pleased to hear that.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Describe it for our listeners. What is it?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
This here is Our new product is called finn. It's
the world's first food fragrance. It's spraying beautiful flavors onto
finished meals instead of using fresh herbs because I rarely
have a bunch of fresh herbs ready to go when
I need it, So I thought, why doesn't something exist
(14:57):
where you can spray a flavor like onto your food
like you do a perfume.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It is incredible. I bought a bottle from you, and
it arrived promptly. I just want to say, real friends
don't ask for discounts.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
No, thank you for supporting.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
But I was genuinely impressed that you can taste the
flavors so clearly it doesn't taste synthetic, it doesn't taste stale.
It tastes really fresh, and I've been spraying it on
everything from soup to brusketa to really looking forward to
trying it on fish. What's in it?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
The main ingredients in it are essential oil, so they
culinary essential oils. That basil. This one that you have
l is the first release I did, so it's basil,
oregano and lemon. It also has a secret ingredient which
I will tell you it's celery seed, which is very exciting.
Oh I love a sk Yeah, it gives it a
(16:01):
really beautiful, nutty bass sort of labor. When it comes
to a finishing product that you spray onto a dish
that's done. Then this is this is what you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
And so you've launched this with your husband James. Is
is he very involved in the creation process or is
he more of the you know, supporting entrepreneurial spirit, because
that he is an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
He really is, and honestly, this wouldn't have come to
life without him. I bounced it off him to begin with,
you know, walking on the beach one morning and I said,
do you know this is a really strange idea? And
when I told him, he sort of went, that's brilliant.
Why doesn't that exist?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I want to backtrack a little bit, but still along
the topic of James. When you two got together, I
remember he had quite the art.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Collection he did.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I'm curious to know a bit more about that. How
he collects. Have you joined the collection journey and did
you take it all to Singapore? What did you do
with it?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
That's a really good question. And yes, he did have
an amazing art collection, honestly, stunning paintings and pieces by
Australian artists. He had been collecting over many, many years.
And we still have the collection today and we do
it's now our collection because I've added to the collection
over the years. And the nicest thing about it is
(17:29):
that every time I look at a piece of art
on the wall, it reminds me of a time in
our relationship or a special occasion, because we often buy
art for each other for birthdays or yeah, as I said,
special occasions that mark a special time in our lives.
So it's really lovely.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
It's a nice way to decorate, and it's a nice
way to have.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You know, something that you share together. But no, we
definitely did not take them all to Singapore with us.
We took a handful of pieces. It was really hard
to choose which pieces we were going to take.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
I love that you took art because from memory, you
didn't really take any furniture, did you.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
We took absolutely nothing. We took a few suitcases and
some art. So yeah, it really shows how much art
means to us and how much art means to James. Yeah,
I know we'll get there with the mystery draw item.
Is it to be suit No, let's do the mystery
draw now. Okay, great because it really links with art
(18:28):
and food. So I feel like this is the perfect
time and.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So for anyone listening who hasn't come across our mystery
draw before. This is when our lovely guests bring or
share or show a piece from their home and it
could be a story. I can't wait to find out
what it is. It's a mystery from the drawer.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
It's a mystery and it doesn't leave it a drawer,
but it lives on the wall. Missus. A piece that
we just picked up last weekend. This is our most
recent artwork and it's a lino cut by a local artist.
His name is Peter Blundell and jam saw it straight
(19:08):
away and he thought, oh my gosh, it's a sardine
lino cut. And the map told us that it was
the last piece in the collection because the rest of
the artwork in this collection was lost in the floods.
So because we get terrible floods up here. Yeah, and
apparently this was the only one that survived this collection.
(19:29):
And it's three out of twenty. So we feel very
lucky to have received.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
This piece of sardine's sardines. And do the kids notice
the art around the house?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yes, they do. And you know our son laying he is,
he's a budding artist and I know everybody thinks their
child is good be so good at that You were
all biased, But honestly, he has a very good eye.
When we were leaving Singapore, we were starting to take
some art off the walls and packing it up. Actually,
(20:00):
he came home from school one dance it. He burst
into tears and said, where is all the art? And
you set? I know we couldn't all anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I thought I would have felt the same way.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I know, where is that art? What's the art?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And what about Ginger?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
She couldn't care less.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And you are expanding your family.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, so feeling very large at the moment with you.
Our third child is due in September, so we've just
launched a business baby and we're cooking a real baby
at the same time. So we've decided to do everything
at once. Really, how do.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
You think that's going to change your home?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, a new dynasty completely changes the dynamics, doesn't it?
More clutter but more laugh. So can't complain about that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And I have said that you can. You can come
down to Sydney and stay with me, but just with
one child.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I absolutely love being in your home, your guest room. Honestly, No,
he makes a bed like you. Well, thank you, so
I will be taking you up on that off it,
don't worry.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And Carly, that means so much to me because you
have stayed at some of the most incredible hotels in
the world, because you were deputy editor at Gormet Traveler
and Boss Hunting.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
That opens a lot of doors.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We've stayed at some of the nicest hotels and we've
in at some of the best restaurants, and we're all
for work. That's such a hard job. But no, someone's
going to do it. But obviously life isn't like that
so much anymore. But although I say kids come with
clutter and mess and things like that, it's beautiful. It's
(21:40):
really nice and that's the season of life here in
so it makes you appreciate being home and being at home.
There's no feeling like it. Once you create a home
that's your home, with your art, as we've been talking about,
with your things, sort of the old we get James,
I realized we sort of just like being at our home.
We don't want to be anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Well, let's talk about your house rules. I've got some
questions for it. Dona or blanket do not. Is there
a reason?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I love the fluffiness and I get quite cold when
I sleep at night, so yeah, doner, I just love
being all cozy and snug.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
How about you live near the beach, shoes on or off?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Shoes off in the house. That's my rule, and that's
something that we've carried over from Singapore as well. It's
a very cultural thing there. You would always take your
shoes off at the front door and never have shoes
on inside because you have such a small space and
you want it to be as clean as possible becau
you're coming straight off the street. So that's something that
we've replicated here in our house. Shoes off inside, but outside.
(22:44):
I'm also a bit of a shoes off person. I
like feeling the stand and the grass and the things.
So I guess if the shoes off outside, wash your
feet before you come in, and then the shoes off inside.
That's good to know.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
What about what is something you always have fresh in
your house?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Oh? Always have fresh We always have fresh food, not
fresh sourdo. Hopefully we'll have fresh sourdo soon, very soon. Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
What about scented candles? Are they always on only for
special occasions or absolutely never for.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
My centered sanded candles. It's special occasions. I have some
beautiful scented candles, but I like to keep them just
for when people are coming over into add ambience. But
day to day, I've actually found a great natural room
spray from my local organic shop, and I love a
(23:43):
room spray that this. Every time somebody walks into our
house unexpected and I've sprayed a bit of this. It's
a lemon myrtle natural rooms flock spray, and it smells
so fresh and it's almost like you've just cleaned rather than,
you know, rather than a heavy scent. It's just even
though I do like cleaning too, don't.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Worry about the cleaning.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Just sprits the sprits and then tidy and everyone think looe,
they were all think everything's clean, But no, it's a
good thing to just have there and then you kind
of go spray sway spray, but it's a fresh sense.
So I would do that most days, and then scented
candle on special occasions.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I love that. I, as you know, have an inset
doormat at the front door just as you come inside,
and I love to sprits that with a room spray,
so when people walk in, they trample on the doormat
and it releases the scent.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
That is a wonderful idea.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
What's the soundtrack of your home?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Oh we listen? Oh my gosh. We visited Copenhagen last
year and we were sitting in a bar and there
was a record playing and we just had to ask
who it was, and there are duo from Denmark. They
called Brema McCoy. It's Brema would slash McCoy. So I
(25:00):
can share that with you, so you can share it
with everybody. But it has become the soundtrack of our lives.
So when we get up in the morning and it's
a bit chaotic, we put it on and it's just
the most amazing album ever and everybody's just calm instantly,
and it reminds ourself on a trip as well, which
is just so beautiful. And the nice thing is, I
don't think we would ever have discovered that if we
(25:21):
hadn't gone there and ask, because you know, there are
so many wonderful bands out there that don't even get discovered.
And yeah, so that's the soundtrack of our lives. At
the moment of our home that reminds me so much
about home.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
We have a listener dilemma. Someone has asked a question
that I think you are the perfect person to answer.
I'm all right, Margie writes in says, we have a
small courtyard and I'd love to make it better for entertaining.
We don't have the budget or space for a full
outdoor kitchen. What are the first three things you do
(25:54):
to make it useful, relaxing and beautiful.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh, Margie, that is a great question. And you know
I've lived in many homes, as I was saying before,
with small cup courtyards or small outdoor spaces such as
terrace houses. You know, we all know that they have
tidy little spaces out the back, so more useful and
more welcoming. Yeah. The first thing is if you have
room to get some beautiful pots of fresh hobes or
(26:22):
something that has a beautiful scent, as I was saying
about our macrit lime tree at the front of our house.
It's a great talking point. But also they smell wonderful
and they're useful. Yeah, And I know you don't have
a lot of space, so you kind of want to
make the most of the space that you do have,
So I would recommend some long planters or some pot
plants and put something edible, something that smells amazing, and
(26:46):
when people are out there, they'll enjoy being in this space.
Second thing is I would probably recommend putting up something
like some fairy lights or some beautiful lights to make
the space feel lovely in the afternoon, noon or at night. Yeah,
just a bit of ambience and make the space feel cozy,
(27:08):
almost like you're in a lovely restaurant courtyard. You know,
you want to create that vibe and along with that
you have some music and things like that, and honestly,
you don't need much space to do that. And we
did that in one in our terrace homes. We had
a beautiful string of lights and it was just it
just added a bit of ambience and it was just nice.
(27:29):
So that would be my second tip.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
I'm going to chime in here.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yes, tell me.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I think for a small space outdoor kitchen, I think
the bar cart is the way to go. So either
a bar cart that you set up with drinks and
snacks if you're entertaining, or the bar cart style that
you have like a pizza oven or a small barbecue
on I'm thinking if it's the boozy bar cart. You
(27:56):
can mix the drink and then you can tell your guests,
go on, pick the herbs you want to garnish, so
it's interactive.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I love that so much. The bart is a great
idea because you can wheel it in and you can
wheel it out, so it's great. It doesn't need to
leave out in the small space. I love that so much.
And also going on that idea, so we're going to
add in a fourth thing. Okay, great, it'd be great
to have a car that had sort of a small grill.
I don't know if you've ever come across a Herbachie grill.
(28:23):
It's a Japanese grill. It's very small. It's only about
sort of yeah big, and you can get charcoal and
you can do skewers and little lamb chop things. So
if you've got people outside having a drink, you've put
a few things on your Herbachie grill, like peeling the herbs. Yeah,
that's a really nice way to entertain. And it's not
(28:44):
it doesn't take up space, so I would recommend her.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
But and it's rented friendly.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
It is rented friendly. You can take it with you
when you go you're not making any mess. Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
All the hot tips here, Margie. I hope that helps
love that. One of the loveliest things about this conversation
is the idea that tastes can be inherited, borrowed, argued over,
and slowly absorbed. Carlie talks about James's art collection is
something she married into in a way, but also something
(29:16):
that became part of how their family marks time. And
maybe that's what the best homes do. They hold the
evidence of who we were when we found something, bought
something cooked something, moved somewhere, or decided just to stay. Carlie,
we met when we were both working on real living,
so I thought this was a really good question to
(29:39):
ask you. Is there a design crime that has been
committed all over Australia that you wish we could fix?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Do you know what? At the moment, and this could
be quite controversial because I know quite a lot of
people still love it.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Go there.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Yeah, I can't see another and I don't know how
to properly pronounce it. Is it bootle oh boot Clay.
I can't stand it anymore. I'm sorry. I can't see
another boot Cley thing. And after it's used for a
small amount of time, it just doesn't look very good.
It's very warm.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Someone described recently what the look of heavily used worn
bookley looks like. And it looks like the mankey dog
towel that's been washed and put through the dryer. It's
still not quite like. It's still a bit dingy. And yeah,
the pile that measured and so then you go washed
(30:39):
tumble dry dog towel.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yes, Or it's that jumper that is just that cheap
jumper that has gets peels and doesn't look good after
one where So yeah, No, I'm avoiding anything that's boot
clay at the moment, and I think everybody else should.
I feel like it was just one of those things
that was very popular and it's just going to go
out very quickly. So sorry if you own something boot cleate.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
What about in your own home, because you said you
have been renovating, have you committed any design crimes in
your own place?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh? Yes we have. I'm not a saint on the
design crimes styling and designing a home. You have all
these wonderful ideas, but when it comes down to it,
it takes a long time. It takes a long time
to nail your look. And of course things change over
time as well naturally, as you know, you age and
(31:30):
family ages, and you go through the seasons. But only
last week or the week before, we came to our washroom,
very small, just a toilet on its own, and we thought,
you know what, this would be beautiful as a really
soft butter yellow because the tiles are a bit older,
(31:50):
you know, that sort of retro tone on the floor.
So I thought the buttery yellow would look really nice
in here, soft, you know, and I'll get a window
covering for the window. Anyway, we're painting at night, and
we thought, oh, this looks quite bright. It's probably brighter
than we thought. And then we did another coat. We
woke up in the morning and yeah, it was definitely
(32:12):
not a buttery yellow. It was more of a Mexican
restaurant toilet yellow. And we walk in there in the
morning and think, oh, no, what have we done. It's
so bright. Oh, it's not at all like the swatch.
And that's the issue. We didn't try it out before.
We just jumped straight in and did it. And Coli
I know, and there's no fixing it. There's no Oh
(32:34):
it's Okay, No, it's terrible. It's a really, really terrible color.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So wouldn't want to go in there with a hangover
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Oh no, And you know what it's because it's the
solo toilet. James often goes in there in the mornings
and he comes out every morning going, God, that's just
a hideous color. What have we done? So we'll we'll
be repainting it. But what do you feel is a
great color for a small room like that? Would you
go darker?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
I do love the dark colors, and I mean that
that is a design rule. If there's a small space,
particularly that doesn't get much natural light, then don't bother
trying to brighten it up yellow. Just go for something
dark and moody. And I think it could be if
you've got what color are the retro tiles? Are they
like a terra cotta or.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
They're a cream?
Speaker 1 (33:20):
See with that, you could go like a burgundy. It's
you know, that is such a strong color at the moment.
And I don't mind saying at the moment because it
is just paint. You can paint over it when you
get sick of it. Yeah, And I would even paint
the ceiling yes, we did do the ceiling. Oh my god,
that's a yellow attack.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
It's yes, we got right again. The theory was right,
that the execution not so right. But I thought burgundy
would be a really nice color, or a beautiful deep
green like a forest, sort of like a British green
or something dark green would be.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Nice, also really complimentary to cream exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Okay, well, TBC, we'll get back to you on that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I'll be looking out for a picture of you, Lou
on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
I will post it and I would love some feedback
before and after.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So this is in a way homemaking and something we
talk about a lot at home Beautiful and with our
guests at the edit is what does it mean to
be a homemaker. Now we all know the traditional sense
of a homemaker, but in this day and age, what
does homemaker mean to you?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
For me, a homemaker is creating a space of calm
and feeling just completely at home in your own home
and not feeling like we need to be on show.
Being a homemaker is creating a space that reflects your
personal style. Yes, and also that feels like it's you
(34:58):
in a home and and walk into every day and
go oh and just feel comfortable and calm. It's I
think colors and textures and the smell of something cooking
in the oven can make you instantly feel like you're
calm in what you might have been a chaotic day
(35:18):
or a chaotic moment. So for me, a homemaker is
about creating that sense of yeah, the sense of feeling
at peace.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Does cooking make you feel at peace?
Speaker 2 (35:29):
It sure does. Honestly. It's funny because I also do
some recipe developing, and it's something that I've done for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
And most recently seen in Home Beautiful magazine exactly dot Au.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Exactly. So I love recipe developing and I'm always trying
out new things in the kitchen. And one of the
things that people say to me is, oh my gosh,
I couldn't think about cooking dinner after a long day,
and I just it's too stressful and cooking for me
is not enjoyable. But for me it really is. And
I find piece in cooking. I find piece in the kitchen.
(36:05):
And do you know, when I'm at my most stressed,
I just go straight to the kitchen and I take
something out of the fridge and I make it because
I just think. Yeah, the process of chopping up a
vegetable or putting something in the oven, roasting a chicken.
It brings you right back to the basics, I think,
And for me, it's something I can control right then
and right there.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
That's so interesting what you say about the control, because,
as you know, I'm the same. If things are feeling
a bit chaotic, I like to control something. It can
be anything. It can be controlling sorting out a sock draw.
It can be controlling by trimming a hedge and making
it neat and tidy.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Some mighty free. I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
But for so many people, I think control it's a
dirty word. But it doesn't have to be. It means
putting structures in place to ease the chaos.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. We're quite similar
in that regard. I think it's just the small things.
I think trying to create that calm and yeah, control
it makes me feel better.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
How do your shop? How do you feel your fridge?
Speaker 2 (37:16):
We go to the farmer's market once or twice a week.
We're very lucky up here. There's a farmer's market on
pretty much every day in different directions, so I know again,
that's a luxury that I know a lot of people
who live in metropolitan areas cannot you know, do not
have access to all the time. So I ideally like
to do that first, and then everything else that we
(37:38):
don't have, your day to day stuff. We just try
and limit it to a supermarket shop that you know,
once a week or once at fort And.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
I partly the last question I want to ask you,
which I ask everyone, is to you, what makes a
home beautiful?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
I think, going back and what I said before about
a calm space that users with personality and the vibe
of the people who live there, and as long as
it reflects the person who lives there, then I think
it's beautiful. I don't think it needs to be cookie cutter,
you know, straight out of a magazine. Although I would
(38:17):
love my home to look like it does homes look
in a magazine. I've looked. I mean, I've worked in
the industry. I get to look at beautiful homes all
the time, and I'm very envious of people who have
homes who look like that, look like that. But I
think ultimately life gets in the way a lot of
the time, and things are chaotic and things that can
be messy, but that's also beautiful. So it's embracing all
(38:40):
of that. And it's embracing the mess and embracing the chales,
but also findingly calm in between all of that. I
think that's what makes it home beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I think that's lovely, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Great, you're beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You're beautiful, Harlie. Thanks for joining me on the edit.
It's a new environment for It's been so nice chatting
with you.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Thank you so much for asking me to come on.
I absolutely love it and I adore it and I'm
an avid listener. Thank you, Carly, my friend.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Thank you so much for inviting us into your home,
your kitchen, your art collection, and your marketplace habits. I
love the idea that a beautiful home doesn't have to
be perfect. It can be full of food, kids, dogs,
secondhand finds, too much art, and people gathering around while
something cooks. Thank you for joining us on the edit
(39:32):
from Home Beautiful. Follow or subscribe for more conversations with
people who make homes feel personal, beautiful and real, and
we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
This is an Our Media podcast
This is an our media podcast. You said you have
been renovating. Have you committed any design crimes in your
own place?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Oh, yes, we have. We painted our washroom and we thought,
you know what, this would be beautiful as a really
soft butter yellow. We were painting at night and we thought, well,
this looks quite bright. It's probably brighter than we thought.
And then we did another coat. We woke up in
the morning and yeah, it was definitely not a buttery yellow.
(00:36):
It was more of a Mexican restaurant toilet yellow. And
we walk in there in the morning and think, oh no,
what have we done today.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
On the edit, we're at home with one of my
dearest friends, Carlie Verkirk. There's something so revealing about where
people gather in a home so Carly. It might be
the outdoor kitchen where something is always cooking and everyone
ends up standing around watching, but there's also the art
collection that has slowly taken over the walls, the food
(01:09):
memories her kids will carry with them, the scent and
ritual behind Finn, and the story of what came home
with her after big moves, big career shifts, and a
life spent thinking deeply about food. Beauty and family, Carli
for Kirk, Welcome to the edit.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thank you l Lovelock. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
We have known each other for a very very long time,
and we've worked together and we're just the best of friends.
Well that's how I feel. I hope you feel the same.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
The feeling is mutual. Trust me, Yeah, we are the
best of friends.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I can't remember if I've told you about my sour
dough journey.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You have briefly, but tell me more, please, I would
love to know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So the starter initially was a non starter, but now
it's worked and I'm baking loaves every week and I
think you and I think, can Carli do this?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
But the answer is no, I cannot do this short answer,
but believe it or not, I'm so glad to hear
that it's working out for you, because I know how
hard it is to actually keep a starter alive. A
and B make sourdough bread that tastes good enough to
just justify not buying it anymore, because usually people make
sourdo and go, oh what have I done? And I've
(02:23):
spent all this time and money and I could just
buy it down the road, you know, I know, no,
I can't do this. And actually it was just my
birthday last week and James, my husband, bought me a
sourdough making class, so I'll be joining you on the
sourdough journey very soon. So I'll have to get your
tips and.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Treat The tables have turned because you are the ultimate foodie.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I definitely am. But yes, I haven't gone down that
sourdough track yet, but yes I am. I just have
loved food my entire life. I love cooking, I've loved experimenting,
I love cooking for friends.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
The first time I realized how into food you were,
it was quite a shock, really, when you like I've
always known, yes, you're a good baker, and you'd bring
in treats to the office and that was all nice.
But one day you shared with me and some friends,
I've got something to tell you, Oh my god, what's happening?
(03:24):
Is like, is she okay? And you said you're going
on Master Chef.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
That's so true. And actually one of our mutual friends
thought that I had unfriended here because I hadn't written
back to his message for what was it, six months,
and he thought, oh my god, we're not friends anymore?
What's going on? Why hasn't you written back to me?
He invited me to his birthday party and all these things.
And after six months I got my phone back. And
(03:49):
the backstory is I went on Master Chef and when
you're on the show, you have to give up your phone,
your computer, everything, and it can take up to seven
months to film. And I'm ever turning my phone on.
I had all these messages from people and they were like,
where are you, what are you doing? I haven't spoken
to you. Are you okay? And yes, So it was
a shop to a lot of people, I think, and
(04:10):
I kept underrupts for a long time. But yes, that's
it's a light in the open now.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You have moved a lot in recent years. So you
started in the inner city, and then you moved sort
of to the country, and then you moved to another
country and then came back to Australia, but you moved
to the coast.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I can't believe you've kept up with all the moves.
That's too many. I'm watching you.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I'm watching you. Yes, And though I know all of that,
we've never really discussed. Why do you know what?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I have moved a lot in my life, even from
being young to being a teenager, I moved around a lot.
Our parents, sorry, my parents love to renovate home, so
we would always be moving to different homes because they
would renovate and sell. So I think we did that
about five or six times. So I'm not a stranger
to moving house. So I've always loved moving around. I
(05:03):
love new fresh beginnings. I love trying out new areas.
So when I was about in my early twenties, I
decided to move from you know, my family, the area
I grew up in, sort of the Northern Beaches, to
move over to the city. I got a new job,
which is where we met each other, and I lived
the city life in a city life Paddington and being
(05:24):
in Surrey Hills, and I absolutely loved that because also
I was exposed to more food and more people and
new things, and I love that so much. And then
I met my now husband on a work trip and
we were planning to have a child, and we lived
in a terrace house and you know what it's like
(05:44):
living in a terrace house with children.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Oh I remember the stairs.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, the stairs. And we had an English bulldog as well,
but he like a big potato and he really found
it hard getting up and downsteep stairs. So we thought,
you know what, let's just give up inner city life
and move somewhere with a bit more space, and we
chose to move to Blaxland in the Blue Mountains. Not
either of us really had any connection to the Blue
(06:10):
Mountains or we just bounder house and we loved it.
It looked out to the park, sort of like the
National Park, and it was just beautiful and we thought,
let's just give us a go. And it meant that
we could have space for a pizza oven and we
had a compost be in for the first time. We
just loved it so much. Life goals, I know, life goals.
We had worms and all the amazing things. But we
(06:32):
were renting at the time, and of course we were like,
we would love to have something like this that was
our own. So the next step after that was to
move overseas with my husband's work and ended up being Singapore,
which is also an amazing a new culture and a
new way of life. And the year we took our
young kids there, they were I think our daughter was
only three months old when we moved there and our
(06:54):
son was one and a bit. I remember it was
quite a big move and I remember family saying to us,
are you sure you want to be doing this with
such young kids? And the move over there meant that
we could in two years save enough money to move
back to Australia, which was always our goal, and to
buy our first home together. So that's where we are now.
(07:15):
We're in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, which
is right up the top end as you sort of
twenty minutes from the Queensland border. And we love it here.
It's just so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So let's get into the home tour. So you know,
we do house tours at home beautiful and I would
like you to take us on a sensory tour of
your home. So I'm coming to stay for the weekend.
What's the first thing we see when we get to
your place?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, the first thing you will see now is a
beautiful big fence.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How welcoming.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I know, it's like it's like a fortress now, which
we're loving because obviously gog A and the young children.
So basically, when we bought our home, it's an early
nineties suburban salmon brick home, not salmon brick anymore. Because
we've painted it since we've moved in. But single level,
(08:13):
very you know, humble home. But it didn't have a fence,
so when we moved in, we really struggled with We
love having the doors open and the windows open and
let the kids go outside in the mornings, which we
didn't get to do a lot of in Singapore because
you know, we were in such a small place. So
step one put a fence in and we did that
and we love it. It's an aluminium button fence which
(08:36):
has a beautiful sliding gate that we use daily and
I love. It was quite expensive, but it was worth it.
But once you get past the fence, we're now walking
through to our front door. And at our front door,
we have a beautiful caffeine lime tree, well I should
say makred lime tree, which is a tie style Southeast
Asian lime. Does it taste differend I don't know how
(08:58):
to describe it, but it's probably it's more fragrant than
a regular line. And then you walk into our home
and look, there's a lot in our home. There's a
lot of natural materials and easy wash materials because you know,
as I kept saying, we have young kids, so We've
just recently put in size a carpet in all of
the bedrooms, and we have lots of jute and sea
(09:22):
grass and linen.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So it's really beachy because how close to the beach
are you?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, if you drive, possibly one minute and if you
walk about fifteen minutes. But yeah, so I would say
it's quite beachy without trying to be beachy. More neutral
tones and as I said, easy materials that can be
pulled off and washed and wiped down, and you know,
lots of the jute and the sea grass can be
(09:48):
whited and you don't see a lot of the stains
and things like that.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And I know you've recently overhauled your outdoor. Do you
call it an outdoor kitchen?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, we've got a new outdoor kitchen, which is so exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Tell us how did you build it?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We both, my husband and I really wanted to lean
into the outdoor cooking, and so what we ended up
doing was there was this awkward sort of debt connect
to our pool that was rotting and horrible. So we
decided to take that out completely and reclaim that part
of the land and we've turned that into a beautiful
brick paved sort of a brick area with a outdoor
(10:23):
kitchen and looks. It's funny because I have closted a
bit about it online since we've put it in, and
it's definitely work in progress. It's not entirely finished yet.
I still need to put some doors in and some
storage and things like that. But we have built the
kitchen base with recycled bricks and we had a builder
(10:44):
doing some work at our house and he actually said,
you know what, I can build that easily, and he
did it in almost less than two days, the base
and the whole brick area. Really yeah, it was amazing.
And it was a reclaimed stone bench stop as well
that we had cut to size.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
How do you find the material? How do you know
where to go?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So do you know what? We use Facebook Marketplace so
much and it's just the best sauce to find second
hand goods, as you know, I know you love Facebook
market It's so good. I'm on their most night. It's
just so great to give these things a second home
as well, and not to buy brand new every single time.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So what did you put in yours?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So it really is just a basic kitchen bench shop
with a pizza of it. On one side, which is
gas or wood fire, and then on the other side
we have a wood fed grill. So it's like a
porea grill. It's almost quite I don't know, medieval, but
if you put your beautiful wood in there and you
create these charcoal embers and then you can cook over fire,
(11:46):
and it has this sort of you can wind the
grill up and down, and it's really impressive. For people
who've never seen it before and they come over and
you're cooking the mistake on this grill, they're like, oh
my gosh, what are you doing? Like a show, So
it's quite impressive.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And is that why you wanted the outdoor kitchen? Is
it the cooking method that did it? Or do you
just cook stinky food?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Oh? Look, a bit of both. I think stinky keeping
stinky for read outside is great and also oily food
is great to keep it out of your kitchen, but
also the cooking method, because you can't achieve these flavors,
these beautiful woodkiss flavors in your kitchen. You just can't.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
I'm always so fascinated to see where people naturally gather
in a home. Sometimes it's around the kitchen bench. Sometimes
it's the backstep. Sometimes it's outside standing around while something's cooking,
pretending not to hover. For Kari, food and home are
completely tangled together, which is why her outdoor kitchen says
(12:45):
so much more than just good entertaining area.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
What do the kids.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Think of living there now? Because they went from an
apartment in quite a built up city to basically free
range exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
You know, it's like chalk and cheese. I think having
them so young, as well seeing them grow up in
a very busy city. We were in a very small
apartment with no outdoor area, only a very tiny balcony,
and you know what, our dog did not like that
very much at all. I think he actually came home
quite depressed. So look, now that the kids are here,
it's it's as I said, it's like black and white.
(13:24):
When we first moved here, they would we would take
them down to the beach and they would wouldn't want
to take their shoes off, and the feeling of sand
and the feeling of grass on their feet was like
they were sort of freaked out. And so slowly over
time they've gotten used to not wearing shoes and now
actually we went to the beach the other day, and
(13:44):
they weren't wearing shoes and are walking on pebbles, and
they was on an issue. I'm like, wow, you two
have changed a lot. So yeah, they're loving.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
This of kids now exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I remember I asked you recently what do you and
James do all day? Because I know you both work
from home home, But what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Usually I'm in my pajamas, So you're actually quite lucky
when I got out of my pajamas today, although I
do my odd boots on steel. The most exciting thing
lately is we've just launched a new business.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I know, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Something I prepared earlier. It's right here.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I was wondering I didn't have one with me, so
I thought, oh, I wonder if you're going to do
a show and tell. But you go right ahead.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I know you have one at home. I know you've
been using it. You've said you've loved it. So I'm
so pleased to hear that.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Describe it for our listeners. What is it?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
This here is Our new product is called finn. It's
the world's first food fragrance. It's spraying beautiful flavors onto
finished meals instead of using fresh herbs because I rarely
have a bunch of fresh herbs ready to go when
I need it, So I thought, why doesn't something exist
(14:57):
where you can spray a flavor like onto your food
like you do a perfume.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It is incredible. I bought a bottle from you, and
it arrived promptly. I just want to say, real friends
don't ask for discounts.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
No, thank you for supporting.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
But I was genuinely impressed that you can taste the
flavors so clearly it doesn't taste synthetic, it doesn't taste stale.
It tastes really fresh, and I've been spraying it on
everything from soup to brusketa to really looking forward to
trying it on fish. What's in it?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
The main ingredients in it are essential oil, so they
culinary essential oils. That basil. This one that you have
l is the first release I did, so it's basil,
oregano and lemon. It also has a secret ingredient which
I will tell you it's celery seed, which is very exciting.
Oh I love a sk Yeah, it gives it a
(16:01):
really beautiful, nutty bass sort of labor. When it comes
to a finishing product that you spray onto a dish
that's done. Then this is this is what you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
And so you've launched this with your husband James. Is
is he very involved in the creation process or is
he more of the you know, supporting entrepreneurial spirit, because
that he is an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
He really is, and honestly, this wouldn't have come to
life without him. I bounced it off him to begin with,
you know, walking on the beach one morning and I said,
do you know this is a really strange idea? And
when I told him, he sort of went, that's brilliant.
Why doesn't that exist?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I want to backtrack a little bit, but still along
the topic of James. When you two got together, I
remember he had quite the art.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Collection he did.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I'm curious to know a bit more about that. How
he collects. Have you joined the collection journey and did
you take it all to Singapore? What did you do
with it?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
That's a really good question. And yes, he did have
an amazing art collection, honestly, stunning paintings and pieces by
Australian artists. He had been collecting over many, many years.
And we still have the collection today and we do
it's now our collection because I've added to the collection
over the years. And the nicest thing about it is
(17:29):
that every time I look at a piece of art
on the wall, it reminds me of a time in
our relationship or a special occasion, because we often buy
art for each other for birthdays or yeah, as I said,
special occasions that mark a special time in our lives.
So it's really lovely.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
It's a nice way to decorate, and it's a nice
way to have.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You know, something that you share together. But no, we
definitely did not take them all to Singapore with us.
We took a handful of pieces. It was really hard
to choose which pieces we were going to take.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
I love that you took art because from memory, you
didn't really take any furniture, did you.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
We took absolutely nothing. We took a few suitcases and
some art. So yeah, it really shows how much art
means to us and how much art means to James. Yeah,
I know we'll get there with the mystery draw item.
Is it to be suit No, let's do the mystery
draw now. Okay, great because it really links with art
(18:28):
and food. So I feel like this is the perfect
time and.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So for anyone listening who hasn't come across our mystery
draw before. This is when our lovely guests bring or
share or show a piece from their home and it
could be a story. I can't wait to find out
what it is. It's a mystery from the drawer.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
It's a mystery and it doesn't leave it a drawer,
but it lives on the wall. Missus. A piece that
we just picked up last weekend. This is our most
recent artwork and it's a lino cut by a local artist.
His name is Peter Blundell and jam saw it straight
(19:08):
away and he thought, oh my gosh, it's a sardine
lino cut. And the map told us that it was
the last piece in the collection because the rest of
the artwork in this collection was lost in the floods.
So because we get terrible floods up here. Yeah, and
apparently this was the only one that survived this collection.
(19:29):
And it's three out of twenty. So we feel very
lucky to have received.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
This piece of sardine's sardines. And do the kids notice
the art around the house?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yes, they do. And you know our son laying he is,
he's a budding artist and I know everybody thinks their
child is good be so good at that You were
all biased, But honestly, he has a very good eye.
When we were leaving Singapore, we were starting to take
some art off the walls and packing it up. Actually,
(20:00):
he came home from school one dance it. He burst
into tears and said, where is all the art? And
you set? I know we couldn't all anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I thought I would have felt the same way.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I know, where is that art? What's the art?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And what about Ginger?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
She couldn't care less.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And you are expanding your family.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, so feeling very large at the moment with you.
Our third child is due in September, so we've just
launched a business baby and we're cooking a real baby
at the same time. So we've decided to do everything
at once. Really, how do.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
You think that's going to change your home?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, a new dynasty completely changes the dynamics, doesn't it?
More clutter but more laugh. So can't complain about that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And I have said that you can. You can come
down to Sydney and stay with me, but just with
one child.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I absolutely love being in your home, your guest room. Honestly, No,
he makes a bed like you. Well, thank you, so
I will be taking you up on that off it,
don't worry.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And Carly, that means so much to me because you
have stayed at some of the most incredible hotels in
the world, because you were deputy editor at Gormet Traveler
and Boss Hunting.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
That opens a lot of doors.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We've stayed at some of the nicest hotels and we've
in at some of the best restaurants, and we're all
for work. That's such a hard job. But no, someone's
going to do it. But obviously life isn't like that
so much anymore. But although I say kids come with
clutter and mess and things like that, it's beautiful. It's
(21:40):
really nice and that's the season of life here in
so it makes you appreciate being home and being at home.
There's no feeling like it. Once you create a home
that's your home, with your art, as we've been talking about,
with your things, sort of the old we get James,
I realized we sort of just like being at our home.
We don't want to be anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Well, let's talk about your house rules. I've got some
questions for it. Dona or blanket do not. Is there
a reason?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I love the fluffiness and I get quite cold when
I sleep at night, so yeah, doner, I just love
being all cozy and snug.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
How about you live near the beach, shoes on or off?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Shoes off in the house. That's my rule, and that's
something that we've carried over from Singapore as well. It's
a very cultural thing there. You would always take your
shoes off at the front door and never have shoes
on inside because you have such a small space and
you want it to be as clean as possible becau
you're coming straight off the street. So that's something that
we've replicated here in our house. Shoes off inside, but outside.
(22:44):
I'm also a bit of a shoes off person. I
like feeling the stand and the grass and the things.
So I guess if the shoes off outside, wash your
feet before you come in, and then the shoes off inside.
That's good to know.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
What about what is something you always have fresh in
your house?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Oh? Always have fresh We always have fresh food, not
fresh sourdo. Hopefully we'll have fresh sourdo soon, very soon. Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
What about scented candles? Are they always on only for
special occasions or absolutely never for.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
My centered sanded candles. It's special occasions. I have some
beautiful scented candles, but I like to keep them just
for when people are coming over into add ambience. But
day to day, I've actually found a great natural room
spray from my local organic shop, and I love a
(23:43):
room spray that this. Every time somebody walks into our
house unexpected and I've sprayed a bit of this. It's
a lemon myrtle natural rooms flock spray, and it smells
so fresh and it's almost like you've just cleaned rather than,
you know, rather than a heavy scent. It's just even
though I do like cleaning too, don't.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Worry about the cleaning.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Just sprits the sprits and then tidy and everyone think looe,
they were all think everything's clean, But no, it's a
good thing to just have there and then you kind
of go spray sway spray, but it's a fresh sense.
So I would do that most days, and then scented
candle on special occasions.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I love that. I, as you know, have an inset
doormat at the front door just as you come inside,
and I love to sprits that with a room spray,
so when people walk in, they trample on the doormat
and it releases the scent.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
That is a wonderful idea.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
What's the soundtrack of your home?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Oh we listen? Oh my gosh. We visited Copenhagen last
year and we were sitting in a bar and there
was a record playing and we just had to ask
who it was, and there are duo from Denmark. They
called Brema McCoy. It's Brema would slash McCoy. So I
(25:00):
can share that with you, so you can share it
with everybody. But it has become the soundtrack of our lives.
So when we get up in the morning and it's
a bit chaotic, we put it on and it's just
the most amazing album ever and everybody's just calm instantly,
and it reminds ourself on a trip as well, which
is just so beautiful. And the nice thing is, I
don't think we would ever have discovered that if we
(25:21):
hadn't gone there and ask, because you know, there are
so many wonderful bands out there that don't even get discovered.
And yeah, so that's the soundtrack of our lives. At
the moment of our home that reminds me so much
about home.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
We have a listener dilemma. Someone has asked a question
that I think you are the perfect person to answer.
I'm all right, Margie writes in says, we have a
small courtyard and I'd love to make it better for entertaining.
We don't have the budget or space for a full
outdoor kitchen. What are the first three things you do
(25:54):
to make it useful, relaxing and beautiful.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh, Margie, that is a great question. And you know
I've lived in many homes, as I was saying before,
with small cup courtyards or small outdoor spaces such as
terrace houses. You know, we all know that they have
tidy little spaces out the back, so more useful and
more welcoming. Yeah. The first thing is if you have
room to get some beautiful pots of fresh hobes or
(26:22):
something that has a beautiful scent, as I was saying
about our macrit lime tree at the front of our house.
It's a great talking point. But also they smell wonderful
and they're useful. Yeah, And I know you don't have
a lot of space, so you kind of want to
make the most of the space that you do have,
So I would recommend some long planters or some pot
plants and put something edible, something that smells amazing, and
(26:46):
when people are out there, they'll enjoy being in this space.
Second thing is I would probably recommend putting up something
like some fairy lights or some beautiful lights to make
the space feel lovely in the afternoon, noon or at night. Yeah,
just a bit of ambience and make the space feel cozy,
(27:08):
almost like you're in a lovely restaurant courtyard. You know,
you want to create that vibe and along with that
you have some music and things like that, and honestly,
you don't need much space to do that. And we
did that in one in our terrace homes. We had
a beautiful string of lights and it was just it
just added a bit of ambience and it was just nice.
(27:29):
So that would be my second tip.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
I'm going to chime in here.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yes, tell me.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I think for a small space outdoor kitchen, I think
the bar cart is the way to go. So either
a bar cart that you set up with drinks and
snacks if you're entertaining, or the bar cart style that
you have like a pizza oven or a small barbecue
on I'm thinking if it's the boozy bar cart. You
(27:56):
can mix the drink and then you can tell your guests,
go on, pick the herbs you want to garnish, so
it's interactive.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I love that so much. The bart is a great
idea because you can wheel it in and you can
wheel it out, so it's great. It doesn't need to
leave out in the small space. I love that so much.
And also going on that idea, so we're going to
add in a fourth thing. Okay, great, it'd be great
to have a car that had sort of a small grill.
I don't know if you've ever come across a Herbachie grill.
(28:23):
It's a Japanese grill. It's very small. It's only about
sort of yeah big, and you can get charcoal and
you can do skewers and little lamb chop things. So
if you've got people outside having a drink, you've put
a few things on your Herbachie grill, like peeling the herbs. Yeah,
that's a really nice way to entertain. And it's not
(28:44):
it doesn't take up space, so I would recommend her.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
But and it's rented friendly.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
It is rented friendly. You can take it with you
when you go you're not making any mess. Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
All the hot tips here, Margie. I hope that helps
love that. One of the loveliest things about this conversation
is the idea that tastes can be inherited, borrowed, argued over,
and slowly absorbed. Carlie talks about James's art collection is
something she married into in a way, but also something
(29:16):
that became part of how their family marks time. And
maybe that's what the best homes do. They hold the
evidence of who we were when we found something, bought
something cooked something, moved somewhere, or decided just to stay. Carlie,
we met when we were both working on real living,
so I thought this was a really good question to
(29:39):
ask you. Is there a design crime that has been
committed all over Australia that you wish we could fix?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Do you know what? At the moment, and this could
be quite controversial because I know quite a lot of
people still love it.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Go there.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Yeah, I can't see another and I don't know how
to properly pronounce it. Is it bootle oh boot Clay.
I can't stand it anymore. I'm sorry. I can't see
another boot Cley thing. And after it's used for a
small amount of time, it just doesn't look very good.
It's very warm.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Someone described recently what the look of heavily used worn
bookley looks like. And it looks like the mankey dog
towel that's been washed and put through the dryer. It's
still not quite like. It's still a bit dingy. And yeah,
the pile that measured and so then you go washed
(30:39):
tumble dry dog towel.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yes, Or it's that jumper that is just that cheap
jumper that has gets peels and doesn't look good after
one where So yeah, No, I'm avoiding anything that's boot
clay at the moment, and I think everybody else should.
I feel like it was just one of those things
that was very popular and it's just going to go
out very quickly. So sorry if you own something boot cleate.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
What about in your own home, because you said you
have been renovating, have you committed any design crimes in
your own place?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh? Yes we have. I'm not a saint on the
design crimes styling and designing a home. You have all
these wonderful ideas, but when it comes down to it,
it takes a long time. It takes a long time
to nail your look. And of course things change over
time as well naturally, as you know, you age and
(31:30):
family ages, and you go through the seasons. But only
last week or the week before, we came to our washroom,
very small, just a toilet on its own, and we thought,
you know what, this would be beautiful as a really
soft butter yellow because the tiles are a bit older,
(31:50):
you know, that sort of retro tone on the floor.
So I thought the buttery yellow would look really nice
in here, soft, you know, and I'll get a window
covering for the window. Anyway, we're painting at night, and
we thought, oh, this looks quite bright. It's probably brighter
than we thought. And then we did another coat. We
woke up in the morning and yeah, it was definitely
(32:12):
not a buttery yellow. It was more of a Mexican
restaurant toilet yellow. And we walk in there in the
morning and think, oh, no, what have we done. It's
so bright. Oh, it's not at all like the swatch.
And that's the issue. We didn't try it out before.
We just jumped straight in and did it. And Coli
I know, and there's no fixing it. There's no Oh
(32:34):
it's Okay, No, it's terrible. It's a really, really terrible color.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So wouldn't want to go in there with a hangover
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Oh no, And you know what it's because it's the
solo toilet. James often goes in there in the mornings
and he comes out every morning going, God, that's just
a hideous color. What have we done? So we'll we'll
be repainting it. But what do you feel is a
great color for a small room like that? Would you
go darker?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
I do love the dark colors, and I mean that
that is a design rule. If there's a small space,
particularly that doesn't get much natural light, then don't bother
trying to brighten it up yellow. Just go for something
dark and moody. And I think it could be if
you've got what color are the retro tiles? Are they
like a terra cotta or.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
They're a cream?
Speaker 1 (33:20):
See with that, you could go like a burgundy. It's
you know, that is such a strong color at the moment.
And I don't mind saying at the moment because it
is just paint. You can paint over it when you
get sick of it. Yeah, And I would even paint
the ceiling yes, we did do the ceiling. Oh my god,
that's a yellow attack.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
It's yes, we got right again. The theory was right,
that the execution not so right. But I thought burgundy
would be a really nice color, or a beautiful deep
green like a forest, sort of like a British green
or something dark green would be.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Nice, also really complimentary to cream exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Okay, well, TBC, we'll get back to you on that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I'll be looking out for a picture of you, Lou
on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
I will post it and I would love some feedback
before and after.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So this is in a way homemaking and something we
talk about a lot at home Beautiful and with our
guests at the edit is what does it mean to
be a homemaker. Now we all know the traditional sense
of a homemaker, but in this day and age, what
does homemaker mean to you?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
For me, a homemaker is creating a space of calm
and feeling just completely at home in your own home
and not feeling like we need to be on show.
Being a homemaker is creating a space that reflects your
personal style. Yes, and also that feels like it's you
(34:58):
in a home and and walk into every day and
go oh and just feel comfortable and calm. It's I
think colors and textures and the smell of something cooking
in the oven can make you instantly feel like you're
calm in what you might have been a chaotic day
(35:18):
or a chaotic moment. So for me, a homemaker is
about creating that sense of yeah, the sense of feeling
at peace.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Does cooking make you feel at peace?
Speaker 2 (35:29):
It sure does. Honestly. It's funny because I also do
some recipe developing, and it's something that I've done for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
And most recently seen in Home Beautiful magazine exactly dot Au.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Exactly. So I love recipe developing and I'm always trying
out new things in the kitchen. And one of the
things that people say to me is, oh my gosh,
I couldn't think about cooking dinner after a long day,
and I just it's too stressful and cooking for me
is not enjoyable. But for me it really is. And
I find piece in cooking. I find piece in the kitchen.
(36:05):
And do you know, when I'm at my most stressed,
I just go straight to the kitchen and I take
something out of the fridge and I make it because
I just think. Yeah, the process of chopping up a
vegetable or putting something in the oven, roasting a chicken.
It brings you right back to the basics, I think,
And for me, it's something I can control right then
and right there.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
That's so interesting what you say about the control, because,
as you know, I'm the same. If things are feeling
a bit chaotic, I like to control something. It can
be anything. It can be controlling sorting out a sock draw.
It can be controlling by trimming a hedge and making
it neat and tidy.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Some mighty free. I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
But for so many people, I think control it's a
dirty word. But it doesn't have to be. It means
putting structures in place to ease the chaos.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. We're quite similar
in that regard. I think it's just the small things.
I think trying to create that calm and yeah, control
it makes me feel better.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
How do your shop? How do you feel your fridge?
Speaker 2 (37:16):
We go to the farmer's market once or twice a week.
We're very lucky up here. There's a farmer's market on
pretty much every day in different directions, so I know again,
that's a luxury that I know a lot of people
who live in metropolitan areas cannot you know, do not
have access to all the time. So I ideally like
to do that first, and then everything else that we
(37:38):
don't have, your day to day stuff. We just try
and limit it to a supermarket shop that you know,
once a week or once at fort And.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
I partly the last question I want to ask you,
which I ask everyone, is to you, what makes a
home beautiful?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
I think, going back and what I said before about
a calm space that users with personality and the vibe
of the people who live there, and as long as
it reflects the person who lives there, then I think
it's beautiful. I don't think it needs to be cookie cutter,
you know, straight out of a magazine. Although I would
(38:17):
love my home to look like it does homes look
in a magazine. I've looked. I mean, I've worked in
the industry. I get to look at beautiful homes all
the time, and I'm very envious of people who have
homes who look like that, look like that. But I
think ultimately life gets in the way a lot of
the time, and things are chaotic and things that can
be messy, but that's also beautiful. So it's embracing all
(38:40):
of that. And it's embracing the mess and embracing the chales,
but also findingly calm in between all of that. I
think that's what makes it home beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I think that's lovely, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Great, you're beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You're beautiful, Harlie. Thanks for joining me on the edit.
It's a new environment for It's been so nice chatting
with you.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Thank you so much for asking me to come on.
I absolutely love it and I adore it and I'm
an avid listener. Thank you, Carly, my friend.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Thank you so much for inviting us into your home,
your kitchen, your art collection, and your marketplace habits. I
love the idea that a beautiful home doesn't have to
be perfect. It can be full of food, kids, dogs,
secondhand finds, too much art, and people gathering around while
something cooks. Thank you for joining us on the edit
(39:32):
from Home Beautiful. Follow or subscribe for more conversations with
people who make homes feel personal, beautiful and real, and
we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
This is an Our Media podcast
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Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com