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

What happens after you win The Block, sell the house, have a baby, launch a business and start again?  In this episode of The Edit, host and Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock sits down with Steph Ottavio, architect, designer, founder of Japandi Estate and one half of beloved The Block duo Steph and Gian.  Steph opens up about the pressure of renovating on national television, what she and Gian carried from The Block into real life, and how she renovated her own home while pregnant, with a five-month deadline and her mum living across the road.  But this is also a more personal conversation about the strange quiet that can come after a huge, formative chapter. Steph talks honestly about experiencing “post blues” after The Block, feeling disconnected from purpose, going to therapy, and learning to strip life back to the basics: community, connection, conversation, morning rituals and the little moments that make you feel like yourself again.  Together, Elle and Steph explore what really makes a home beautiful, from decluttered spaces, layered rugs and 12 skylights to the feeling of walking into a home that has been designed for real family life.  Moments You'll Hear:  Why Steph says her home has to be organised so life can be chaotic   What The Block taught her about pressure, outsourcing and working with Gian   How Steph renovated while pregnant and moved in before her baby arrived   The truth about her “post Block blues” and rebuilding a sense of purpose   Why community became the brief for her next home   Steph’s take on Japandi style, character within minimalism and why she does not love cold modern homes   The clever design ideas inside Steph and Gian’s home, including the Jack and Jill bathroom, 12 skylig