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Luxe Domain Founder of Luxe Domain | Author of The Art of Luxury Downsizing
Design-led residential transitions. Smaller spaces. Greater clarity.

Preparing a much-loved family home for sale calls for a little care, a fresh eye and some very good people.Recently, we’...
06/10/2026

Preparing a much-loved family home for sale calls for a little care, a fresh eye and some very good people.

Recently, we’ve been helping clients prepare their beautiful home for market. With a magnificent pool and garden at the rear, and magnolias and clivias poised to bloom at the front, there is already so much to fall in love with.

Our clients had been diligently sorting cupboards and clearing things out. But some decisions needed a little design guidance. Which carpet, and in what colour? And what to do about timber floorboards that had become rather more golden than anyone intended?

We helped them find the right direction, then brought in trusted trades to get the work underway promptly and take a few things off their already substantial list.

Sometimes, a few thoughtful changes are all it takes to let a home’s beauty shine through.

If you’re preparing to sell and wondering where to begin, we’d love to help.

New address. New chapter. Your home, reimagined.From downsizing and decluttering to curating furniture and refreshing pa...
06/10/2026

New address. New chapter. Your home, reimagined.

From downsizing and decluttering to curating furniture and refreshing paints, carpets and finishes, Luxe Domain transforms your new house into a home that feels uniquely yours.

Back home from Europe with rather a thud.Miles’ parents’ home in Murrayville, a tiny Mallee town near the South Australi...
08/09/2026

Back home from Europe with rather a thud.

Miles’ parents’ home in Murrayville, a tiny Mallee town near the South Australian border, sold soon after we returned. With a short settlement, we’ve spent the past three weekends making the 6–7 hour drive from Melbourne to clear a house filled with decades of family life.

Unusually for such a remote location, Miles’ parents commissioned renowned Melbourne architect, Herbert Tisher, to design their mid-century modernist home in the Mallee. It’s the most wonderful large family house surrounded by a large expanse of lawn and trees...we loved this house.

Murrayville, the township holds so much history for us. We spent the first 17 years of our marriage on a wheat and sheep property nearby, both our children were born there, and many dear friends remain.

And suddenly, I’ve found myself doing exactly what I so often help my clients navigate.

Wardrobes of clothes. Shelves of books. Documents, photographs and letters. Sporting gear, kitchenware, furniture and all those things we keep because, at some point, they meant something.

What comes with us? What goes to family? What can be sold, donated or simply let go?

It is exhausting, surprisingly emotional and often very slow.
Every photograph, letter and familiar object has the potential to stop you in your tracks.

But it has also reinforced something I believe very strongly: we shouldn’t leave all of this for our children to sort through one day.

My promise to myself? Edit regularly. Keep what has genuine meaning, beauty or usefulness, and become much better at letting go of everything else.

Because a lifetime of possessions really does add up.

Last few days in Italy, VeniceWrapping up our European sojourn with Venice - a city I didn’t expect to love quite as muc...
27/08/2026

Last few days in Italy, Venice

Wrapping up our European sojourn with Venice - a city I didn’t expect to love quite as much as I did.

I’d visited many years ago and remembered it as beautiful, but bewildering. This time felt entirely different.

Perhaps it was travelling with Miles, perhaps the extraordinary Biennale, or simply having places to seek out and stories to discover. We visited both the New Zealand and Ukrainian exhibitions - very different, yet deeply moving reflections on lives under threat, from endangered bird species to the devastating human cost of war.

There were rooftop dinners overlooking ancient Venice, warm evening walks through crowded squares, boats instead of taxis, and the wonderful serendipity of turning down a laneway and discovering the glorious garden of the Metropole Hotel - where we found ourselves sharing the space with its immensely stylish owner. I rather think we may have found our hotel for next time.

More than anything, this trip reminded me why travel matters so much.

It isn’t simply about seeing beautiful places. It’s really about learning - history, culture, art, food, architecture and, most importantly, the people. I feel it challenges our assumptions, widens our perspective and reminds us how differently, and yet how similarly, we all live.

We came home with photographs, certainly, but also ideas, conversations, stories and memories that will stay with us for years.

And perhaps that is the real luxury of travel: returning home seeing the world, and your own life, a little differently.

Highlights of Bassano del Grappa….We left France for Italy, travelling by train to Bassano del Grappa, a glorious little...
21/08/2026

Highlights of Bassano del Grappa….

We left France for Italy, travelling by train to Bassano del Grappa, a glorious little city on the Brenta River, nestled beneath the foothills of the Dolomites.

We were fortunate to stay with family in their fabulous apartment, just moments from the famous Ponte Vecchio, where on warm summer evenings locals gather to talk, stroll and catch the cooler breeze coming off the river.

Bassano has such a stylish, cosmopolitan ease to it. Mornings begin with coffee and a pastry at a local café, lunch might be buffalo mozzarella, tomato, prosciutto and basil, and by evening everyone seems to reappear in the piazzas for a prosecco before dinner.

We were there during Bassano Sotto le Stelle, when the historic streets and squares come alive each Wednesday evening with music, performers and dancing. The atmosphere was wonderful. The whole town seemed to be outside enjoying summer.

There is something about Bassano that feels wonderfully removed from the more heavily travelled parts of Italy. Beautiful shops, elegant architecture, good food and that enviable Italian ability to make everyday life feel like an occasion.

For one night, Miles and I headed further north to an alpine style hotel our son and daughter-in-law had recommended (recommendations from your children - don’t you love it!), the Gastof Kohlern Inn, perched high above Bolzano with extraordinary views across the Alps. Sublime service, a beautiful restaurant and an almost Swiss sense of calm and beauty. We would return in a heartbeat.

I’m heaving with sighs just writing this.

Bassano and Bolzano will stay with us for a very long time. Quintessential moments that remind us why we chose to travel to Europe, and Italy. We’re almost reluctant to tell too many people about them because we’d quite like them to remain exactly as they are.

But it is very difficult to stop raving.


Highlights of Provence….Leaving Burgundy behind, we travelled south from Dijon to Avignon, before driving into the heart...
10/08/2026

Highlights of Provence….

Leaving Burgundy behind, we travelled south from Dijon to Avignon, before driving into the heart of Provence to stay with friends from Melbourne.

Almost immediately, the landscape began to change. Burgundy’s lush greens gave way to the softer grey-greens of Provence, with hardy planting, vineyards, stone houses and pencil pines dotted the countryside.

We settled into the most beautiful rhythm of Provençal life: long lunches and dinners after spending time in the pool, wandering the markets of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and plenty of happy fossicking through glassware, silver, art, vintage finds and endless design inspiration.

To finish our stay, an evening R&B concert held at a local w**ery. Completely unexpected, enormous fun and, somehow, the perfect ending.

Provence was every bit as beautiful as I remembered, but this time it was the combination of landscape, time spent with friends, design and wonderfully spontaneous moments that made it feel especially memorable.

Our final days in Burgundy…We sailed onwards to Beaune, the beautiful walled town regarded as the w**e capital of Burgun...
05/08/2026

Our final days in Burgundy…

We sailed onwards to Beaune, the beautiful walled town regarded as the w**e capital of Burgundy.
One of its greatest treasures is the extraordinary 15th-century Hôtel-Dieu, created as a charitable hospital and instantly recognisable by its elaborate patterned roof tiles. We gathered outside its gates for a group photograph to commemorate our journey together.

From Beaune, we rejoined Danièle at Chalon-sur-Saône, where we explored the historic centre and visited the beautiful Cathédrale Saint-Vincent.

Later, near Cormot-Vauchignon, a gentle walk through the lush green valley brought a completely unexpected sight: highliners (tight rope walkers) practising across the vast limestone cliffs above us.
The landscape was spectacular, although its dramatic stillness carried just a hint of Picnic at Hanging Rock!

Our final day coincided with Bastille Day, and we watched military and emergency-services personnel proudly parade before enthusiastic crowds.

It was a wonderfully French finale to six days of beautiful landscapes, remarkable history, gracious hospitality, exceptional food and w**e, and the gentle rhythm of life on the water.

A journey through Burgundy that we will always cherish.



Continuing our journey through Burgundy…In the woods near Marey-lès-Fussey, we joined a truffle hunt and discovered that...
03/08/2026

Continuing our journey through Burgundy…

In the woods near Marey-lès-Fussey, we joined a truffle hunt and discovered that almost any enthusiastic dog can be trained to sniff out and gently dig up these earthy treasures.

From there, we visited Saint-Jean-de-Losne, where the historic town hall still holds a document issued by King Louis XIII after the townspeople bravely resisted Spanish troops during the siege of 1636.

There is something deeply humbling about walking through buildings that have witnessed centuries of history yet remain part of everyday life.

That evening, history gave way to hilarity as we played boules beside the barge after dinner.

The next day, passing other boats and travelling through a succession of locks, we continued towards the medieval Château de Rully, a remarkable family home surrounded by vineyards and still connected with the same family after more than eight centuries.

Walking through its rooms and private chapel, among furnishings, portraits and artworks collected or commissioned across generations, felt like stepping into a living history book.

Another extraordinary glimpse into the history, traditions and gracious way of life that make Burgundy so captivating.



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Burgundy by barge…Boarding Danièle in Dijon, we set off on a six-day journey through the waterways of Burgundy, explorin...
31/07/2026

Burgundy by barge…

Boarding Danièle in Dijon, we set off on a six-day journey through the waterways of Burgundy, exploring celebrated vineyards, historic villages, truffle woods and, naturally, a mustard house or two.

Our wonderful guide Anthea Guthrie travelled from the UK to join us, while specialist local guides brought the history of each destination vividly to life.

Cruise director Christophe and Agathe seemed to make everything happen effortlessly, arranging our daily excursions, coordinating transport and welcoming us back on board with beautifully mixed drinks. Each evening brought another delicious dinner accompanied by thoughtfully matched Burgundy w**es.

As mentioned in the previous post we spent the first day exploring Dijon and then visiting Clos de Vougeot.

Later that evening, after dinner, the captain and steward began fishing from the side of the barge and demonstrated just how easily the enormous catfish inhabiting the French waterways can be caught. These extraordinary creatures have become a real nuisance within the river system.

A memorable and rather unexpected beginning to our journey through Burgundy.

Botanica World Discoveries

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9/921-927 High Street
Armadale, VIC
3143

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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