No one was more surprised to find herself back on the small screen than Love It Or List It presenter and design expert Alex Walls. Back in 2014, when she won The Block NZ alongside her husband Corban, she was one of the most recognisable faces on telly. And while the reality-show win was the foundation for the next successful period in her life. The mum of two didn’t think she would end up back in front of a TV camera.
In fact, she was on a journey cutting back on commitments and simplifying her life after a stark realisation. When her business A&C Homestore was booming during Covid, she should have been celebrating. Instead, she was struggling with being a present parent and keeping up with the onslaught of orders. Then she had an intense, vivid dream that would change everything.
A wake-up call in a dream
“In the dream, I was on my deathbed,” she recalls.
“I was saying, ‘I’m so happy I built the most beautiful…” and I was expecting the next word to be ‘family’. But instead, I said ‘business’. And I woke up so disappointed in myself.”
It was a gut punch for Alex, who had spent years pouring her energy into A&C Homestore. A stylish homewares brand she co-founded after winning The Block. With five thriving retail stores and 30 staff that were like family to her, it was everything she wanted and loved. But it had come at a cost.
“I missed so much of my children’s early years,” she says.
“It broke my heart. I opened my first store six weeks before my son Austen was born and I just had no idea what life was about to become.”
Torn between motherhood and career
Now a mum to Austen, nine, and Goldie, six, Alex says she found herself constantly pulled between being the best parent she could be and keeping a fast-growing business afloat.
“The mum guilt was real,” she shares
“And working mums don’t really talk about it because it’s lonely and confronting. You have kids because you want that family unit, but then you need a career to be able to afford the way we live and to feel purpose. “I’d spent my twenties being so career-driven, but I look back on those times and feel absolute regret that I missed out on moments with my son and I can’t get those back.”
So at the end of 2022, Alex and Corban, 43, made the bold move to put the business on the market.
“Now I’m the mum at school drop-off and pick-up,” she tells.
“I got to spend Goldie’s final year before school with her – just me and her – and my relationship with both kids is so much stronger for it. I know I’m lucky to be able to make this choice. I realised that being a mum is the most important job for me and for my children.”
A fresh start by the sea
The couple has also decided to make a major lifestyle change, moving from their current home. An architectural masterpiece they designed and built on Auckland’s North Shore. To another project in Orewa, north of the city.
“This house [their current home] took four years to build because of Corban’s passion to make things perfectly engineered, designed and implemented,” Alex laughs.
“He’s an engineer – his family are all geniuses – but he really can do anything. I’ve told him he can’t be that pedantic about every detail with the new house.”
Their new build in Orewa looks over the beach and will offer a slower pace of life.
“We’ve already made friends up there, Corban and Austen love surfing, and it just feels like a simpler, more connected lifestyle,” she says.
“It feels like the right place for us now.”
A big drawcard, she says, is the community of like-minded families choosing to parent a little differently.
Choosing simplicity over screens
“There’s a group of us who’ve decided our kids won’t have phones or social media for as long as possible,” Alex explains.
“I’m really passionate about that. Kids need bikes, beaches, skateboards – not screens. I want to give them a childhood, not anxiety and depression caused by scrolling and comparing. Simpler times really do make for happier times and I don’t want to rob them of that.”
Alex turned 40 this year and celebrated with a big dress-up party at home – “and it’s the last one I’ll ever throw”, she laughs. “I’ve realised I don’t like staying up past midnight!” She also finally gave in to years of pestering and got the family a dog: a spoodle named Tilly.
“Corban and I were on the fence about having a third child and so Tilly is it,” she smiles.
Despite stepping away from the business, Alex hasn’t left interiors behind completely. She’s taking on small projects as a designer, ones she can fit around family life. However, just as life was settling into its new, gentler rhythm, a surprising email landed in her inbox.
“Love It Or List It got in touch,” she says. “I’d been saying no to everything because I didn’t want to be pulled away from home again. But they promised it would be fun, not full-time, and I thought, ‘Why not?’”
Teaming up with real estate agent Paul Glover, Alex has become the new face of the Kiwi version of the hit renovation show, using her design skills to try to create a home the family won’t want to leave.
Finding the fun with Paul Glover
“When I first met Paul, I was like, ‘Is this guy going to be full of nonstop dad jokes I have to politely laugh at?’” she grins.
“But we went out for dinner and I couldn’t stop laughing. We just take the mickey out of each other the whole time. Nothing is scripted. I get to be me and I love it.”
The show has given Alex, who is the cousin of TVNZ’s Hilary Barry, a joyful return to the work she loves, without the pressure of running a business.
“My job on the show is to make people happy in their homes,” she tells.
“I talk to the family about how they live, what’s working and what’s not. Then I create a plan – there are no mood boards or material choices, so there’s always an element of surprise, which
is scary! You’ve got people’s hard-earned money on the line. But when you get it right, it’s magic.”
It’s also a far cry from The Block, which Alex believes had run its course.
“It was time for it to end,” she says of the show’s cancellation.
“There just wasn’t the budget any more to be creative and it became all about razzing up the couples to hate each other. After our season, it stopped being about the homes and started being about the conflict.”
By contrast, Love It Or List It is pure feel-good TV.
A show where everyone wins
“There are no losers,” she enthuses.
“Everyone ends up happy. And in today’s world, that’s a real breath of fresh air.”
Through it all, Alex carries the lessons of her dad, who passed away without warning just 11 days after her stint on The Block.
“He was a big presence in my life,” she says.
“He was the CEO of Whitcoulls back in the day and always shared advice on business – not that I wanted to hear it back then because I was just so focused on being a fashion designer! He was the one who said, ‘Do a business degree first, then you can be a designer later,’ and it was the best advice.”
Losing him so suddenly – while Alex was on holiday in Samoa with Corban to relax and reset after filming The Block – was devastating.
“It was a real shock,” she recalls.
“When I left, I’d given him a cuddle – I knew he was going in for a heart thing but it wasn’t a big deal, so when I got a phone call, it was horrific. The saddest thing is that I missed him being a grandparent to my kids, especially Austen because he’s so like my dad. “He always put family first in the end and that’s the legacy I want to live too. I know he’d be proud of the choices I’ve made.”
Now with her kids thriving, a new home on the horizon and a fresh chapter unfolding on screen. Alex says she finally feels like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be.
“Home is where you feel safe, secure and seen,” she says.
“And I’m building a life now that reflects all of that – for me and for my kids.”
Reno Quick Fixes
Alex’s tips for quick ways to update your kitchen if you can’t fully renovate. “Think about small, inexpensive things that make a big impact,” she advises.
- Change out handles to be more modern.
- Replace or add tiles to update your splashback or bar-back on counters. Tiling isn’t super-expensive.
- Update your tapware with something new and modern.
- Paint cabinetry in a new colour. Very affordable – it just requires a bit of elbow grease!
- Declutter bench spaces of spices, oils, fruit bowls and other stuff. A clean and minimal kitchen space can feel completely different. We have a dedicated oils and spices drawer to help with this – it shares space with pots and pans (and we’ve reduced these right back too!).
- Fresh paint always makes a space feel new. Keep colours light and bright – it never dates and makes things feel new and uplifted!”
Love It Or List It screens 7.30pm Sundays on TVNZ 1 and streams on TVNZ+.
