Better Homes & Gardens Australia (BHG) is back with its Creator Awards for 2026, continuing its celebration of Australian makers, growers and creators reshaping how audiences engage with food, gardening, art, design, craft and sustainable living.
What are the Better Homes and Gardens Creator Awards?
Now in its second year, the BHG Creator Awards recognise individuals building passionate communities through practical creativity. The awards celebrate grassroots creators and community builders across six categories: Art & Design, Craft & DIY, Garden & Environment, Food, Sustainability, and for the first time, People’s Choice – where the public has nominated an Australian-based creator making something meaningful, having a genuine impact, inspiring others and strengthening Australia’s creative community (and can vote for the winner, see below).
The Creator Awards build on the long-standing influence of the BHG brand, which for more than four decades has inspired Australians to cook, grow and make. Today, that inspiration increasingly extends beyond editorial content into the communities formed around shared skills, creativity and everyday practical knowledge.
“The Creator Awards exist because the maker community is such a big part of the Better Homes & Gardens brand. Our readers don’t just consume inspiration, 96% of them act on it,” said Megan Osborne, Editor, Better Homes & Gardens Australia.
“They build on ideas, share them, and increasingly they’re the ones creating and bringing them into the fabric of how we live. The Creator Awards are about recognising those people and the communities they’ve built around practical creativity.”
Who are the 2026 Creator Awards finalists?
Craft and DIY
DIY dynamo
- Sophie Gurney
- Luke Moore
- Brooke Styles
- Jaharn Quinn
Knit, crochet or textile crafter
- Brendan Girak
- Katelyn Leonardo
- Kitaya Palaskas
Renovation mover & shaker
- Max Bidstrup
- Jordan Bruno & Dane Yull
- Josh & Jenna Densten
- Mete Erdogan & Georgia Frances King
Art & Design
Interior designer or stylist
- Lucy Gough
- Adam Powell
Product or furniture designer
- Bea Bellingham
- Dustin Fritsche
- Jinsu Jun
- Skye Nilsson
- Leisa Wharington
Sculpture or textile artist
- Rachel Burke
- Grant Flather
- Hattie Molloy
- Meredith Woolnough
Visual artist
- Rachel Castle
- Jacklyn Foster
- Jonathan W Gemmell
- John Pastoriza-Pinol
- Dee Smart
- Christopher Zanko
Garden
Garden guru
- Cass Dowding
- Eliza Henry-Jones & Melanie Kerchaval
- Natasha Morgan
- Justin O’Brien
- Stephen Vella
Landscape designer
- Clea Cregan
- Christine Dodd
- Kath Gadd
Food
Chef or food innovator
- Michelle Powell
- Toby Wilson
Home cook
- Melanie Lionello
- Elizabeth Hewson
- Maddie and Nonna Fina
Recipe developer
- Nicole Maguire
- Liz Miu
- Lucy Rosenberg
- Gabriella Simonian
- Tom Smallwood
Environment and sustainability
Environment educator or community impact
- Connie Cao
- Ingrid Devlin
- Maggie T Kera
- Lachlan Moore
- Eliza The Veggie Scientist
Sustainability champion
- Sarah Aubrey
- Lottie Dalziel
- Mel Logozzo
Wildlife guardian or animal educator
- Ben Dessen
- Jannico Elk
- Emma Teni
- Nick Volpe
- Dr Katrina Warren
- Dr Tegan Hunt
People’s Choice
Voting for the People’s Choice Award category is open until 9 April.
- Ana Araujo, ceramicist
- Anna-Carien Goosen, artist
- Brandi Salmon, artist
- Emily Christos, home cook
- Emma Higgins, renovation
- Emma Morris, co-founder The Makers and Shakers market
- Georgina Beaumont, Luxe & Beau homewares store
- Holly Clinton, Foke fashion store
- Ismat Awan, food consultant and stylist
- Jan Gettmann, gardening educator
- Maku Fenaroli of Maku The Label fashion
- Michelle Kistima-Menser of You Are Brave textiles
- Misha Harrison, artist
- Sarah Pound, recipe developer
- Sophie Kovic, Seed and Sprout sustainability store
How and when will winners be confirmed?
Judging for the 2026 Creator Awards will be led by Better Homes & Gardens Editor Megan Osborne, 2025 award winner Geneva Vanderzeil, and the broader BHG editorial team. Winners will be announced at an event alongside a panel hosted by Megan Osborne, with guests Juliet Love, Geneva Vanderzeil and Jono Fleming. The event will be held at the State Library of NSW in Sydney, 2nd May, with tickets available soon.
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