Interior designer Banjo Beale was the breakout star of Interior Design Masters after he won the TV show in 2022.
Since then, this home decor loving Australian happily transplanted to Tobermory on Scotland’s Isle of Mull has built his interior design practice and fronted his own series, Designing the Hebrides.
With his latest book, A Place In Scotland, whetting our appetites for a taste of Scotland, we caught up with Banjo to find out what life is really like for him and husband Ro (and their dogs, pigs, ducks, chickens and peacocks!) in their Hebridean home.
What makes you feel so at home in the Hebrides?
I describe myself as Australian by birth and Scottish by choice. I feel more at home here than I ever did growing up in Australia. I lived in a small town in the bush, I didn’t have the best time at school and I was always longing to get out. I landed up in a job in advertising but it was never quite for me.
Then I met my Ro, and we bought our one-way ticket, went backpacking and never looked back. And I feel like we’re still on that adventure. We’ve lived on a farm in Tobermory for nine years now.
What was your first impression of Scottish interiors?
In Australia, we have that barefoot indoor-outdoor style of living, the rooms are painted white and the doors are always flung open. Here in Scotland, having a fire is really important and it’s about creating warm spaces to coorie into.
There’s also so much vernacular architecture here, the castles, blackhouses and bothies; it’s a motley mix of different styles and influences. And I think that’s what Scottish style is – it marches to the beat of its own drum.
Can you describe the new Scottish decor you are seeing?
There was a moment when it was unfashionable to have tartan or tweed, but I’m seeing those textiles used in really interesting contexts. It’s combining the old with the new. The Fife Arms, for example, has this whimsical building with a Picasso hung over a tartan on the wall.
There’s a bravery, pride and celebration here – Scottish style certainly isn’t cookie-cutter!
Has your style changed in response to living here?
Yes, as I can’t help but be inspired by the weather and the seasons. It’s a line I’ve ripped off Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, but Scotland has two seasons, June and winter!
I want to celebrate the clouds outside by bringing in a stormy blue on the ceilings. I love it in winter when the haar, which is a beautiful Scottish word for sea mist, settles over the water. It’s a smoky white colour. And my favourite time of year in Scotland is when the bracken is dying off, the air is crisper and the whole landscape has a copper glow.
If funds were unlimited, would you still live in a small bothy or would you move to a baronial castle?
Ro and I are just embarking on a new adventure, on the nearby island of Ulva. There’s a big old house owned by the community, and we’re going to rent it and turn it into a boutique hotel.
I’m dreaming about doing it up, but really, what got us excited is that Ro and I are going to build a tiny fisherman’s hut by the water for ourselves. We basically got the keys to the castle but all we want is a one-room shack!
What does a typical day at home look like for you?
I wake up early and attend to the animals. We always have some kind of baby animal hatching – at the moment it’s a baby peacock. We have seven peacocks that just arrived on our lawn one day!
Ro makes cheese and distills gin, so I’ll walk across the track to have a coffee with him at The Glass Barn cafe and farm shop. The pigs live in the garden there so I’ll see them, then go for a walk with my dog, Grampa, before starting work.
I have a little bothy office, which I call my ‘bothice’. It looks over Tobermory Bay and I always have the door open, so I can sit at my writing desk and look over the water. Then I’ll stroll down into town and invariably see every single person. It’s a simple day.
Did you have a favourite project in your book?
One is HMS Owl in the Highlands, which is a converted World War II control tower, full of the owner’s vintage collections. Warming up a brutalist building like that was no mean feat.
I also loved Quine Cottage in Aberdeenshire. Te owner renovated it with her dad, and it’s so cute, colourful and free spirited. Quine, in Scottish, is the word for ‘wee girl’ and she embodied the spirit of the next generation, embracing their heritage with quirkiness and zero Fs given.
A Place in Scotland: Beautiful Scottish Interiors by Banjo Beale and Alexander Baxter (£35, Quadrille).
