Wild Isle Style: Resourceful And Sustainable Interior Design Ideas

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In this warm and characterful new series, Banjo and his friendly team of tradespeople travel across the Scottish islands using their craft skills, energy and creativity to bring Banjo’s Hebridean design dreams to life. Designing the Hebrides will air on BBC Scotland, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer later in 2023.

BBC Two - Designing the Hebrides - Episode guide BBC Two - Designing the Hebrides - Episode guide

BB: I think that would be when I was on Interior Design Masters. Michelle Ogundehin told me that I just have to trust my gut and you know what you like and you know what works. Sometimes you've just got to go with that feeling. What is the best home bargain you've ever snapped up? Left: Banjo Beale on Designing the Hebrides. Right. Rubha nan Gall lighthouse, north of Tobermory, is one of Banjo’s projects. Photos: DSP/ BBC Scotland / BBC Two Becoming a judge The outland ish tale of how an Aussie boy ended up on a Scottish island and onto Interior Design Masters on BBC. From contemporary to classic, his spaces are characterful, curated and eco-conscious. In Wild Isle Style, Banjo encourages people to give design a go and create their own signature style.” The weather was a massive challenge for us. We were doing up a bothy as Hurricane Ian was coming in.Each week, Banjo and his design team embrace a unique interior design project, fulfilling the client’s brief on a limited budget and a fast turnaround. Set against stunning Scottish landscapes and amidst the challenges of hard-to-reach locations and extreme conditions, Designing The Hebrides showcases distinctive makeovers, encapsulating Banjo’s irrepressible enthusiasm, ingenuity and design flair. I essentially got a whole church for free. Basically everything inside the church – so the pews and panelling, all sorts of things, that I was then able to use across a range of different spaces and projects on the show. After eight weeks of decisions, dramas and driving thousands of miles to secure those very special reclaimed and second-hand items to make his super-stylish schemes stand out, Australian-born cheesemaker, marketeer and stylist Banjo Beale, 35, who lives with his partner Ro on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, has been crowned the winner of Interior Design Masters 2022. Donna Clark, Executive Producer and DSP MD says: “When Banjo told us that he wanted to start his interior design business on the Isle of Mull, we knew that we had to follow him on his next adventure. It’s been a real pleasure to film with Banjo in such a breathtakingly beautiful locations and bring his idiosyncratic design work to the screen.” And if that wasn’t keeping him busy enough, Banjo also runs a café and a shop on island and finds it the perfect way to immerse himself in the local community.

Banjo Beale fronts new six-part series Interior designer Banjo Beale fronts new six-part series

I’m staying with my friend in Herne Hill, south London. Before the show started I only had one friend in London. And I have nine friends in London now… Do you get recognised in public now? Christine Leach tells the extraordinary story of the Beatons of Pennyghael, physicians to chiefs and kings, while Sir Lachlan MacLean, chief of Clan MacLean of Duart, will be joined by Ray Canham to explore the life of his ancestor Sir Fitzroy MacLean. BB: Well, my dog, for starters. And then my yellow kitchen. I've just moved into a newer place, so I'm trying to add lots more character to it. And it's so gloomy here outside that I wanted to paint a little bit of sunshine inside. It was actually like a kit home, so it came with lots of standard things. I'm wanting to just add a bit of personality to it. Tell us about your childhood home I'm kind of hoping I can find that perfect balance. Doing the winner's project, [to transform a self-catering beach retreat in Watergate Bay in Cornwall], taught me a lot. I was almost an apprentice. After turning something around in two days on the show, it was quite different to do a four-month project, with an entire production team and a hefty budget. I'm really pleased with the result – it's just a space that's Banjo, sustainable and natural and reflective of the environment.Long-time fans of this column (Anyone? Come on there must be one of you) will know that I have a peculiar aversion to wholesome TV. This is, simply, because I am quite a nasty person. You can’t say that these days, can you? We all have to try to maintain the artifice that we’re all good and moral and true. Well, I’m not. I’m horrible. So fuzzy-sided, warm-hearted television that has absolutely no scenes where someone’s head explodes very rarely does it for me. Since taking home the crown on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters in 2022, Australian-born Banjo Beale has made his mark on interior design. Banjo Beale Banjo’s passion for design, and his love of island life really does shine through in Designing The Hebrides, as he breathes new life into properties across the Islands. Also on the agenda for the interiors pro is his book, Wild Isle Style: Resourceful, Original and Inventive Design Ideas, which is due out in October. And Banjo has a project in the pipeline for another Scottish star. Designing The Hebrides is a DSP production (a Banijay UK company) for BBC Scotland and BBC Two. The series is part of the BBC’s co-commission strategy to increase portrayal, delivering high quality content from across the UK. All six episodes of Designing The Hebrides will be available on BBC iPlayer from Monday 12 April.

TV interior design guru Banjo Beale launches new book

Two of Scotland’s leading artists of nature and landscape, Sarah Ross Thompson and Jane Smith, will be hosting a lunch at An Tobar while showcasing their work and discussing future projects with a delicious meal provided by Mark and Brendan from the Boathouse on Ulva. BB: I'm kind of over bobbles and bubbles. So, bubble shelves, bubble lamps. Anything bubbly or bobbly isn't for me. Are you green-fingered?We knew that we had to follow Banjo on his next adventure when he told us that he wanted to start his interior design business on the Isle of Mull,” says Donna Clark, Executive Producer and DSP MD. Filming with Banjo in such breathtakingly beautiful locales and showcasing his unique creative work has been a true delight. The second episode of the six-part series features, which airs on Monday evening, sees Banjo heading to the small Inner Hebrides island of Ulva to take on the crumbling bothy that locals want to rent out to visitors. He said: “On Interior Design Masters I used to create an imaginary character for my space, but I didn’t have to do that on the new show. These people are larger-than- life characters, you couldn’t write them.” The weather is unpredictable, the locals are straight talking, the budgets are lean and you can’t just run to the shops to buy supplies - you have to be resourceful!” Banjo and the team take on the challenge of renovating a variety of Hebridean establishments, including a family-run fish shop in Tobermory, a bothy on the isolated island of Ulva, and a bookstore and café on Skye.

BBC Designing The Hebrides - Media Centre - BBC

Banjo says: “My hometown of Tobermory is one of the most colourful in the UK but on the inside, some of the spaces are crying out for character. Thankfully, some brave locals are handing me the keys to their places, from a bothy two hours walk from the nearest road to a remote lighthouse, castle turret and beloved community rugby club. They’re dream properties to design but logistical nightmares to deliver.Upon seeing the finished interior, local resident and community trust director Colin Morrison commented: "Genuinely, I wasn't sure what to expect and I think it just feels really homely, somewhere that it would be great to go and stay in. And they only had a few days to do it, it's amazing." The publisher says: “Living on the remote island of Mull has inspired Banjo to be resourceful and inventive in his design outlook. With sustainability and budget in mind, he combines vintage finds with clever design and re-purposes the old, re-imagining it into something new. Also, maybe Wes Anderson, actually too. If his movies look like that, I mean, imagine what his home looks like. Since taking home the crown on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters in 2022, Australian-born Banjo launched his own interior design business from the Isle of Mull, his home with husband Ro for the last eight years. In Designing The Hebrides Banjo brings his unique design style to the people who welcomed him into their community and other Hebridean islands.