From Cheesemonger to TV’s
Best-Loved Interior Designer
Gill Sherry
Banjo Beale (real name Brendan) shot to fame when he won BBC’s Interior Design Masters in 2022. Since then he’s appeared on our screens as a judge in Scotland’s Home of the Year, presented his own show, Designing the Hebrides, and written a book, Wild Isle Style. Safe to say, it’s been quite a journey for the Mull-based Australian.
“I was working in a corporate job in Australia. I quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to Sri Lanka with my partner, Ro. We started backpacking… travelled to Nepal, India, all through Asia, and we had our visas to come and work in the UK. Then Ro said, ‘I fancy being a cheesemaker in Scotland… on an island’ and I leapt into action.”
It may have been a random declaration but that didn’t stop Banjo from taking it seriously. In his search to find the most beautiful place that he could, he stumbled across Isle of Mull Cheese and sent an email begging them for a job.
“They said there would be midges and we’d be cleaning toilets. I said ‘perfect!’ So we rocked up as backpackers and never quite left.”
He talks with great affection of the Reade family who own and run the farm, particularly the self-confessed matriarch, Chris.
Indeed, the entire community welcomed them both to their island home – as well as to Woolly Wednesday, the weekly knitting group.
“I think people quickly got to know what our value was. When you move to a small place you become part of the community. It’s not for everyone… but it’s lovely when you know everyone, everyone knows you’re honest, and everyone helps each other.”
The couple worked hard on the farm (still do), but Banjo harboured the crazy idea of launching his own interior design business. Not the easiest thing to do on an island in the Inner Hebrides.
“I was working on the cheese farm, turning 25-kilo truckles of cheese every week in a dark, wet cellar feeling quite uninspired. Then I watched Interior Design Masters and thought, oh my gosh, I can do that, that’s my ticket! Suddenly, I was in a studio with Alan Carr and driving around the country trying to be an interior designer. It was quite an adjustment.”
Turns out, he wasn’t just trying to be an interior designer, he was an interior designer. A very good one, in fact.
“I always used to re-arrange my parents’ living room every Sunday,” he says, talking of his early life in Australia. “Annoyingly, I’d have to change it back because it was kind of small and there was only one space for the furniture to go, but they used to indulge me. This was when I was an eight-year-old boy.”
Banjo had grown up in a small country town where the notion of making a career from interior design was simply unheard of.
And that love never died, as was evidenced when he set about his tasks on Interior Design Masters, resulting in him winning the crown in 2022, a victory he puts down to the experiences gained from living on a small island. After enjoying a quiet life on Mull, how did he cope with his sudden rise to fame?
“It was such a weird feeling because I was still just on Mull in my little bubble. When you live on Mull everyone knows you already. It was all kind of happening on line. It was interesting watching Twitter and seeing my Instagram blow up. By the end of it, it was pretty crazy.”
His success on Interior Design Masters, coupled with his endearing sense of humour and amiable personality, led to him being a guest judge on Scotland’s Home of the Year.
“SHOTY… that’s whole new levels of mania!” he laughs.
He’s actually filming the new series of SHOTY as we speak – now as a permanent member of the judging team – and tells me how much he enjoys being part of the show.
“It’s really fun, it’s a great crew. It’s a dream job getting to travel the country and look through people’s houses.”
It was also the catalyst for his own show, Designing the Hebrides, the second series of which is about to hit our screens. If it’s as entertaining (and successful) as the first, we won’t be disappointed. Series one won a BAFTA for best ‘features’ as well as winning the ‘entertainment and features’ category at the Royal Television Society Scotland Awards.
“What I love about it is that we’re using interior design to get to know people and a place. That’s really interesting because people’s spaces and businesses mean so much to them and by letting me into their world, I really am getting to learn all about them. They’re sharing their hopes and their dreams.”
This is demonstrated in episode two of the new series when Banjo is asked to re-design an apothecary on the Isle of Harris. In fact, he cites this as his favourite project of series two.
“The apothecary on Harris was just incredible. It turned out so beautifully… a wonderful client in an amazing location. In the first series, I obviously really loved the gin bar because that was so personal, but most people want to talk about either the book shop on Skye with the stained glass window, or the rugby club.”
In case you’re wondering, the gin bar is located at the cheese farm where there also happens to be a distillery. The bi-product from the cheesemaking (whey) is turned into alcohol and used to make their distinctive spirit, Coo J’N – which, incidentally, I can highly recommend!
But back to Designing the Hebrides… what else can we expect from the new series?
“I’m doing up a croft on Uist and learning about this family that are fifth generation, Gaelic speaking crofters. They have to diversify their farm because it’s hard to make a living… and he wants to have a legacy for his daughter. It’s meeting people and talking to them in a really personal way that you otherwise wouldn’t. It feels such a privilege.”
Working in island locations certainly comes with logistical challenges, but rather than glossing over these obstacles, Banjo and his team ensure they are highlighted as part of the project. The use of wheelbarrows to transport supplies from boat to site, and a four-mile hike to a remote bothy were just two of the hurdles experienced in series one. By their very nature, the locations are usually indicative of the brief. This explains why his interior design projects are a far cry from what he describes as “fluffing cushions” and more about budget-friendly ideas.
“I like design that doesn’t cost the earth. It doesn’t matter how much you spend, as long as you’re thinking about what you’re buying. It’s great to have a blend of old and new. We can’t always avoid buying new things, but before we rush out and buy new, think about how we can re-use what we have, or think differently about materials.”
He admits he has a hangar full of “treasure” and was delighted when his joiner told him that if you keep something for seven years, you will eventually find a use for it.
“I love that,” he says, “because I think it’s true. Especially when you live on an island because you can’t just run down to the shops or get next-day delivery.”
He certainly has a knack for finding those items of so-called treasure and for finding exactly the right spot for them in his interior design projects.
“In the last series, the stained glass window was crazy! This year, I’ve got a big copper ship’s window that I put in a pub. That was a fun thing. The character I got it from spun me a complete yarn about it. He told me it was from a bank on Bond Street. Then he said it was from a ship. I don’t really know where it was from in the end, but it just made the back of that bar nicely!”
Pieces like that can add character, history or authenticity to a space. Quite often, they are also of a much superior quality to their modern-day alternatives and almost certainly less expensive. The list of things he’s used as lamp shades, for example, includes fruit baskets, rugby training cones, vintage cow bells and a bee skep.
Wild Isle Style, Banjo’s first book, also promotes resourceful and sustainable interior design ideas. I ask how he enjoyed the book writing process.
“I loved it. It was a way for me to actually sit down and look at the process of how I work, and hopefully help people to feel inspired, or how I approach a space. That was a nice experience.”
His second book, though, is slightly different, as he explains: “It’s called A Place In Scotland. It explores 25 of what I think are the most beautiful spaces in Scotland. There’s an old aircraft hangar that’s been turned into a home, and castles and bothies and tiny tenement flats. It’s a massive grand tour around Scotland meeting the characters and their spaces. It was super-fun to put together.”
A Place In Scotland is released on October 3rd but is available to pre-order now from Waterstones or Amazon.
In the meantime, we have the new series of Designing the Hebrides to look forward to which will be on BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland and BBC Two in September.
As for Banjo, he’ll soon be back among friends on the Isle of Mull, a place he considers his spiritual home.
“They certainly keep me humble. They’re not going to let my head get too big, they keep me grounded. I’m still mucking in and doing all the odd jobs on the farm. They don’t treat me any different. I’m happy I live in a small place.”
By the way, in case you’re wondering, he earned the name Banjo because, according to Ro, he’s highly strung. He likes to call it tightly wound. Either way, it hasn’t done him any harm.
