Australian-born interior designer Banjo Beale lives on the Isle of Ulva in the Scottish Hebrides with his husband, Ro. He won BBC’s Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr in 2022, and went on to front his own Bafta Scotland award-winning BBC TV series, Designing the Hebrides.
He has written two bestselling books, Wild Isle Style and A Place in Scotland, and is now renovating an abandoned mansion for his BBC series Banjo and Ro’s Grand Island Hotel, available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
What’s the last treat you bought for yourself?
I’m obsessed with my new Toast overcoat – Italian-woven houndstooth wool, patch pockets, oversized collar. It’s a warm hug in a Hebridean wind.
I also bought this woodland fairisle vest from Eribé, one of my favourite Scottish knitwear brands. I’m entering my professor era.
Where do you buy your food?
If you live on an island, food shopping becomes a military operation, so I keep it super local. Seafood comes straight off the boat. Beef is from Ulva Farm. You can’t get fresher or better quality, and the food miles are basically nonexistent.
Being Australian, Asia is our nextdoor neighbour, so there’s a huge Asian influence on how I cook. When I’m in Glasgow, I make a beeline for Chung Ying Asian grocers for dim sum, dumplings and beautiful fruit and veg – galangal, nashi pears, lemongrass, makrut lime.
What’s the best present you’ve given?
Ro’s engagement ring. Before leaving Australia, I organised for a jeweller friend to help us make our own rings. We started with small pieces of gold (Ro) and copper (me), and hammered, rolled, smashed, melted, joined and polished them into existence. I lost mine within three days. Ro still has his.
… and the best present you’ve received?
My “engagement ring”. Ro found an old key on the streets of Kathmandu, strung it on a piece of leather cord, and proposed on a sky burial site on a mountaintop overlooking Tibet at sunset. Completely perfect.
What’s your favourite online store?
I love Octobre Éditions. I first saw its sister brand, Sézane, and felt a pang of jealousy – not uncommon as a little gay boy looking at my sister’s wardrobe. Octobre pieces are classic, with relaxed linens, smart trousers and that annoyingly effortless look only French men can get away with.
What’s your favourite bricks and mortar shop?
Yard 97, in Perthshire. It’s part vintage shop, part salvage yard. I can spend hours rummaging for treasure. Bob [the owner] is also a joiner, so he can take the vague, half-formed ideas in my head and turn them into actual objects using all manner of unexpected materials.
I’m also a sucker for a cheesemonger. I love Mellis in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and they have just opened an outpost in north London.
What’s the gadget you use most often?
Sadly, my iPhone. You know the drill – camera, computer, notebook. It is, unfortunately, my office desk. Second to that, I love my new Dyson cordless (sorry, Henry – it’s me, not you).
Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine cordless wet and dry vacuum
What’s the purchase you regret the most?
That extra bottle of pét-nat at Christmas. I’m still nursing the hangover. Actually, it was a solid purchase – just user error.
Pét-Nat sparkling wine
What’s the thing(s) you get delivered?
Samples: fabrics, wallpaper, tiles, paint. Sometimes, I request them, sometimes people send things they think I’ll like. It’s endlessly inspiring seeing, mixing, matching, clashing my way to a new design scheme.
Where do you buy your underwear?
My adopted Scottish granny buys me socks and jocks every Christmas, so I have a healthy supply of classic Marks & Spencer staples.
M&S Autograph stretch trunks, five pack
What would you buy with £20 – and £200?
£20: I’m heading to Ardingly Antiques Fair. I’m looking for something lighting-adjacent. A cow bell, maybe a bee skep. Then it’s straight to my sparky mate to be turned into a lamp.
£200: I’m buying a jacket, coat or smock from Yarmouth Oilskins. When I leave my house, it involves a quad bike along a goat track and a boat ride across the Atlantic before I even reach the car, so I need something that can handle wind, rain and a good dose of sea spray.
What’s your ‘saved search’ on eBay/Vinted?
I have many, because I am a magpie with wifi.
● “Gustavian”
● “ship light”
● “bamboo drinks trolley”
● “rattan mirror”
What item do you buy on repeat?
Olive oil. This one lured us in on a trip to Tunisia. A lovely story of a third-generation producer revitalising her family’s legacy with the most delicious olive oil ever.
Kaïa extra-virgin olive oil, 500ml
How do you make your coffee at home?
We own a cafe (the Boathouse on Ulva), so I’m lucky enough to have a proper espresso machine to play with. I use locally roasted coffee – often roasted that very day from either Isle of Mull Coffee Roasters or Hinba Coffee Roasters (located on the Isle of Seil). At home, I love a cortado from my yellow Gaggia espresso machine.
Gaggia Classic E24 Sunshine Yellow espresso machine
What’s your biggest splurge?
Tinned fish. I love fresh seafood, but when the catch doesn’t land, I need a plan B. The best sardines, herring, anchovies are from the adorable Tinned Fish Market at London’s Borough Market.
And what everyday item do you scrimp on?
Washing-up liquid. Whatever’s on offer. I just need bubbles.
And what’s your greatest vintage find?
Apart from my husband, who is ageing like a fine wine, it’s a farmhouse table rescued from a shed that looked like a scene from a true-crime podcast. It’s the heart of the house. Everything happens around it: breakfasts, wine, fish chat, plans, disasters.
For more, read How I Shop with Kim Cattrall and Anya Hindmarch
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