Internationally acclaimed interior designer, TV presenter, and winner of the BBC's Design Masters, Banjo Beale, is landing in Dublin to take part in Irish Design Week 2025.
The Australian creator has built a cult following for warm and infectious energy, not to mention his design work, which blends storytelling, sustainability, and personality.
On Thursday, he will be taking part in a keynote on circular design and creative living, exploring how small design choices can have a massive impact, not just on our homes, but on our planet and communities too.
"It's kind of a diplomacy mission," he says, speaking over the phone. "I'm speaking to another local designer and we're going to share war stories."
Having moved from the "giant island" of Australia to a "tiny island" off Scotland, Beale has great insights to the variety of designs that are used in such starkly different climates, something that he hopes to delve into during the event.
"The theme of the talk is past, present and future," he explains. "So I'll give some background into how I got to the islands, what I've been working on, and what the future might hold. It's all cached in design and, for me, that means resourcefulness and creativity and using what you already have to spin into something.
With sustainability at the heart of many of his projects, the A Place In Scotland author encourages his clients to tell a story with their spaces.
"You can't just go down to the shops and buy materials," he insists. "You have to improvise and work with what you've got."
To get started, he suggests sourcing vintage and second-hand pieces so that your imagination can run wild, thinking about the people who owned them in the past and who might own them in the future.
"It's about trying to put meaning on stuff, otherwise it's just pointless," he adds. "It's fun to create stories in our spaces - even if you have to reverse engineer the story or make it up! I'm not adverse to that."
When it comes to his own style, Beale says he likes to create a "rustic but refined" aesthetic.
"I like things that are a little bit wobbly and warped but pulled together in an unexpected, more refined way," he muses. "Using unexpected materials but doing it in a way that it doesn't look upcycled, it's just reinterpreted in a new way.
"I don't even like 'upcycling', I call it downcycling," he laughs. "I like making things look even older. I don't like painting wood, I just like wood looking like wood."
In warmer climates, Beale says that it's easy to "rest on your laurels" because there's so much gorgeous light flooding into the home, bringing the outside in. In colder countries, like Ireland, we're chasing warmth.
"I'm always desperate to bring warmth into my space with lighting, materials, and texture - anything that gives you that cosy feeling," he explains, noting that you can never have too many candles or lamps.
Looking ahead to 2026, the interior designer expects to see more 'natural finishes' such as lime plaster and clay plaster, adding that "pared back" interiors are likely to thrive.
Mostly, though, he just wants everyone to get off Pinterest and Instagram.
"Stop looking at Pinterest and Instagram," he begs. "I think we're stuck in this loop, you know, clients come to me to create an image that they've already seen. We're consuming more than ever, and our spaces are looking more the same.
"Just go on a bit of a detox from social media, and if you are designing a space don't look to other spaces. Chase the feeling. What's your favourite city or hotel or café? Is it warm and cosy or light and bright? Do you want it to be eccentric?
"Who is your muse? That's another question I like to ask my clients."
To find out more about Irish Design Week, visit dcci.ie.
