Home of the Year: 'We can tell people's homes by looking at them'
Scotland's Home of the Year judge Anna Campbell-Jones has become so adept at her job, she can tell which homes belong to which owners - just by looking at them.The interior designer returns for a new series of the hit show where she gets to look inside strangers' homes and judge them for their inspiration and originality.When Campbell-Jones and her fellow judges, designer Banjo Beale and architect Danny Campbell, step into the competing houses, they have no idea who lives there - something she says shocks people."People are always quite surprised that we don't meet the homeowners," she told Reporting Scotland's News at Seven programme, "because we appear to know so much about them. "But it is incredible how much you can divine about a person or a couple or a family from the place they live. And that's exactly what we are looking for - something that really shows us who they are."
It's only when they get to the final that they meet the people who live there.Campbell-Jones said: "When we are visiting the homes we are focusing on the homes and trying to work out what is going on and look at all the exciting ideas that people have been trying out."And when we meet the finalists it's a bit like how people look like their dogs - we are looking at everyone and saying I wonder if they are the people from that house - and we usually get it right."The seventh series of the BBC Scotland show begins on Monday. The competition has become a firm favourite with audiences who can't get enough of seeing where people live.Campbell-Jones believes it's human nature that makes it a success."It's a fundamental part of human nature, to snoop about other people's homes and see how they live," she said.
Although the judging line-up has varied over the years, Campbell-Jones has remained constant, and she says the current three complement each other."The three of us get on really well - we think about homing in different ways, but we share a philosophy about the bigger picture - that it is about what a home means."Monday sees the team visit three very different homes in the west of Scotland.Open for viewings are a colourful family flat in Saltcoats, a Victorian villa in Helensburgh and a 1930s sandstone bungalow in Giffnock.First up is Seaside Conversion in Saltcoats, home to Tracey, Scott and their children Alfie, Blossom and Marley. Deceptively traditional from the outside, it's an upper four-bed beachfront flat packed full of colour and creativity.
Next up is Victorian Villa in Helensburgh, a sandstone property which became home to Shereen, William and their family in 2017 after years of living abroad.The huge seven-bedroomed Victorian home is full of items they've collected on their travels over the years, and each has a story of someone they know or somewhere they've been. The final contender in the west is Sandstone Bungalow in Giffnock, home to Pamela and Gordon, their son Caleb and Rosa the Irish Setter. The couple say they have blended old with new, retaining the beautiful original 1930s details whilst bringing the house up-to-date with a bright and modern kitchen, dining and living spaces.
Campbell-Jones is clear on what she is looking for in a winner: "It should be inspirational, atmospheric and accessible but have that most important ingredient…love."Scoring them on architectural merit, distinctive design and personal style, the judges will choose which home will represent the west in the grand final held at House for an Art Lover in Glasgow.
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