We went Christmas shopping with interior designer and TV presenter Anna Campbell-Jones to find out why it is important to shop locally this festive season
Anna Campbell-Jones is serious about sustainability – especially when it comes to sourcing and curating beautiful décor for the home. The interior designer and Scotland’s Home of the Year presenter works with a range of brands across Scotland to support local creativity and help her viewers understand the importance of taking some extra time to find businesses that believe in sustainable practices. The goal is to make interior design a more planet-friendly place to be.
One of Anna’s star collaborations this year has been with No Rules Wallpaper whose innovative wallpapers have been intentionally designed to not repeat. All parts of the roll work together to form a seamless wall covering – top to bottom, left to right, the choice is yours. Plus, for every roll of wallpaper sold, No Rules plant one tree in the Scottish highlands with Trees For Life.
Throughout the 2024 festive season, Anna has supported Mary’s Meals on their Christmas Trees of Hop initiative, which aims to boost donations and bring Christmas cheer to those in need.
She has also created a colourful range of swallow decorations in collaboration with Ocean Plastic Pots; they are delicate little items that are made by melting down multi-coloured recycled ocean plastic. The range sold out quickly, but is back in stock online now, showing that eco-friendly and handmade presents are at the top of thousands of wish lists this Christmas.
Here, Anna explains why it is especially important to prioritise shopping locally at Christmas time, proving that there are endless gems to be found when you shop in the bounty of independent stores near you.
How can we be more sustainable when designing our homes?
I think the easiest thing is to cherish things you already have; things that have been handed down to you, or given to you by my friends and family.
I also recommend finding vintage pieces that speak to you. I genuinely feel, actually, that buying things that have been pre-loved creates an interior that’s more unique than anything you could buy brand-new. Or even if you purchase from sort of ‘do it all’ brands who sell a lifestyle as well as products. I think they’re the biggest problems.
Would you say, then, that there is charm built in with vintage pieces?
Yes, absolutely – they’re characterful. These pieces have lived a life before; they have a story, even if it is someone else’s. I love the idea that an interior holds many stories beyond just those who live there – I think that is the beauty of buying second-hand or vintage. Plus, it just looks cooler.
What are the easiest ways to shop more sustainably?
There are lots of different ways of doing it, whether that’s buying new items that have been made with sustainability in mind and made somewhere near where you live, or trying to purchase items that haven’t traveled from the other side of the world, for example.
Go to the independent stores near you. Speak to the owners and invest some time as well as money into the people who open these shops – often they’ve done it simply because they love beautiful things. Where would we be without the people who source and sell some of Scotland’s most lovingly-made homeware?
Do you have any sustainable gifting tips? Maybe a unique gift idea?
I have a friend who gifts things that she owns or has bought from charity shops only. I was round at her house and said I admired one of her scarves and so when gifting season came round, she wrapped it up beautifully and gave it to me. I wear it regularly and it makes me smile, because I know that care went into that gift. It’s a huge bonus that it is more sustainable that way too.
I think it’s really lovely to gift things like a book that you read and loved. Don’t buy a new copy, simply share the one that you used. It adds a sentimentality to it that I’m certain won’t go over the heads of your friends and family.
Do you feel a sense of achievement when you find a gem when shopping second-hand?
Oh god yes! Absolutely I do. there’s nothing quite like the joy of raking through charity shop racks or seeing something shiny in a second-hand shop window that you love, and then spending pennies on it.
More than one billion Christmas cards are sent to relatives and friends in the UK each year. Passing on a written Christmas message is a lovely tradition, but ends in a lot of paper waste. How can people give Christmas cards less wastefully this year?
I saw this story about a group of old friends that had a collection of incredible gift cards they sent each other over the years. These cards were how they would catch up. In them, there would be life updates and anecdotes alongside well wishes, which is great. But what charmed me is that they sent the same cards back and forth to each other every year, adding new messages into the remaining space. It saved paper and it saved the effort of remembering to buy cards year after year! I really love that.
What is on your Christmas list this year?
I have a range of beautiful ornaments and gifts on my website, all designed with style and sustainability in mind. I especially love my Clockwork orange range of prints, mugs and candles, which are based on my upholstery designs for the old Glasgow underground trains.
I have also brought out a range of ceramic baubles donned with a simple swallow illustration to match the swallow tattoos I have on my hands. I love the idea of handing Christmas decorations down through generations, so I sourced the materials and made the aesthetic with the vision of them staying in families for years to come.
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Watch our Instagram reel with Anna, which features the interior designer rummaging around some of her favourite independent homeware shops in the west end of Glasgow.
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