Q&A with Divine Savages

Divine Savages, a British brand founded in 2017 by husbands Jamie Watkins and Tom Kennedy, is a brand inspired by history, culture, fashion and nature, formed to create bold and beautifully crafted wallpapers, designed and manufactured in the UK. With successful careers in TV and design, they were determined to do interiors their own way, starting with their own home.

Jamie & Tom’s regency-style home is beautifully curated, maximalist and full of Divine Savages charm. With its shutters and zinc canopy reminiscent of what you’d typically find in New Orleans, the pair relocated from London to the outskirts of Bath, and have been renovating slowly for the past few years.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Jamie to learn more about the brand, as well as get an insight into their home and tips for using it in interiors.

Where did the name come from & how would you describe Divine Savages to someone new to the brand?

We wanted something that had a bit of a duality and playfulness to it as that's what was initially coming through in Tom's designs. We always loved the word divine so we landed on that quite quickly, but then I was trying to find the opposite kind of word that was a bit more fun and cheeky and rebellious. So we eventually landed on Divine Savages, and we feel it’s really fitting and has influenced a lot of what we do.

Our tagline is "for the brave and bold", so we try to add a cheeky, more playful humour to interior design. You'll often find bold color combinations or cheeky characters in our designs, which have become really popular.

What inspires you & where do you look for inspiration?

Tom is the creative one in Divine Savages, he covers everything on the design side. He’s very much inspired by nature, a lot of our designs are floral or animal-based so it may be something he sees out on a dog walk or while we're out and about in nature.

Also, a lot of inspiration comes from travelling, from exhibitions or galleries. He gets inspiration from all over the place!

Has your design taste evolved over the years?

Yes, definitely. We bought our first flat in London over 10 years ago when grey was very much the 'in' color so we just quickly gave it a spruce up. It wasn’t until a few years later when we were ready to decorate properly that we really got into decorating and found our own vibe. That’s kind of when Divine Savages started as we realised it was something we really enjoyed doing.

Now onto your home, tell us more about it…

It’s a semi-detached home just outside of Bath in the South West of England that we’ve lived in since 2023. We fell in love with the zinc canopy at the front, it feels kind of French or like something you’d see in New Orleans with a little veranda. It was in good condition when we bought it but we just wanted to bring it into our own style a bit more so we’ve been doing it slowly as we didn’t want to rush things.

So far, we’ve tackled the cocktail lounge, cinema room, dining room and our bedroom, so four rooms off the list but plenty to keep us going! The bathroom and kitchen are both next on our list for next year. We love doing it and it’s a great excuse to use our home as a bit of a showcase for new designs.

What overall feel or vibe are you wanting to achieve?

We’re all about color and mood-enhancing pattern, we want to feel happy when we walk through the door. We very much feel like each room should have its own feel and vibe, it doesn’t necessarily have to flow into the next room. They can all have their own personalities which makes it so fun to decorate.

We also think it's important for people to have a sense of who we are when they are in our house, I find it a little bit sad when you walk into someone’s house and you don’t get a sense of who lives there.

How does it feel being able to use your own creations in your home?

It’s brilliant! It started by wanting something in our London place so that's when Tom first created Deco Martini. Obviously he designs for Divine Savages and we know what works for our brand and our customer, but ultimately we kind of do always design with ourselves in mind. It’s a great way to ensure we’re always staying authentic and true to ourselves.

It can happen the other way around too- because we’re so used to seeing it in our own home, spotting it in someone else’s can be kind of mind-blowing!

We love the sound of your cocktail room, tell us more about it…

So it’s got big comfy boucle sofas, a squishy orange velvet armchair and the walls are adorned with our Lovebirds wallpaper. We went for a Hollywood kind of glamour mixed with 70s cocktail lounge. We pulled the orange out as an accent color and it really works.

We made a conscious decision there would be no TV in this room, it would be used for entertaining, for chatting or sitting infront of the fire with the record player playing. We love spending time in here hosting with friends.

What’s been the biggest indulgence in your home?

We splurged on the chandelier in the cinema room which was from Pure White Lines. It’s a big orange cut glass chandelier that really pops as the rest of the room is quite dark and moody with our Drunken Monkey wallpaper. We rarely put the light on but it just makes a really nice focal point in the room.

Where do you start when decorating a room?

We love wallpaper so much so for us, it does usually start with wallpaper. Decide which vibe you want for the room in terms of floral, or playful or geometric, or whatever you may choose.

Always order samples first. Live with them for a bit, make sure you give each sample room to breathe on the wall. Use blue tac or tape to fix them to the wall and see how they look at different times in the day, in different lighting, when you’ve got lamps on etc. Go with whichever draws you in or speaks to you more than the others.

Do you have any tips on using your designs?

We always say there aren’t really any trends when it comes to decorating. Ignore trends and set rules because the main thing is if you really love a pattern, then that’s the right choice for you because you’ll never get bored of it. Lean into what makes you happy and you can’t really go wrong.

We want to help you be braver in your choice of pattern and bolder in your choice of color. We want to celebrate both the divine and the savage in us all.

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