Scotland Through Katie's Eyes

There are some places you choose and others that choose you.

For Silk Laundry founder, Katie Kolodinski, Scotland was the result of chance. A destination drawn from a hat, guided by curiosity rather than a plan. What followed was a journey through mist-covered Highlands, quiet islands, winding coastlines and small moments that linger long after returning home.

From searching for puffins on the Isle of Mull to photographing windows, discovering local craftsmanship and embracing the beauty of travelling without an itinerary, Scotland offered a slower way of seeing. One that continues to shape the way Katie thinks about design, materiality and the spaces in between.

Katie shares the places that stayed with her, the moments that surprised her and why letting chance lead the way often makes for the best journeys.

What drew you to Scotland for this trip?

There are so many places I want to see in my life that choosing a destination feels nearly impossible. So for the last two or so years I've stopped trying to decide. Instead I pick dates, put them into a Google flight search, write down the cheapest options, throw them in a hat and pull one out at random. It keeps things a little weird, a little spontaneous - exactly the way I like it. This time, Scotland came out of the hat. And the one thing I had on my list was to see the puffins.

Was there a particular landscape or place that stayed with you?

The Isle of Mull completely captured me. But the Highlands came first and nothing quite prepares you for them. The highland cows alone are worth the trip. There’s something so wonderfully unhurried about them, standing in the mist like they’ve been there forever and have absolutely no intention of moving. And then Fingal’s Cave, which is one of those places that makes you feel very small in the best possible way. The geometry of the basalt columns is extraordinary, nature doing something that looks entirely intentional.

A moment from the trip that felt especially memorable?

The puffins. We drove and ferried and boated to find them - it was the end of breeding season and we’d been told most of the parent pairs had already left, so I wasn’t sure we’d make it. But we finally did. I was completely gobsmacked. That’s my idea of heaven, honestly.

Did you come across any local craftsmanship, textiles or materials that caught your eye?

Isle of Mull Cheese. I know that's not textiles, but there's a craft to it that I found genuinely moving. The way something so specific to a place, its land and its climate, ends up embedded in the taste of a thing. The wool and tweed you encounter in Scotland carries the same quality - deeply functional, shaped entirely by environment. The weight of it, the texture, the way it holds colour. I kept thinking about longevity and intention, which is always at the back of my mind in my own work.

A small detail from the landscape or environment that inspired you?

Windows. I took so many photographs of windows on this trip. There's something about a window as a frame, the way it edits a landscape down to exactly what matters. In Scotland, light and color are so particular the views make you feel as though you are on a movie set.. It's such a simple architectural detail but it carries so much.

What did a typical day travelling through Scotland look like?

Slow and unscheduled, which is rare for me. Waking up to mist, following a coastline without a fixed plan, stopping when something caught my eye. Dinner at the Bellachroy on Mull was one of those evenings that just unfolds perfectly - good food, great people, unhurried, exactly the kind of place you'd never find if you were following a list. I deliberately left a lot of space in the itinerary and that turned out to be where all the best things happened.

Did you have a favourite place you stayed or discovered along the way?

I had actually hoped to stay at Bellachroy Hotel, the oldest inn on the Isle of Mull, but they were fully booked while I was travelling. It’s somewhere I’d still love to experience next time.

Instead, I managed to find the cutest little Airbnb called The Old Cottage.. It’s very simple and surrounded by landscape, which felt like the right way to experience that part of Scotland. Each morning I’d go outside and feed the birds, which became a nice quiet ritual to start the day.

We also stayed at Rokeby Manor, a beautiful historic manor house in the Highlands. It has a fantastic Indian restaurant called Emily’s Byre, set inside an old cowshed. The food focuses on Northern Frontier Indian cuisine, which was such a great surprise to find in the middle of the Highlands and made for a really memorable dinner after long days exploring.

How does travelling somewhere like Scotland influence the way you approach design?

It recalibrates everything. When you spend time somewhere so defined by its natural constraints - the weather, the terrain, the materials available, you're reminded that the best design usually comes from working with what's there rather than against it. Scotland stripped a lot of noise away for me. And the windows didn't hurt either.

Do trips like this shift your perspective creatively when you return to the studio?

Always. I come back quieter, in a good way. More interested in restraint, in texture, in things that don't shout. There's an honesty to Scotland - in its landscape, its making, its light, that I find myself reaching back toward when I'm in the studio. I'm still processing it, which I think means it really landed.

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