The Owners Were Starting From Zero in This Dated Edinburgh Apartment – The Designer Had Just 6 Months To Overhaul It Entirely
Designer Alex Strachan had a very tight deadline for this renovation, and starting from a totally blank canvas meant she needed to get creative fast
When the owners of this elegant Edinburgh apartment first came across it, it was the building's bones that won their hearts. Set across the top two floors of a Victorian townhouse, the duplex apartment came with everything buyers dream of finding in this city: generous proportions, soaring ceilings, original moldings, and sweeping views. What it lacked, however, was any real personality. ‘It was tired, and had very little love, which I think is often the case up here in Edinburgh,’ says interior designer Alex Strachan of Studio Strachan. ‘In London, everyone does up their houses every few years, but there hasn’t been the same boom up here.’
The clients came to Alex as friends of friends, having recently moved to Scotland from London with their two young children. As the kids prepared to start school in Edinburgh, they needed a place to settle in the city, and the turnaround was tight. Alex had six months to make the house completely ready to live in, with the family aiming to move in and hit the ground running by the start of the fall term. ‘They needed it completely done and finished, so they could just arrive and unpack,’ she says.
Kitchen: The kitchen was completely reconfigured to create a brighter, more practical family space, with bespoke cabinetry by Countryside Kitchens painted in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Stone III’ against walls in ‘Stone II’.
With most of their belongings in their other home, the Edinburgh apartment was, in Alex’s words, ‘very much a blank canvas. They didn't have a lot to bring to the project, so they needed my help with everything, from design and decoration to sourcing pictures and accessories and dressing the whole thing. They came to me and said, “We want you to inject personality and make it feel fresh again, but we're really starting from zero.”’
What followed was a thoughtful renovation that took the apartment from tired to thoroughly energized. The plan was to create a stylish scheme for the family to grow into – not necessarily filling every last inch of space, but laying down a base that the clients could add to over time. In the meantime, it had to function as an efficient family home and a versatile space for working from home and entertaining. The project included a complete redesign of the kitchen, new bathrooms, a laundry room, and the introduction of a warm, inviting decorative scheme throughout.
‘One of the biggest themes throughout the project was letting color do a lot of the work,’ Alex says. ‘The apartment didn't have huge collections of art yet, so color became a way of creating character and atmosphere immediately.’
The client’s brief had paved the way for this, giving Alex a distinct mission to introduce plenty of striking shades. ‘My client works in fashion and has beautiful taste, but she'd naturally gravitate toward softer pastels,’ Alex explains. ‘She actually asked me to push her outside her comfort zone. She said, “I know what I normally choose, but I'd like you to challenge me a bit.” That was such a fun brief.’
Entryway: The walls in the entryway are painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Sardine’, while a Vaughan Littleton Lantern and vintage table from Litten Tree Antiques add period character. A sisal runner from Crucial Trading grounds the space.
This clever use of color to add distinction is on show in the first part of the house visitors enter, the entryway. This grand space, with a graceful central staircase that sweeps up to the upper floor, is painted in a beautiful, complex shade of blue (Farrow & Ball’s ‘Sardine’) which lends a sense of occasion to every arrival.
‘The entryway was one of the boldest decisions,’ says Alex, and also one of the last to be made, with the team running in and out of Farrow & Ball for ‘about a hundred’ paint samples to make sure they had chosen the perfect one. ‘Initially it took a bit of persuading because it felt quite dramatic,’ continues Alex. ‘But we knew we weren't going to be able to get huge pictures up on the walls straightaway, so the color needed to provide personality off the bat.’
Living room: The walls are painted in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Cinnamon’ with woodwork in ‘Spanish White’. Bespoke curtains combine a plain linen with Guy Goodfellow ‘Artemis’ trim, while the central ottoman, made by Isabelle Baldwin, is upholstered in Guy Goodfellow’s ‘Fez Weave’ in Putty. Bespoke cushions in ‘Wicker’ by Fermoie and ‘Amiera’ from Namay Samay add subtle pattern to the understated linens on the Sofas & Stuff sofa and Rowan & Wren armchairs.
Color also does much of the work in the living room, where Alex introduced a warm yellow-brown (Edward Bulmer’s ‘Cinnamon’) onto the walls. ‘That color really anchors the whole scheme,’ Alex says. ‘It's probably one of my favorite decisions in the project.’ Filling the room presented more of a challenge. Long and relatively narrow, with high ceilings and a deep bay window, ‘it was one of those rooms that just ate furniture,’ Alex laughs. 'Every time we'd put pieces onto the plan, we'd realize we still had more space to fill.’
Rather than cluttering the room up with furniture and built-in millwork, she focused on creating a central seating arrangement anchored by a large ottoman – perfect for entertaining – while allowing the window and original architectural details to draw the main focus. With such generous proportions to deal with, Alex also had to keep an eye on the budget. The enormous windows required acres of fabric for the curtains, so she opted for a plain, affordable linen, but elevated them with an intricate trim from Guy Goodfellow.
Kitchen: The island, painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Eating Room Red’, anchors the space, with ‘Tilbury’ bar stools in oak and rattan providing casual seating. Embroidered Imogen Pope shades on a Jim Lawrence ‘Barchester’ pendant hang above.
The adjacent kitchen was the room that demanded the most work, but of everything in the apartment, it's the room Alex is now proudest of. There was plenty of work to do to get it into shape. Although blessed with beautiful windows and plenty of natural light, it felt pokey compared to the other rooms. A dropped ceiling, originally installed to conceal wiring and plumbing, was diminishing the proportions and hiding the cornice, and in general, the space was unsuitable for the demands of family life.
The family needed plenty of storage, a dining space within the kitchen, and the flexibility to accommodate everything from homework to smart dinner parties. ‘The kitchen really had to be stripped back and completely rethought,' says Alex. 'For a four-bedroom apartment, it wasn't actually a huge room, so we had to be very clever about fitting everything in.’
Kitchen dining nook: OKA cross-back dining chairs pair with a Neptune table in the nook, while cushions in Rose Uniacke and Pierre Frey fabrics introduce subtle layers of colour and pattern. Namay Samay's ‘Gulnaar’ linen on the Roman blinds adds further interest.
The result has everything the family could want, including a kitchen island packed with storage and a charming built-in dining nook tucked into the corner, with a view over the gardens.
‘The nook has become the place where the family naturally gathers,’ notes Alex. Glass-fronted wall cabinets and open shelving keep the room feeling airy, as does the cream color of the joinery. The deep oxblood color of the island anchors the scheme without detracting from that sense of spaciousness. 'The clients really didn't want visual clutter,' Alex says. ‘We've given them lots of places to hide things away while still keeping the room feeling open.’
The final room on this floor, the snug, is just as thoughtfully arranged for the varying needs of a busy family. In the day, Alex’s client can work from home at an antique bureau that folds back up after use. When the children are home, it becomes a playroom, and a sofa bed means it can also be an extra guest room. When guests visit, it transforms into a bedroom thanks to a sofa bed. ‘I didn't want the room to feel like an office,’ Alex explains. ‘It needed to feel relaxed and adaptable. Every piece of furniture had to earn its place.’
Snug: Painted in Farrow & Ball Oxford Stone, the snug features a cheerful Roman blind in Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler’s ‘Squiggle’, a sofa from Loaf, and cushions in Robert Kime and Claremont fabrics. Alex found the bureau on Vinterior.
The same is true of the upstairs bedrooms, which are as considered and uncluttered as the rest of the house. The main bedroom, with its soft green walls and gently patterned Fermoie fabrics, is another example of Alex’s judicious pushing of the color envelope.
‘I think this is the one scheme that was most out of my client's comfort zone. She would have instinctively gone for pinker hues, but she really loves it now.’ Bespoke pieces, including a bench by Anna Elizabeth with bamboo legs and playful Beata Heuman cushions, add character without interrupting the gentle atmosphere, while a full wall of closets means that stuff never has to intrude on the scheme.
Main bedroom: The walls are painted in Little Greene’s ‘Green Stone Light’, with a bespoke headboard by Isabelle Baldwin and curtains both in Fermoie’s ‘Savernake’. The bespoke bench by Anna Elizabeth is upholstered in Claremont’s ‘Cannelle’, while cushions in Beata Heuman’s ‘Florentine Flowers’ add a playful note on the bed.
Perhaps the most adventurous scheme of all comes in the guest bedroom, where the pitched walls are wrapped in a striking Penny Morrison wallpaper. ‘It was quite a sad room before,’ remembers Alex. ‘It's not enormous, and the ceilings are lower than elsewhere, so we wanted to create something that felt special. Plus, guest rooms are often the perfect place to be a little bolder because you're not living in them every day.' Rather than fitting the usual blind to the rooflight, Alex softened the window with curtains to add to the cocooning atmosphere.
Guest bedroom: The room is wrapped in Penny Morrison’s ‘Flowerberry’ wallpaper. A bespoke headboard from Isabelle Baldwin is upholstered in GP & J Baker’s ‘House Linen’ with a Samuel & Sons trim, while the central cushion is made in Guy Goodfellow’s ‘Cothay Stripe’ fabric.
The two children’s bedrooms enjoy storybook views over the Edinburgh rooftops, and each have their own particular character while mirroring each other in their layout. 'It was really important that the children had rooms that felt like their own spaces,' says Alex. Both rooms feature a mixture of practical furniture, vintage finds and playful details, while deliberately leaving enough floor space for play.
Girl's bedroom: The walls and woodwork are painted in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Clove’, with curtains in Jessica Osborne’s ‘Barney’. The bespoke armchair is upholstered in Fermoie’s ‘Popple’. A Marks & Spencer scalloped rug, a kantha quilt from Sarah K, and a Matilda Goad woven ceramic lamp complete the scheme.
In the little girl's room, a warm Edward Bulmer shade called ‘Clove’ introduces an elegant softness without being overtly feminine. ‘It's pink-ish, but the brown in it stops it from feeling saccharine,' Alex explains. Meanwhile, the little boy's room, painted in a deep olive green, has an injection of pattern from the Rapture & Wright curtain fabric, and incorporates a trundle bed designed for future sleepovers.
Boy's bedroom: The walls and woodwork are painted in Little Greene’s ‘Windmill Lane’. Rapture & Wright ‘Hana’ fabric was chosen for the curtains, while the Posy & Pen trundle bed is dressed with a cushion in Fermoie’s ‘Rabanna’.
The bathrooms – a family bathroom on the lower floor and a shower room on the upper – were thoroughly redesigned with practicality at the forefront. Alex kept both schemes deliberately calm: clean marble flooring, neutral palettes, and as much built-in storage as the rooms would allow. ‘We wanted to keep both bathrooms fairly simple. They're not huge spaces, so it was about hiding away as much as we possibly could.’
Family bathroom: The bathroom pairs Burlington sanitaryware with a Matilda Goad mirror and her ‘Sunburst’ wall lights. The Roman blind is made in Soane’s ‘Leopard Palm’ fabric, with a sheer café curtain from East London Cloth.
This practical mindset has nevertheless given the family a home that feels entirely their own, and more importantly, can grow with them over time. The apartment feels finished, but there's still room for it to evolve, as the clients collect art and other pieces they love, layering in their own memories. That's exactly what a family home should do.
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