At home in Juniper Green: Patience is a virtue
Published Date: 15 March 2009
By Fiona Reid
It has taken 10 years, but Alan and Lorraine Airth have finally perfected the combination of country and contemporary in their Juniper Green home
SOME people will buy a house and blitz the interior in months while others take years to realise their vision. Alan Airth can see the irony in the fact that, 10 years after buying this ADVERTISEMENT
mid-terrace villa in Edinburgh's Juniper Green area, the house iADVERTISEMENTs finally looking exactly
as he'd always visualised it – just as he, an IT consultant, and his wife Lorraine, a staff nurse, are preparing to move again.
Even finding this property was a long haul as the couple searched for 18 months after relocating from London, and considered properties from Edinburgh's New Town to Portobello before spotting this house on the western fringes of the city. "We loved the area," says Alan, "but I don't think we paid much attention to what the house looked like inside."
The scale of the refurbishment required didn't really hit the couple until they moved in, yet, having channelled all their money into buying the house, they had to approach things slowly, as and when they could afford it. Their first task was to replace the heating system and some of the windows, as they wisely focused on getting the fundamentals right before turning their attention to the look of the place.
"The challenge for me with this house was patience," says Alan. "I wanted to borrow more money to just get things done, as there was no point in doing the nice things until the basics were finished, but Lorraine was good at making me slow down and be more patient."
The five-bedroom house dates from around 1847 and was built, along with its neighbours, by master builder and joiner John Hill, who lived in one of the nearby houses for a time and let out the others. Number 11 is set over three storeys, with the sitting-room on the ground level spilling into a conservatory that extends along the rear elevation, which in turn opens into the huge south-facing garden. The house is actually arranged back-to-front, as this rear elevation is really the front of the house, making the most of the southerly orientation with views towards the Pentland Hills from the upper floors. Arriving off Belmont Road, the first room you enter is the dining-kitchen, and it's this space that sets the aesthetic tone with its contemporary lines, attention to detail and lovely use of colour.
This area also required the most work as the kitchen was previously where the dining area is now, while there was a corridor that was just wasted space. This entire area was reconfigured to create a much larger dining kitchen, which was designed by Kitchens International, as was the utility room set off the vestibule.
The dark grey hue of the units is Alan's favourite colour – indeed, it crops up again in the conservatory where one wall is painted in Farrow & Ball's similarly rich Downpipe – and the grey-green glass splashback enhances the warm tones in the units. The overscaled, bubble-shaped transparent orange FL/Y Icon pendant lights by Kartel balance the otherwise linear design and give a great 'pop' of colour, and the Eames DSR Eiffel dining chairs add a similarly retro touch. Alan added the recessed display alcoves behind the dining table, while slate-effect Amtico flooring provides a warm, pet-friendly alternative to the real thing for the couple's Westie, Mac.
You don't have to spend too long in Alan's company to see just how much he enjoys interiors – in fact, he hopes to explore this further, perhaps studying interior design and seeing where it takes him. Were the couple to have stayed here, Alan had other ideas for changing the house, pointing out how the two upper bedrooms – currently used as his 'den' to read or listen to music, and a study – could be redesigned as a master bedroom suite.
"It's not just about how a space looks, it's about how it works," he says. Take the bathroom, which was one of the early rooms the couple tackled. First time round Alan had to cut corners for cost, but four years ago he redesigned the space completely, taking inspiration from brick-style tiling he'd spotted while visiting New York when choosing the textured, buff-coloured wall tiles. More texture is added with the timber and granite-effect finishes, while the fittings are by the Italian company Catalano.
If the kitchen demonstrates Alan's eye for colour and clean lines, this space illustrates his zeal for functionality. Flimsy shower screens are a pet hate, so here the screen is a substantial 10mm wide, while Alan inset a shaving mirror into the tiling within the shower: simple, practical details that make the space work.
While this house has a relatively cottagey character, as evident in the original exposed timber detailing, this is offset by the contemporary fittings, furniture and lighting. "I've lived in Georgian houses before," says Alan, "and I wanted to drop something modern into the space, which is what I realised I could do here."
The grey and orange combo in the kitchen is a current favourite and is repeated throughout: in the cushions on the couple's bed, for example, or the grey Ikea sofa and shaggy orange-toned Brink and Campman rug in the sitting-room. There's no denying that colour plays an important role here, but Alan kept things subtle, probably as a reaction to the bright colour scheme the couple moved in to, he reflects.
"Maybe next time I'll indulge myself a bit more," he says, "but I wanted these spaces to feel warm and natural." Cue the combination of Farrow & Ball's Cord and String in the living room, alongside the solid oak floor.
And he is canny when it comes to sourcing things, as with the overscaled B&B Italia armchair he bought online from Europe for considerably less than its UK retail price. Some pieces are eBay finds, "though I'll always search two or three places to make sure I'm not getting ripped off". As for the aesthetics: "I'm not brilliant with pattern," he says. "With furniture, often for me it's the plainer the better."
He did break this rule once with the guest bedroom, which is the most overtly feminine space with its feature wall of Laura Ashley's Erin wallpaper, delicate chandelier and traditionally styled metal bed.
The catalyst for this design concert was Lorraine. "She wanted something that felt a bit 'old', so this is my interpretation of her idea," says Alan. "Now all our female friends come round and say, 'This is my room…'"
This interior shows the value of taking time and letting your ideas evolve with the house. "We've improved this house, we've got the bones of it right," says Alan. "This is what I had in my head when we moved in."
Offers around £425,000 should be made to Warners on 0131-667 0232 or visit www.warnersol.com