It’s fair to say we love a Victorian renovation or two on Rock My Style, however we know there are tons of homes from other periods across the British Isles to feast your eyes on too. That’s why I’m tickled pink to be sharing a modern home with you today. The colony houses of Edinburgh were built around the start of the last century as homes for artisans and skilled workers. Edinburgh now boasts a new style colony development based on the traditional design and RMS reader Carley and her other half Fraser have bought a smasher of a new-build right in the heart of the city. Over to Carley for a quick tour..

We bought our home almost two years ago and we absolutely love it here. We are right in the city centre but part of a new style colony development with 37 homes based on the old Edinburgh colony designs. There is a real community amongst everyone here which is unusual these days and all part of the ethos behind the design.

We chose to buy this house not only because of the unique design of the new colonies but also because we were in no position to spend our time or money on renovating an older property which we would have loved to do, but I have to admit, it was exciting to walk into a shiny new blank canvas!

Much like my working life – I’m a designer for an Edinburgh Interiors company and also a self-employed photographer, my ‘style’ is a bit of a mish mash! I don’t go for a particular ‘look’ but just impulsively go for things that I see and like. Fraser is much more traditional in his taste but pretty much gives me free reign with my ideas for our home, even when I come out with ‘I’m going to paint the entire bedroom dark blue’, just months after painting it pale grey. I love that he trusts me to go for it, although if he’s got a strong opinion on something he’ll stand his ground, generally though we agree!

The Decor

Our vestibule has a Vivienne Westwood ‘Dog Tooth’ wallpaper from Cole & Son which is one of the first things I bought before we had even moved in. My mum found the bench on Gumtree and I spray-painted it white.

Our living / kitchen area is open plan so we went with a relatively neutral kitchen with an island from Ikea and some soft greyish-blue brick style tiles.

The living area has one wall in Farrow & Ball ‘Oval Room Blue’ and curtains in a matching velvet to bring the colour further round the space. The rug was another Gumtree find and luckily the perfect colour with the wall and curtains. Furniture wise this room has the biggest mish-mash of styles – a traditional desk next to an Ikea TV unit, a chesterfield sofa and a wooden trunk coffee table! Our dining table and chairs were second hand which I spray painted and had a glass top cut for the table. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a can of spray paint!
The hall has very little wall space so there’s only really room for a few pictures and some quirky wooden paintings we got on holiday in Croatia. The wall colour is Farrow & Ball ‘Mizzle’ which is also in the second bedroom. It’s such a lovely soft colour, especially for a transitional space.

We recently papered the bathroom with Zoffany wallpaper.

Our bedroom is painted in ‘Velvet Blue’ from Zoffany which is a really deep blue but has a lovely powdery quality to it at the same time. There are lots of gold highlights all around the room to counter the blue such as the port hole mirrors (£10 each on Ebay!), the lamps which are from TKMaxx and spray painted gold and a small gold makeup table – also from TK’s (I basically live there). The fur throw I bought though my work. It’s dangerous working in interiors sometimes, you see so many things you just have to have! We had the wardrobes built in and I painted these away to blend with the walls. The brass hinges and Anthropologie handles add a few more hints of the gold.

I for one adore Carley’s fusion of modern and vintage and the colour palette is to die for. Anyone else fancy a quick trip to Scotland to nip in for a cuppa?