With over two billion home inspiration searches on Google, it’s clear that we love looking for fresh ideas for our homes.
That’s why every week we’re going through the keyhole of properties in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to find out all about your DIY journeys, getting hints and tips from the owners on everything from interiors and decor to furniture and upcycling.
This week, we go behind the scenes at Hollytree House in Inverurie.
Hollytree House
Who: Katie McRobbie, 26, who works as a personal assistant to the chief executive of the ANM group and her partner Alistair Thomson, 36, a mechanical technician, plus their Golden Retriever Macdui.
What: A three-bedroom granite semi-detached property.
Where: Hollytree House, Inverurie.
As told to Rosemary Lowne
“It was more out of nosiness than anything else when we arranged a viewing at this home. Located just across the road from my parents’ house in Inverurie, it had been on the market for four years so we were intrigued. It was such a shock when we first stepped inside as it was so much more impressive in real life than it was online. The photos didn’t do the original features and the high ceilings justice. From that moment, my heart was set on it – it just had a feel to it.
Ali and I got the keys in April 2021 and we’ve been renovating it ever since. Luckily we’ve had the luxury of being able to stay at my parents’ house while we work on the home. The house itself is 158 years old and judging by the decor, I don’t think it had been decorated since the 1960s, so it was a big project.
Our home has three bedrooms – a master bedroom and two spare rooms – a bathroom, shower room, kitchen/living area, utility room, living room and large garden. The house originally had four bedrooms but we changed what was a family room/bedroom and bathroom into a kitchen/living area. This is my favourite space and is set to become the heart of the home.
For the interiors, I went for the colours of nature: neutrals, greens and blues throughout. We live across the road from the river, it’s a beautiful location so it’s nice to reflect that in the house. Using the colours of nature was actually a tip I picked up from Annie Mo’s, the furniture shop in Aberdeen where I bought my kitchen table. Farrow & Ball have some lovely nature-themed colours including a colour called Old White which despite the name has a green tone to it.
With the furniture we’ve shopped both locally and online. We got our kitchen from Ashley Ann Aberdeen in Bridge of Don. The units are an off-white, porcelain colour and we opted for an oak worktop and there’s a big mantle above the hob with a piece of oak. I’ve upcycled some kitchen chairs I got from a family member by just painting them. We’ve also been looking at beds from a company called Loaf which has a shop in Edinburgh.
In the garden we’ve got two little cute outbuildings, I think they are the original washrooms so we’ve painted them white and green and that’ll be Ali’s shed. We’ve got quite a long garden out the back so we’ll need to think about what we’ll put there. There’s also a big old holly tree at the side which inspired our house name.
Our list is quite long with regards to what we still have to do. I’m not good with patience, especially now that we’re coming closer to the end and we just want to be finished. Hopefully we can get into the property for Christmas so I can put fairy lights everywhere.
My advice for anyone renovating would be to take each bit as it comes and focus on the job you’re doing that day. Do it right and do it once.”
See more of Katie’s home on Instagram @hollytree_house
If you would like to share your property journey, email features@eveningexpress.co.uk