Lynn O’Rourke: ‘What I need is all the old stuff to declutter itself’

After YET another round of fruitless searching for a number of vitally important things that had apparently been swallowed without trace by the groaning makeshift shelving under the staircase in our extension, we have finally decided to replace it.

And rather than drum up another half-baked solution ourselves, we are going to have something made that will actually fit the awkward space and provide a solution to some of our storage issues.

It should be done in the next few weeks, although we may not have the chance to appreciate the results for a while because the shelves are situated in the coldest room in the house and I still haven’t managed to get someone round about that extra radiator that I know we need in there.

Once the new shelves are in, all I will need is for all the stuff that had been dumped on the old ones to miraculously declutter itself, leaving only lovely things on display. Preferably like the shelves in the episode of Grand Designs I pinched the idea from in the first place. Oh, I forgot for a minute that we have children. Instead of ‘lovely’ read anything non-crayoned on, stickered, or chipped, which, now that I think about it, will actually make for a pretty minimalist look.

This week we take a look at a stunning terraced home in Edinburgh’s Trinity that has been completely reworked in three phases. Previously two flats, owners Peter McCallum and Bernadette Boyle have reinstated the property as one house, and the finish is nothing short of fabulous. See for yourself on page 4. We find out why Harris Tweed creative director Mark Hogarth gave up living in exotic climes for his Dennistoun abode on page 10. And on page 14, we take a look at Brian and Doreen Davidson’s beautifully restored former farm buildings near Glasgow. k