This week it’s the five year anniversary of us moving into Netherbyres House. We pulled up outside one cold November morning in 2018, with the contents of our two bedroom flat and a very bemused Mrs Bojangles, wondering what on earth we’d let ourselves in for with this massive renovation project.
If you’ve followed our progress over the years, you’ll know that the house used to be a retirement home for gardeners (more on that in the history of the house blog), so to say it needed a bit of an update is an understatement.
It took us almost two years of hard graft, doing a lot of the work ourselves while still commuting to our full time jobs in Edinburgh. But all of the hard work paid off and we couldn’t be prouder of the results.
We’ve dug through the archives to find a few little hidden jems of how it looked before the transformation. Enjoy…
Before and after
The exterior hasn’t changed too dramatically, other than a lick of paint on the front door and railings, and a rework of the drive to include a new path and gazebo earlier this year.
The inside is another story…
Dining Room
Gone are the two tone green walls, polka dot green carpet and heavy drapes (which I actually quite liked, but they were past their best). We replaced them with teal velvet curtains, and the dark green on the walls matches beautifully with the green specs in the marble-effect ‘Deco Garbo’ wallpaper by Fardis which adornes the ceiling.
Oh and the table has quite the story to tell… it was created for a National Theatre production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Benedict if you’re reading this, you’re welcome to come and visit it any time.
Entrance
We wanted the entrance to be bold and inviting. Being south facing, it’s one of the best rooms for plants, and anyone that knows Mike knows he’s a tad obsessed with them. So we decided to theme the room around them, and what better wallpaper to pick than Cole and Son ‘Bluebell Botanical’. We complemented the gold tones of the wallpaper with Farrow and Ball Babouche walls and woodwork.
Lounge/Bar
The original corniced ceiling of the lounge is incredible and already had dusky pink detailing. So we used that as a basis for our colour palette. And as the Chandelier in the room felt very art deco, we decided to go for ‘Deco Martini’ wallpaper from the wonderful Divine Savages whose wallpaper features in a few rooms throughout the house. To complement the blue tones in the wallpaper, we picked Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue for both the walls and woodwork, and added more pops of bright colour in the velvet sofas and artworks.
Our bar was designed by the hugely talented team at JMDA, which looks like it was always meant to be situated in front of the large original mirror, features an incredible marble-effect Versital top, pink panelled front and brass shelving.
Grand Hall
We purposefully kept things a bit more neutral in the Grand Hall so our couples could pick whatever colour scheme they wanted for their flowers and decor. So we swapped the blue walls for light grey, and replaced the brown carpets with wooden floors and a marbled grey stair runner. Oh, and we added a gold disco ball, obviously.
Each year we choose a different artists to exhibit their pieces on the walls, our 2023 artist is Samantha McCubbin who’s pieces have proved to be super popular with our couples. Watch this space to find out who our 2024 artist will be!
Bedrooms
Each of our bedrooms was given its own unique style and eclectic design, a far cry from the magnolia that covered every wall previously.
Bathrooms
The botanical theme from the entrance continues along the corridor in the guest toilets, which was once the caretakers of the retirement home’s office.
We used green marbelled Versital tops, Mind the Gap Amazonia wallpaper, patterned floor tiles and an art deco inspired mirror. Brass light fittings and taps finish off the look.
As for the bedroom ensuites, they’ve probably had the most dramatic transformations. Just like the bedrooms, each one has its own individual style (and bold tile choice).
So here’s to the next five years, and all of the transformations to come.