Anna Campbell-Jones has invited heart, humour and a host of colour into this stunning Victorian home
There’s a moment when friends come to stay at Kirsty Mac and her partner Billy’s house where they realise there’s a subversive surprise lurking in the elegant orchid-patterned wallpaper of the guest bedroom. If they look hard enough, that is. “We found this wallpaper in Timorous Beasties and really liked it because it had quite a sultry, boudoir feel that reminded us of Prestonfield House in Edinburgh, one of our favourite hotels,” recalls Kirsty, a motivational coach.
“Just as we were buying it, the woman in the shop said, ‘I just want you to know that there’s a threesome in the design of that wallpaper.’ I told Anna about it and she said, ‘Great. I can work with that.’”
The Anna she is referring to is Anna Campbell-Jones, the wildly talented interior designer (and founder of Habitus Design), broadcaster and all-round style maven. She first came to Kirsty and Billy’s attention when they saw her on TV in her role as a judge on Scotland’s Home of the Year.
The couple had just bought a three-bedroom duplex conversion within a B-listed Victorian townhouse in the west end of Glasgow, formerly owned by the figurative sculptor Andy Scott.
A treasure trove of intricately carved fire surrounds, wedding-cake cornicing and ornate wall panels, it possessed a striking beauty – but the décor and neutral palette didn’t chime with their quirkier leanings.
In Anna, they knew they had found someone who could fuse character with place. “And I was lured in by their pretty plasterwork and delightful personalities,” laughs the interior designer. Billy jokes that Kirsty’s favourite colour “is colour”, so it’s surprising to learn they flirted with the idea of painting their lounge in Farrow & Ball’s Railings, a deep, gothic charcoal.
Kirsty was also tempted by the sugared-almond pink of Peignoir. “But then we were looking at the plasterwork, the filigree and the Lincrusta frieze, and it just felt like the decoration on a Wedgwood vase,” says Anna. So naturally, the room had to be blue. More to skirtings in a powdery almost-teal. “I knew early on that whatever colour we went for would be on absolutely everything,” says Anna.
“I described it as putting a bomb inside a tin of paint. It helps to enhance all the details and bring them all up to the same level, because even the wainscoting in here has twiddly bits.”
The lounge has vast walls, a soaring ceiling and generous bay windows, affording plenty of space for a few statement pieces that complement, rather than compete with, each other.
Sweeping the floor is Wendy Morrison’s Floral Waves rug, a whimsical handknotted design layered with waves, flowers and exotic birds.
Directly above is the only ceiling light with the diva-like presence to turn heads in a room like this. Achille Castiglioni’s Taraxacum 88 Suspension 1, a geometric aluminium pendant encircled by 120 lightbulbs (“This is the bigger of the two sizes it comes in,” smiles Anna, “big, and f***ing big!”), is the kind of big light you actually want to switch on.
It throws a generous glow on the talking-point fabrics: Osborne & Little ombré damask curtains (fastened by fabulous handmade Duchesse tiebacks by Houlès Paris that resemble a stack of silky, tassel-fringed macarons), sherbet-hued cushions and a zippy coral couch. It’s an energising, eclectic combination. And it works.
Gloriously kitsch details pop up throughout the home; small reminders that even though the interior architecture means serious business, there’s always room for a sly wink and a sense of humour.
Seletti’s irreverent Toiletpaper barstools propped up at the kitchen island. A boob-shaped mirror in the pink guest bathroom, also Seletti (“They do a penis one too but I felt that would be a step too far,” laughs Kirsty).
Billy Connolly’s Yo-Yo Man hanging above a glamorous chaise longue. These choices offer a glimpse of the owners’ playful, tongue-in-cheek sensibilities. “Your home is kind of like your autobiography; it’s showing people who you are,” says Anna. “So the more honest and open you are, the more generous you are. It’s not about showing off, but about welcoming people into your heart.”
This is an excerpt from a feature in issue 156 of Homes & Interiors Scotland magazine. Pick up your own copy to read the feature in its entirety.
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