We take a peek inside the beautiful home of local candle maker Jo Macfarlane, who lives in Anstruther.

Jo Macfarlane’s home, tucked away in the heart of Anstruther, makes a calm and welcoming haven on a September morning, writes Nora McElhone

Fresh from a triathlon the previous day, the East Neuk-born candle maker gives me the tour of her beautiful home and tells the tale of how she came to live in the quirky early 20th Century villa. When she and her husband Stuart first visited the house in 2012, they weren’t seriously considering a move.

“I saw the house on the internet and was so intrigued that we made the appointment to see it the next day,” she explains. “We got there, I stood in the front garden and saw the mosaic tiles in the porch and when the owners asked if we would do a house swap and I just said yes.”

When Jo, her physiotherapist husband and son Archie moved in, the property was actually in the form of two flats. It had been divided up by a brother and sister, with the original staircase removed and separate entrances created.

This layout had also been used by the most recent owners but Jo and Stuart were keen to return the beautiful building to a family home. It was a monumental undertaking.

“Literally, everything had to be replastered,” says Jo. Unfortunately, all the original fireplaces were gone and had been replaced with electric fires but the stunning ceiling cornicing (and of course those mosaic tiles) has survived and makes an impressive statement in the entrance hall, formal dining room and living room, which also has a welcoming woodburner where the original fire would have been.

Rather than curtains, Jo has plumped for wooden shutters on the windows throughout the house, adding to the overall impression of clean, uncluttered lines.

The existing kitchen was more of a scullery by the back door so they transformed a downstairs bedroom into a new kitchen, a job which was actually one of the least challenging aspects of the renovation. “It was like a blank canvas,” says Jo, pictured, “and it wasn’t difficult to introduce the plumbing. The units were sourced at Homebase and the range-style cooker was second hand. I like to find things that are good value but look really high end.”

The old scullery is now a little reading nook, with chickens clucking at the French windows and opens to the staircase which led to the upstairs flat.

This part of the property had a separate entrance and porch at the back of the house, which have all been restyled or removed by the new owners. The garden has also been transformed from a plant-free zone to a welcoming green space.

As you might imagine from the home of someone who spends her time designing and hand-pouring candles, the house is full of beautiful touches. Her own luxury-scented creations adorn side tables and personal touches such as strings of shells echo the seaside location while carefully chosen photo frames and pieces of art abound.

Her love for art is clear – she paints herself – and many of the paintings on the walls feature local artists and views of the East Neuk.

One of the rooms that needed a lot of work was the downstairs bathroom. “It was covered in old woodwork and painted with turquoise, black and white boat paint,” recalls Jo.

This was one of the rooms that had the couple questioning the sanity of investing their time and energy in such an ancient property.

Upstairs, an old burgundy bathroom presented similar challenges and the rooms, with their beautifully chosen sanitaryware and muted colours, make it hard to imagine the journey they have been through.

Jo does remember some pretty interesting incidents, though: “Stuart started into a job one Easter Sunday and kept saying, ‘I’ll just do a bit more.’ Suddenly I heard a shout and came in to discover that he had gone through a mains water pipe. He was standing there trying to hold all the water in with his hands.”

Part of the charm and challenge of inheriting an old property is the surprises it can reveal. In one upstairs bedroom, Jo points out that they uncovered seven layers of flooring and removed wallpaper and a layer of plywood from the walls. The renovation is an ongoing process and with Jo a self-professed “putterer” – “I love to move bits of furniture around and hate to throw anything away,” you get the sense that her home will always be evolving.

In the new downstairs media room which Jo used to use as an office, she has found a new home for some chairs from Stuart’s clinic, which she will have recovered using an online service recommended by a friend.

Jo describes her style as neutral. “I love natural wood, slate and natural colours and I am a bit obsessed with Farrow & Ball paint,” she admits.

“When I redecorated the media room I used darker shades on the woodwork and doors and that is something that I would eventually like to echo in the other rooms.”

You won’t find loud colours or busy prints in her property but you will find the carefully chosen soft furnishings and quirky touches that truly make a house a home.

A former air hostess, Jo remembers having curtains for her old house made in India and she still loves to pick up tips and interiors and lifestyle magazines from all over the world when she travels.

Now, her career has taken a different turn and she runs a successful luxury candle company which started out at the kitchen table.

She also ran candle-making workshops from home but has now moved the business to a dedicated workshop by the shore in Anstruther, where she fulfils orders and enthusiasts can come to learn the secrets of making hand-poured soy candles for themselves.

Another passion which started out as a hobby was visiting auctions to source second hand and antique furniture to restore and hand paint. Again, some of her lovingly resurrected pieces can be found in her home. “I love going to the auctions and bidding on things,” she says.

She sold the pieces on for a while but finds it harder to find the time to invest in sourcing and restoring furniture now that her candle business is doing so well.

For Jo, reusing and restoring items is an important part of her commitment to minimising her family’s impact on the environment.

Her candle business was born when she wanted to refill come candle vessels of her own but was horrified to find that so many of the products available contained palm or crude oil.

At home, she has recently embarked on a no plastics challenge and I get the impression that – as with her house renovation – candle making and triathlons, she will embrace it to the full.

For more information visit jomacfarlane.com