The finest homes in Scotland

Jane Adams puts her imprimatur on a design service run from her family home

■ Kirsty Mcluckie on our emotional attachments to unsuitable properties

■ Author Interiors’ Jane Adams on running a design business from home

■ PLUS Our prestige property – a stunning mill conversion in Crieff

Author Interiors tells its own story in style

Most people who work from home face challenges balancing their career obligations with the demands of family life, but interior designer Jane Adams’ base in her home in Farnell, by Brechin, requires more than just a designated office space.

She explains: “We are based in the glamorous attic, and we have popups within the space in the rest of the house. So at Christmas time we hold events, and private clients will be brought here as we use it as a show space too.”

And visitors to her design service and e-commerce retail business, Author Interiors, find it a useful exercise. Jane says: “There are various pieces from all sorts of different suppliers and it really helps people to see them in a home environment.”

She admits: “I do have to keep the house to a certain standard, which can be challenging as it has lots of people – and animals – living in it, but it does allow people an insight into how you can have really special things and enjoy them without being overly-precious, and I think that is the key to my design.

Jane came to interior design via an unusual route. “I studied dentistry at undergrad level and worked for seven years in the community, in general practice and in hospital. I realised that it wasn’t for me, but I did enjoy caring for people.”

It was while working at the Western General in Edinburgh in the late ’90s that Jane began to indulge her passion for design and reached out to property contacts. At the time, many New Town buildings, which had been used as offices for decades, were being converted back to private homes.

She says: “I bought a small basement flat, gutted it and then started working for developers in Edinburgh, before going to London and doing the same thing – working with architects, developers and clients. All the time, I am learning as I go. Although I have no formal training I do have decades of experience.”

Jane splits her time between private clients, her online shop and commercial interior work. One of Author Interiors’ recent projects was redeveloping an evangelical church in Dundee, for her husband to use as an orthodontic clinic, and the firm is also working on a farm shop near Inverness and a Holiday Inn Express.

The majority of the work, however, is residential with private one-to-one clients asking for Jane’s help with anything from redecorating one room to reimagining a whole house.

Author started as an online shop in 2017 and it showcases beautiful British-made pieces – all designed and manufactured in the UK. Jane says: “All are luxury items – which doesn’t necessarily mean expensive – they are very unusual and have been created with lots of love and attention by artisans and makers in all sorts of different fields. Some will be from famous companies, such as Cole & Son, and others will be just a one person creative, but we are trying to give a story with each piece, so the buyer understands the intrinsic value in the production process, and the skill used to create it.

“Customers like the fact we are curating and editing down for them. We want redesigning interior space to be an enjoyable experience.”

“We are trying to give a story with each piece, so the buyer understands the intrinsic value in the production process, and the skill

used to create it”

Main: a living room set up using items from Author Interiors’ Woolf Collection. Top left, the firm’s Winston Collection. Right, Jane Adams and items from the

Bronte Collection