1950s decor, ceramics and

HELEN

MONAGHAN and her husband Ian Hughes have an ongoing love affair with the 1950s.

So when their extensive mid-century ceramics and furniture collection outgrew their Victorian tenement flat in the centre of Edinburgh, they searched for an apartment that would better fit the bill.

And what better than a two-bed 1958 flat in Joppa?

Helen, 48, deputy head of education for the National Galleries of Scotland and Ian, 55, a self-employed painter and decorator, couldn’t resist and snapped it up the minute in came on to the market.

And the couple immediately set to transforming it.

Says Helen: “We thought our furniture would only appear truly comfortable in the right surroundings so we looked for a house or apartment built in the 1950s or 1960s.”

Their new home had an open-plan living/dining area, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and a balcony overlooking a private garden and was in need of updating.

“We wanted retro but a fresh, contemporary retro,” says Helen. So Ian began stripping and preparing the rooms ahead of tradesmen.

An electrician, replaced light fittings and sockets and put in new electric heaters, while a plumber replaced the bathroom and boiler.

Meanwhile Helen and Ian searched the internet for reclaimed parquet flooring to replace the carpet in the hall and living and dining rooms.

They found some which originally came from a 1960s school in Wrexham.

Carpenters stripped it of bitumen before fitting, sanding and varnishing it to stunning effect.

The pair had dreamed of a fitted kitchen in a classic 1950s design but were unable to find one. But, ever resourceful and inventive, they went for a basic carcass and commissioned a