LIVING QUARTERS

Jo and Roger Green found this dilapidated farmhouse in the perfect Scottish coastal location and transformed it into a stylish family home

A coastal farmhouse transformed

WHO LIVES HERE

Jo Green had almost given up on her dream of finding and renovating an old farm building to create a perfect home with her husband, Roger, and their sons, Jake and Zac. After months of searching, a property finder finally alerted her to a possible solution. ‘It was just what we were looking for,’ says Jo, ‘an absolute gem in a great location, a coastal village in East Lothian.’ Jo’s project for two years was the design, planning, build supervising and interior design. ‘There is nothing I would change about this house,’ she says. ‘I put so much thought into it and it became an all-consuming project. This house ticks every box for me. For the first time, I feel that I never want to move again!’

SEA OF CALM

Jo created a calm coastal feel with advice from Catherine Goldsmith of Arcadia Interiors. The drawing-room walls are painted in Skimming Stone by Farrow & Ball, with Elephant’s Breath on the woodwork. Seaside blues are woven into the scheme with tonal sofas, and the overmantel seascape painting by Erni Upton from the Greens & Blues Gallery.

HEART OF THE HOME

The kitchen was once a cantilevered cattle barn and Jo re-created the original beam, but the ancient stonework had to be rebuilt. The beams were painted in watered-down brilliant white and then painstakingly sanded by hand to give the coastal whitewashed look. The units were handmade locally by Christopher Howard, with oak worktops and a quartz island. The galvanised wall lighting is from Garden Trading and the island pendant lights are from Cox & Cox.

CASUAL DINING

The dining area extends from the kitchen. The dresser is a family piece, painted by Jo’s father in Annie Sloan Paris Grey. ‘The limestone floor runs throughout the house and out to the garden. ‘We chose it because it is extremely hard wearing – the boys and their friends even skateboard on it!’

GLASS HOUSE

‘This is my favourite part of the house. You feel like you are sitting out in the garden,’ says Jo of the glass sitting area beyond the dining space. Jo found the rattan chairs at a local recycling centre and painted them in Annie Sloan Paris Grey and dyed the cushions to blend in. She made the coffee table by putting castors on to a pallet left by the builders.

MAKE A STAND

The milk churn was found buried in the garden and then painted by Jo and used as an umbrella stand. The lamp base is from The White Company and the shade was handmade by Jo. The wall sconces and mirror are both from Oka. The table was found at a local reclamation yard.

GRAND DESIGNS

One of the four barns now forms the main entrance hall and the central core of the house. The round hanging chair is from Amazonas. The large coral pendant light is by David Trubridge through Lally Walford Interiors and was a labour of love: ‘The light arrived in a very small box and was then assembled by Roger in the house we were renting during the build, but then it wouldn’t fit through the doors and it had to be unassembled for the journey to its new destination!’ The rug was passed down from Roger’s grandparents and the cushions and throws are from Time & Tide.

SOFT TONES

The main bedroom suite is filled with light from three original arches and consists of bedroom, dressing room and bathroom with a bath and shower. Jo chose muted, restful colours with advice from Arcadia Interiors. The walls are painted using Old White and the woodwork in Light Gray, both by Farrow & Ball. The half-moon side tables were upcycled and painted in Annie Sloan Country Grey. The headboard and curtains are from Catherine Goldsmith at Arcadia Interiors. Jo blends old and new with a chaise longue she inherited from her grandmother, updated with accessories from TK Maxx.

BATHROOM BLISS

This cleverly designed bathroom houses a shower cubicle and loo behind the wall. The bath is a Clearwater Teardrop from North Berwick Bathroom & Tile Company, from where they also sourced the radiators. The mirror previously sat above the fireplace in the farmhouse they owned before, but Jo felt that it worked perfectly above the bath. The chair is from Jo’s grandmother.