Before Dave Kay and Tokes Sharif started renting this three-bedroom apartment in Edinburgh 12 years ago, it had a been a student flat and had the decor to match: all peeling magnolia walls and cigarette-burn carpets.
‘I still loved it,’ says Tokes. ‘It had – and still has – so much character: high ceilings and original fireplaces, and also its own front door and a small garden.’ When the opportunity to buy came up, the couple leapt at the chance.
Owning the flat has given them free rein to fully transform the space with bold, confident schemes – think a deep blue colour-drenched living room and a bedroom clad in dark green panelling. These aren’t choices for the faint of heart but then Tokes, a ceramicist, clearly has an eye for colour and form. ‘Tokes is the creative mastermind here. With his artistic background he is able to easily visualise a design,’ says Dave.
When Dave and Tokes were still renting the flat, they painted the walls and ceilings in a colour that did justice to the cornices (opting for feature walls that could easily be painted over should they decide to move out), pulled up carpets to discover original wooden floorboards and slowly but surely restored it to its former glory.
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‘Once we started decorating, we fell in love with the place,’ says Dave. Having lived there for so long, they had a good understanding of what works and what doesn’t, gaining insight into their own aesthetic along the way. ‘We champion slow decorating,’ says Tokes.
Once the property was theirs, they were able to go all out on colour. ‘We wanted to use bold colours in unconventional ways to create atmosphere in each of the rooms,’ says Tokes. Their bravest move was painting the living room – from the ceiling to the floorboards – with Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue.
‘It was a little daunting initially,’ says Tokes. ‘But I’ve always had the mantra that nothing is permanent and in the worst case we can redo things. Painting the ceiling cornice took a lifetime. Next time we’d probably invest in some sort of spray system to speed up the process.
We were inspired by interiors on our travels around Morocco, where this kind of blue creates such an intimate and cosy space. We love how the shade changes during the course of the day and how the space feels at night with ambient soft lighting and lots of candles.’
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In the green bedroom – one of two bedrooms they rent out through Airbnb – Dave and Tokes were inspired by the Victorian heritage of the building. ‘Unlike the rest of the flat, this room lacked character, so we decided to fit tongue-and-groove panelling to provide a focal point,’ says Tokes.
To create warmth, and echo the colours from the garden the room overlooks, they paired two shades of green: Farrow & Ball’s Breakfast Room Green for the walls and Green Smoke on the panelling and woodwork. Artworks and accessories were brought back from their travels around Myanmar.
are fruit catchers. - Ivar Janssen -
While they love bringing intriguing pieces back from overseas trips (whether that’s a Moroccan tile or Indonesian canoe paddle), they also like shopping closer to home. Even when hiking in the Highlands, they’ll stop off at antiques shops. ‘You can find some really good pieces there, and prices are cheaper than in the city,’ says Dave.
Since owning the property, they have tackled a room per year, taking their time to let things gradually evolve. ‘We want to stay true to the property, to do it justice,’ says Dave. And this they have indeed done: each room is warm, inviting and full of character.
Find out more about the house @bruntonbothy