Last April, when it was cold and rainy, Lauree Stephens spent all month painting a beautiful landscape mural on one of her bathroom’s walls.
It features trees, dappled clouds, and water, and is a triumph.
That must be one of the many reasons that her detached Georgian home, which the production team have aptly dubbed Handpainted House, has made the cut of Scotland’s Home of the Year. It’ll be appearing on BBC Scotland on Monday April 13, as part of episode two, Highlands and Islands, and is going up against a former fisherman’s cottage, The Crow’s Nest, in Avoch and a contemporary blackhouse, The Black Shed, on the Isle of Skye.
It’s up to Anna Campbell-Jones, Banjo Beale and Danny Campbell to decide which property will make it to the grand final at Glasgow’s House for an Art Lover.
Stephens is “very nervous” about her appearance on the show, and she has a favourite judge who she hopes to impress.
“I met Anna Campbell-Jones at a Scottish Highlands mingle. She was just so lovely and elegant. I haven't met Banjo, but obviously I followed him for longer because I watched him when he was doing another interior design show,” she says. “Anna is the only one I've met, so I guess she has to be my favourite, but that's not to say that the other two wouldn't be my favourites too”.
Very diplomatic.
Along with her husband Robin, and kids, Tristan and Audrey, Lauree has lived in her Appin house, which dates back to the 1750s and was originally built for the Campbells of Barcaldine, for just two years.
“This is the most beautiful place we've ever lived, and the community here is just so lovely,” she says.”There’s always something going on, and we didn't really get that feeling when we were in London. People are really genuinely happy to help out and that's something we really love. Our kids got involved, and my husband became a scout leader. It made it feel like home”.
However, when the family first moved in, it was all very beige inside the property. They’ve added lots of gentle and soothing colour to suit their “neurodivergent family”.
“All the colours have an autumn feel, so there are warm greens, reds and golds,” she says. “When it’s sunny outside this house, it's so full of light, but when it is cloudy, it's very dark, so I still wanted it to feel warm and cosy. It’s amazing what some paint can do”.
The only bold hue they inherited from the last owners is a lovely claret red in the dining room. Is this formal space well used?
“We eat all of our meals there - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Otherwise, we tend to eat in the kitchen. But when the house is full of people, that room is always full,” she says.
Although Lauree is the one who takes charge of the interior decor, she always asks her family their opinion. “Sometimes it might be after the fact,” she admits.
Her two kids got to take charge of their own bedrooms.
“I let them do what they want so that they feel they have ownership over their own spaces,” she says. “My daughter went for a light blue. Her bedroom looks out over onto a little burn and she wanted it to feel like a forest, so we kind of made her room like that. My son is very into Lego and he's asked for lots of shelves, so he wasn't concerned with the colours”.
Since the judges visited the house, Stephens has made a few additional tweaks.
“I've since painted the main living room a lovely deep blue, and it makes the mantle pop and everything. I really wish it had been done like that beforehand,” she says. “But, a house like this needs constant upkeep, so things will always be changing. I also stripped the bookcases back to the original finish, and I wish they had seen that as well”.
In common with many of the contestants on Scotland’s Home of the Year, Stephens, who described her country house style as “elegantly knackered”, does everything on a budget.
Her paint is from Homebase, rather than Farrow & Ball, and they inherited some of the furniture, including sofas, from the last owner. Other pieces have been added organically.
“I think our style has always kind of been old and vintage. We've just collected things over the years. Our go-to when we buy furniture is to try secondhand shops first, but that's not to say we don't have an Ikea chair sitting next to an antique cabinet,” Stephens says. “The best antique shop in Oban is actually the tip. Lots of people don’t like the older furniture, so when there are house clearances, there’s a lot to choose from”.
The pieces that Stephens has chosen work perfectly and suit the period of this elegant home, which, she says, is “slightly higgledy-piggledy” as it was extended in the Nineteenth century. However, in every room, including the hallways, you can find somewhere to sit and enjoy the space.
“I'm always interested to see how other people are living in an old home,” she says. “I don't want it to feel like a museum, but I want it to be comfortable”.
Scotland’s Home of the Year, Ep2/7, Highlands & Islands is on Monday April 13, BBC iPlayer and BBC One Scotland, 8.30-9.00pm, and Wednesday April 15, BBC Scotland, 8.00-8.30pm
Read more: “Look inside chic Art Deco property appearing on Scotland's Home of the Year as tribute to owner's late wife”
