Interiors: With imagination and a little help, Yvonne McLellan made her family's former hotel a style destination

The easiest and probably most profitable route would have been to sell The Dean Hotel. However, having run the hotel, located in Edinburgh's West End, when she was 19 years old and later inheriting it from her father, Yvonne McLellan had other ideas. The property at 10 Clarendon Crescent has been in the McLellan family for more than 30 years and to walk away from that sort of history just wasn't an option, she says.

• Image courtesy of James Crawford photography

"My dad bought the property while he was in hospital recovering from a heart attack and quickly found being a hotelier wasn't his cup of tea. I got involved when I was 19 and ended up living in the basement on my own while running the hotel above. When my dad died and left the hotel to me, it was in a pretty run-down state and I didn't know what to do with it." The property remained empty while life moved on for Yvonne.

The three- storey and basement property was too large and expensive to turn into a family home, although by the time she was considering what to do with it she was married to Billy with three children and a grandson who lives with them. At least she knew that she didn't want to sell.

"The property needed everything, including a new roof, and it had to be paid for. We'd run a hotel and a guest house before, but we were all too aware that these are 24/7 jobs, so we thought about serviced apartments."

The first thing the couple did was to turn the ground floor and basement into proper living accommodation for the family. They moved in four days before Christmas last year, then started the monumental task of renovating upstairs.

"The journey from conception to completion was the hardest thing I've done in my life," Yvonne recalls. Although bedrooms and bathrooms were already on these floors from the property's hotel days, the couple's vision was to create four studio apartments and an attic suite, which meant extensive building work was required. They also wanted to retain the original Georgian features, so instead of erecting walls which would damage the beautiful cornicing and ceiling roses, they created three- quarter height divisions, which contain the bedroom areas while keeping the living areas separate.

The process dragged on longer than it should have, but eventually the apartments took shape and Yvonne realised that all that she needed to do was add the finishing touches. "I had an idea of the look I wanted, but I kept putting off actually ordering anything. The Edinburgh Festival was looming and the apartments still weren't finished, so I asked Alison Vance at Jeffreys Interiors if she could help. She'd done some work in the basement for us and we had got on really well, so I contacted her again."

Alison was happy to get on board the project. While Yvonne sourced the kitchens, lighting and larger pieces of furniture from local suppliers, Alison came up with an idea that provided the unique impact that Yvonne had been looking for. "I was in Jeffreys perusing sample books and as I was leaving I saw this 'wall art'. I actually thought it was pretty horrific and said so, but although I didn't like the particular photograph I appreciated the effect and scale. Alison showed me another mural which was of the Holyrood Gates, which I really liked and she suggested that we could use it in the bedrooms and the gate would appear to be the headboard. I thought the impact would be fabulous, but I didn't want the same thing in every room."

As Yvonne wanted the apartments to reflect their New Town location, she asked if it was possible to create a St Bernard's Well mural. Karenga Wall Art was happy to oblige and also supplied black and white art prints which now adorn the walls of the apartments.

With the wow factor taken care of, Alison and her team turned their attention to the colour scheme. Given the neutral backdrop, splashes of strong colour were required. Small pieces of monochrome lacquer furniture were added and hot limes and pinks were used in cushions and towels from Designers Guild at Jeffreys. Taking practicality into account, the Designers Guild silk quilted covers are reversible, offering an easy way to achieve a different look. "The look has evolved - it's kept its clean lines with the oak flooring, white pointing and the plain voile at the windows, which works really well with the working shutters, but Alison has added the intricate details. She picked the curtain rails and finials, which are aspects I would have overlooked. The black lacquered furniture I would have chosen, but I wouldn't have considered the white - but again, it works. The colour schemes are great but the wall art is the thing that has achieved the impact I wanted. I'm really pleased with the result and I'm very, very critical."

The proof is in whether the property has been popular with visitors, however, and since 10 Clarendon Crescent has opened it's been fully booked. Yvonne says, "I didn't even get a chance to show friends round. It's been a long, stressful journey - we were doing this during the credit crunch, which wasn't easy, but hopefully this property will stay in our family for a long time to come."

• This article was first published in The Scotsman on September 25, 2010

To make a booking at 10 Clarendon Crescent visit: www.edinburghnewtownapartments.com, tel: [phone].

"The wall art is the thing that has achieved the impact I wanted"