Alice and Michael Aitken’s Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh is a thoroughly grand affair

With two teenage children approaching university age, Alice and her husband Michael decided to relocate to Scotland so their children could study in the capital and they could retire in familiar surroundings.

With family in Edinburgh, Alice had one eye on the market and it wasn’t long before she’d spotted her dream home. “A property development company had bought this house and the one next door,” she says, “and then it had gone into administration. We saw the board up outside the house and chased it.”

Their house – a grand four-storey Georgian townhouse – and the neighbouring property had, in the 1960s, been owned by an accountancy firm and the development company had planned to convert them back to residential use. But the conversion was never started. Alice was faced with an empty shell.

“There was nothing – and I mean nothing – here,” she recalls. “There was no plumbing or electrical work done and there were only remnants of the original cornicing work.”

Despite the enormity of the task, it took just 18 months to complete the house. “We went to Buchanan McKeown Partnership, a property development consultancy, for help,” says Alice. The company helped with finding a workforce to do electrical and plumbing work, tiling, plastering and restoration of original features.

In the kitchen – the room with the biggest ‘wow’ factor – inspiration came from a simple light shade. Alice spotted the pendant at the Grand Designs live show. Created by designer Jay Watson, the Anemoi Luminaires lights are fashioned from five translucent Corian colours – Alice opted for Lime Ice. This unusual shade was all the motivation Alice needed: she knew she wanted a modern kitchen to juxtapose the traditional elements of the building’s fabric.

Stoneham Kitchens provided a bespoke solution. They devised a design and added quirky elements that married the intricacy of the pendant lights with a functional cooking space. From Stoneham’s Avant Garde collection, the Mode anthracite doors with black mirror detailing works beautifully with high-gloss Evolve. Long stainless steel handles and the slim form of the units elongate the space, drawing the eye from the light-soaked window to the striking zebra painting by Robina Yasmin.

Alice asked for the wall-mounted units to be made taller to compensate for the generous ceiling heights. “It still looked like doll’s house furniture,” she says. To stop the kitchen from feeling too vast, Alice used a Galerie wallpaper from its Eco Chic collection to pull the space together.

The dining room is a grand affair. “I wanted this room to be quite a traditional space,” says Alice. Ornate radiators sourced from Feature Radiators and reinstated dado rails hint at a bygone era, while contemporary highlights like the oversized chess pieces – a TK Maxx find – and striped accent wall adhere to Alice’s theme throughout, a playful blend of old and new.

The custom-carved marble fireplace was designed by Buchanan McKeown Partnership and came from China, while Alice found the wood-effect floor tiles on a buying trip to Portugal. “All of the tiles throughout the house were bought in Portugal and shipped here,” she says.

The hallway is perhaps the best illustration of Alice’s design vision. Here, the meld of kooky, youthful choices together with the austere elements of this home works in perfect harmony. Luckily, the banister was intact and brought back to life with a French polish and spray painted balustrades, but Alice was eager to inject some life into what is often a difficult space. A digitally printed cow mural by Rainbow Zoom is on one wall, while the wall-mounted Ligne Roset Louis 5D lights keep the look fresh. The wood-effect wallpaper in the vestibule – from Galerie’s Safari range – alludes to what once might have been a wood-panelled space but, with the quirky Habitat antler mirrors hanging over the interior door, Alice has her very own version of a modern-day hunting lodge.

The gentlemen’s club theme continues upstairs with a runner from Whitestone Weavers Tartan collection where a subtle heather tone is picked up in the French Camengo Mood wallpaper and delicately diffused light from the wall sconces.

The main drawing room upstairs is the family’s living room where they relax in the evening; a riot of hot pink and fleur de lys motifs that pay homage in a contemporary fashion to the city’s regal heritage. Alice even had a pair of bespoke velvet thrones made by Sofa Design. The opposite side of Laura Ashley fabric was used to really pack a punch and Edinburgh’s Blackmoon Lighting created a custom-made, oversized lightshade.

In the master bedroom, the custom-built dressing room and en suite make this a luxurious space: the ultra-modern bathroom from Victor Paris boasts a double vanity unit and cool suspended mirrors as well as a vast walk-in Duravit shower.

The upstairs cloakroom is a cute, glam powder room complete with crystal-encrusted floor tiles and a crystal crest on the high gloss black sink unit. “I wanted something fun and over the top, and I knew when I saw these tiles they were perfect.”

No corner of this generous home has been neglected and Alice can delight in the fact that she has created a warm family atmosphere in such a large property. “It’s been a learning curve, but I’ve loved doing a house on this scale. It’s been really great fun.”