Blast from the past: inside a retro holiday home on Skye

After the heating exploded, the Whytes decided to turn over a new leaf – or two – with retro décor in their Skye holiday let finds Nichola Hunter.

Number One Carbost didn’t set out to be a homage to the 50s, but if the shoe fits…Emma and Christopher Whyte bought their holiday home on Skye 15 years ago, but just a couple of years into their ownership the oil boiler blew up.

Picture: a boat outside the home, coolstays.com

“It hadn’t been in a bad state when we bought it, very beige and magnolia but in good repair,” Emma recalls.

“However, when the boiler blew we had to change several things and carry out a lot of redecoration.

"We rent in Oxford and own this and over the years we’ve just tinkered with the place whenever we’re here.”

Picture: the open plan dining and living area, coolstays.com

Whilst the property isn’t extensive, Emma and Christopher have found plenty of projects over the three levels.

On the ground floor there’s an entrance hall, lobby and a kitchen/living/dining area.

Picture: one of the bedrooms, coolstays.com

Upstairs there’s a bathroom and two bedrooms, and accessed through a former cupboard in one of the bedrooms is a hidden staircase to the attic which now serves as a movie room.

Picture: the attic move room, coolstays.com

A retro 50s theme is apparent in every room but it wasn’t something that the couple consciously set out to create. “The house was built in the 50s and I think that started it.

"There was a cupboard I found in the coal shed which we brought in after the boiler incident and I painted it, fitted new curtains and put it up in the kitchen and it just looked so right. It just evolved from there.

“Quite a few pieces are from our families which we’ve inherited along the way, and when we’re in Skye we always visit the charity shops and a fantastic curio shop which we’ve bought lots of things from.

"If a piece is damaged and it’s a veneer or similar I’ll replace it with découpage. I’ve found a technique that can transform wallpaper to an almost Formica finish.

"It’s finished off with vinyl polish and beeswax and it works really well.”

Picture: the wallpaper stair runner, Coolstays.com

This technique has worked brilliantly on the chest of drawers in the living room and the knitting pattern coffee table. However, one of Emma’s biggest achievements is the wallpaper stair runner.

Picture: the living room chest of drawers, coolstays.com

“I had toyed with the idea of wallpaper on the staircase but I thought it would only last a few weeks.

"I wanted to see what it looked like and it’s been amazing. I think I’ve changed it once, which again is quite fun to be able to do.

"It’s so simple. It’s just wallpaper I’ve glued down and then applied lots of layers of floor varnish.”

Picture: the living room has a wood burner, coolstays.com

Of course, with wallpaper being used as flooring the couple needed to find an alternative to put on the walls.

Picture: the living room, coolstays.com

“Christopher is the one for books and we’ve done a lot using books as wallpaper. If you get a book that’s got the right repeat, you get a sense of pattern and that’s what makes it work.

"It is a lot of effort as each page goes up individually, but on a Skye evening when the wood-burner is on, it’s a nice thing to do.

"The funny thing is, it did take Christopher a long time to say, ‘Let’s chop that book up.’ But I then realised that when they just sit on the shelves, you don’t pay much attention to them.

"If I find a really great book I’ll buy another copy so I can have the whole book displayed.

Picture: the first book wallpaper, coolstays.com

“We started with the wall at the bottom of the stairs where the clock is and it worked so well it prompted us to do more. Now we have book wallpaper in the bedroom, the dining area and the lobby.

“It’s a process which allows you to be very personal. Christopher knows a lot about birds and all the birds on the dining room wall are local ones.

Picture: a wall of comics, coolstays.com

"In the bedroom, the wallpaper has come from an encyclopedia of trees and it’s a great pattern.”

With books as wallpaper and wallpaper as flooring, it’s only another small step to make biscuit tins a work of art.

“I’m not sure who cut the back out of the biscuit tin, but I used one to hide a big ugly cooker switch on the kitchen wall and then we thought they were quite fun, so we added a few more.”

Picture: the kitchen and its biscuit tins, coolstays.com

The décor and accessories are not the only things that show off the couple’s creative flair and imagination.

Picture: Emma has sewed many of the curtains, coolstays.com

Emma is also a dab hand on the sewing machine. “The curtains came from the curio shop but they were a bit short so I added another fabric to the bottom, and as I really like making cushions, I made all of them myself.

"Until recently, I’ve been a full-time carer for our son, who has learning difficulties, but I could see this turning into my day job.”

Picture: retro details are everywhere in the home, coolstays.com

With these sort of talents, one would think a move to such a creative island could be in the offing?

“We’ve never lived here full time and we’re always dreaming and scheming about moving to Skye, but there always seems to be some impediment in the way.

Picture: the dining area, coolstays.com

"At the moment, it’s the children and their activities. Our nine-year-old is a promising footballer but I think the nearest team to Skye is one near Inverness, which isn’t very practical for us.

"However, we hope the house will be ours forever and it’s a legacy we’d like to pass on to our boys. It’s the only house we own and it’s our little treasure.”

Number One Carbost is available to let through CoolStays

Words Nichola HunterPhotographs Shell de Mar/coolstays.com