Interiors: After inviting more light into their home, one young couple enlisted the help of a professional to make the most of their practical improvements

How then, as a young couple attracted to the area, do you put your stamp on a property that’s set to become your marital home?

Together with their interior designer, Joelle Reid, that was the challenge faced by 26-year-old Pamela McNab and Ben Cairns in 2009. Ben, a professional player with Edinburgh Rugby, and driving instructor Pamela, had fallen in love with a mid-terrace house in the area, and were eager to turn it into a home they could grow into.

With planning permission for an attic conversion in place they decided to begin work soon after they got the keys. “We were conscious of converting the attic before the planning permission ran out and while we were at it looked at other changes we could make,” says Pamela. These alterations included knocking down the wall between the kitchen and garden room, replacing it with a double-facing gas fire which now anchors the space. A kitchen from Kitchens International was also installed, which thanks to the addition of Pamela’s wine fridge, ensures that this open-plan room is now the social hub of the home.

On the first floor, an internal bathroom was removed to make way for the master bedroom’s walk-in wardrobe and en suite. The smallest bedroom at the rear of the house, meanwhile, became a light-filled family bathroom.

Light was an important element for the pair who, together with NGP architects and building firm D & F Contracts, added the den at the top of the house which comes complete with a large cupola which helps to give the room a spacious, airy feel. Access to this floor is now gained via a new staircase that swoops down to meet the old one on the first-floor landing. “One of the biggest appeals of the original staircase was the cupola at the top; this was replaced with a new three-pane version to match the one above the den,” explains Pamela. “We wanted a slight gap between the staircase and the wall so that the light could flow down below for the whole house to enjoy.”

With a large 3D TV, games consoles, a football table and beer fridge, this room is now the ideal place for Ben to relax post-training or to have friends round to watch sport throughout the year.

Once the major structural changes were in place, the pair then looked to Joelle to help complete the project. As a young interior designer with an eye for funky fabrics and patterns, Joelle has already transformed many Edinburgh hotspots including Rick’s and Tigerlily.

While colour is one of the unifying themes of this scheme, such is her confidence this hasn’t meant always opting for the loudest option. The hall is a prime example, where a neutral Farrow and Ball paint is offset by a pattern in a knocked-back hue courtesy of Zoffany. In the living room, meanwhile, the backbone is a simple, but striking stripe that provides the perfect foil to the blue florals elsewhere.

Punchier choices have been made in other rooms, however, with everything from Sanderson’s Squirrel & Dove reproduction print to bold bird motifs occupying the walls. Even in the bathroom – not normally a space for statement design – hot pink and turquoise mixes with aubergine and sage as a peacock-adorned wallpaper is displayed next to a bold striped blind.

“Pamela and Ben are not afraid of colour and the use of vibrant wall coverings and detailed embroidered fabrics ensures that their style is firmly stamped all over their house,” says Joelle. “The vibrant palette is largely made up from Designers Guild. Lorca fabrics (from Osborne & Little) also feature as the richness of their embroideries adds glamour and sophistication. Cole and Son wallpapers combined with Morton Young & Borland lace wall coverings worked up for Timorous Beasties give the ‘wow’ factor to the master suite.”

A colour-popping palette aside, Joelle was also keen to inject a sense of fun into many of the rooms with cute detailing. Even the couple’s pug Pomme has her own scatter cushion.

“It’s great to have clients who are brave and willing to put their trust in the designer,” says Joelle. “This gives the final design real impact instead of diluting it by going for the safer option.”

Joelle Reid Interior Design,