Interiors: With an expansive Edinburgh townhouse to renovate, Louise Koch-Leonard wasn’t afraid to be bold

She embraced the process when creating the boutique hotel, Number Ten, in Gloucester Place, which occupied two townhouses and required extensive refurbishment to become one of the most luxurious hotels in the city (Louise sold the business in 2011).

When looking for a house for herself, Louise was just as excited when she viewed this Georgian townhouse at number 7 Albyn Place two years ago. “When I came here, I loved it,” she says. And it isn’t a stretch to appreciate why. This handsome Doric column-fronted townhouse dates from circa 1822 and was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham. The accommodation is spread over five floors, stretching to more than 8,000 sq/ft of living space, with eight private parking spaces to the rear.

Prior to Louise’s arrival, the townhouse had been the offices of a property investment company, which had already carried out work to the fabric of the building. Fundamentally, Louise knew the building was sound, it simply wasn’t a home.

Her years of experience in the hotel business meant she had a head start when it came to contacts. The architect was David Bell of Fouin + Bell Architects, while the interior designer was Lesley Wallace of Cupar-based Wallace Interiors. Louise and Lesley worked closely throughout every step of the process, and Louise was happy to give Lesley free rein when it came to sourcing products, from the dramatic lighting to the opulently detailed mirrors. “It comes with trust,” she says. “Lesley would say, ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to work’, and that was fine.”

As soon as you arrive at number 7, it is clear the interior is going to be jaw-dropping. As Louise says: “I’ve always been bold,” and this impeccably-styled townhouse reflects her confident eye. In creating this interior from scratch, Louise was never inclined to play it safe. The bedrooms are decked out in bold prints from Osborne & Little, played against a warm palette of hues from Farrow & Ball elsewhere.

Every room here has a statement to make, from the bow-ended sitting room on the ground floor where the walls were first panelled and then clad in raspberry-hued velvet (Osborne & Little again), to the south-facing drawing room above, which extends the full width of the house with three, almost floor-length, windows framed in working shutters. Tall double doors open from this room into the adjoining dining room, which, although north facing, is drenched in light thanks to wide bay window, and this room in turn leads into a beautiful bow-ended study.

The ornate cornicework and plaster detailing in the drawing and dining rooms is picked out in gold paint, which offsets the palette of warm stone, coffee and chocolate tones. “This is the palette I used in the hotel and everyone thought it was lovely,” Louise says. “I’ve learnt through that experience that colour and lighting are very important.”

The black accents are repeated in the furniture in the dining room which, like the drawing room, reflects Louise’s eye for symmetry. The fireplace in the latter is framed by a pair of French-style four-drawer chests while the one in the dining room is framed by mirror-fronted black dressers. There were no ceiling light fittings when Louise moved in, so she added the chandeliers because of the high ceilings and grand aesthetic.

Louise acknowledges that the design process took time. “There was a lot of trial and error and going away and thinking about it and then thinking about it again,” she says. Ideas were gleaned from magazines as well as boutique hotels visited over the years, and Louise always has her eyes peeled for inspiration. The gold detailing was inspired by the gold-infused palette of the Dior J’Adore ad starring Charlize Theron. Similarly, the striking pink velvet walls in the sitting room were inspired by a window display in the Ralph Lauren store in London. “You can only ever tell if something works when it is done,” she says.

Many pieces of furniture are bespoke, from the Duresta sofas to the super-scaled dining table, which was assembled on-site. Spaces evolved: after the sofas arrived in the drawing room, Louise felt the space needed something extra, and had the walls panelled with button-back velvet inserts using fabric by Andrew Martin. The kitchen was also handmade, and the intricacy of the cornice detailing at the top of the units echoes the plasterwork above. This house is primed for entertaining, and this is a serious kitchen, from the giant island with its professional-looking range cooker to the industrial-style stainless steel fridge and freezer.

When you consider that this house has seven bedrooms and seven bath or shower rooms, Louise and Lesley had a lot of sourcing to do. These spaces are no less striking than the reception rooms, from the vast proportions and glamorous styling of the master bedroom, to the en-suite for bedroom two, at the rear of the second floor, where the freestanding claw-foot bath positioned by the window takes in the view towards the Forth. Osborne & Little’s golden-striped wallpaper was hung horizontally, adding impact to this bow-ended room.

The main accommodation is arranged over the ground, first, second and third floors, while the lower ground level was created from scratch as a self-contained two-bedroom flat. Louise didn’t skimp here: there is bespoke walnut cabinetry in the kitchen and another sprinkling of chandeliers. There is even an original safe – a reinforced room - that Louise retained. As she says, it’s part of the building’s history – and removing it would be quite a task.

When asked about her favourite space in the house, Louise chooses the sitting room. “It’s beautiful at night,” she says, when the dimmed lighting casting a warm glow over the velvety pink walls.

Louise is only moving as her work is now based between London and Austria, where she originates. “If I could have this house somewhere else I would,” she says. “I come back to Edinburgh because of the house, and every time I come here, I feel at home.”