Lynn O’Rourke: ‘As it had built up over time, we got used to it’

I FINALLY got round to moving the bags of my daughters’ outgrown clothes that have been multiplying at the top of our stairs for what feels like years now.

This small carrier bag-strewn space was also providing a temporary home to a drawer unit that had been in youngest daughter’s bedroom, but which had to be moved due to lack of space once she got her big sister’s bed. There was also a bedside cabinet lurking there that hadn’t make the grade once eldest daughter got her new bunk beds. (That would be the bunk beds we got to provide extra space for sleepovers. And what do they do? Both sleep in the top bunk. We could have just shoved a few blocks of wood under the old bed legs and saved ourselves a whole lot of time, effort and money.)

Suffice to say, there was plenty to squeeze past and trip over. But as it had built up over time, we got used to having to clamber over stuff to get to the towel cupboard, enabling my other half and me to almost ignore it in the hope it might go away on its own.

Inevitably, I cracked first. So, did I spend a good few hours sorting the good from the bad and the ugly, and depositing it all at the charity shop or tip respectively? Nope. I dragged the big things to the garage and perfected an overhead throwing action for clothes bags up and into the attic. I know, it doesn’t solve anything. The clutter is still there. But we can reach the towels now and I did have time for a cup of tea.

This week we take a look at a stunning contemporary home in Galloway. It may have started out as a rundown Victorian steading, but is now a fantastic family home with eco credentials. The striking results are on page 4. We also get the story behind a Glasgow flat renovation on page 10. And interior’s boutique Holly’s House owner, Holly Wick, talks us through the renovation of her Victorian property. You can see the glamorous results on page 14.