Lynn O’Rourke: ‘I did mean to returm to the scene of the crime’

Spurred on by the success of painting my reclaimed chest of drawers, I have been dipping into Grace Bonney’s lovely book Design*Sponge at Home again for further inspiration. I knew I had seen some old trunks featured there that had been prettied up with a coat of paint (or five, more likely) and put to good use as storage. And as I am always in the market for extra storage, I came up with a brilliant plan to rejuvenate the trunks the previous owner had left in our attic and bribed my other half to lug them down for me.

You might think it all sounds a bit tricky, this repainting of old trunks, and giving them a new lease of life, but you would be wrong. The real tricky bit is getting them out of the attic. Particularly if someone has taken a storage short cut in the last few weeks while she has been clearing out the kids’ bedrooms, shoved stuff in carrier bags and stuffed the bags wherever she could as close to the top of the attic ladder as possible. Apparently I have created a near-impenetrable wall. In my defence, I was in a hurry and I did mean to return to the scene of the crime and do a bit of damage limitation after I had dealt with the yelling children, but I got distracted – probably by yelling children again. I do still intend to paint those trunks – once I finally reach them.

This week we take a look at a beautifully renovated Glasgow apartment which now perfectly meets the needs of its well-travelled owners. We also get the story behind the lovely upgrade of a detached bungalow in Edinburgh’s Joppa area. The bespoke detailing and bold design touches make this interior really stand out. Eight years ago Katharine Pooley turned her back on a high-flying banking career and set up her now-flourishing interior design business. You can see how she has used her design flair on her own mews home in At Home.