Homes & Interiors Scotland

Familiarity is comforting. It's what deputy editor Natasha Radmehr experienced as she sampled the tasting menu at Aizle (page 243), each mouthful transporting her back to childhood. Familiarity is what we witness at McLean Quinlan's masterful contemporary interpretation of a barn (page 122), as the architects’ references to the Arts & Crafts movement inspire a connection between old and new. This house welcomes its owners, shows them something they might recognise, and offers them the opportunity to feel, well, at home. This sort of nostalgia has the power to take us to places we feel attached to; that's why, when I see my kids choosing the same trainers I had the first time round in the ‘90s (now styled ‘vintage’), I feel a warm pang of happiness. It's why Natasha…

Edinburgh-based architecture practice Gras has been responsible for some of Scotland's most understated, simple yet striking building restorations of the last few decades, many of which you'll have seen across the pages of this magazine. Kinloch Lodge in Sutherland, Lamb's House in Edinburgh, Killiehuntly Bothy in the Cairngorms; they all share the same thoughtful diligence when it comes to preserving architectural heritage, but with the kind of cool eye that director Gunnar Groves-Raines’ practice has become synonymous with. Now, he has turned his gaze to objects. The Gathering Hand, Gras's collection of furniture and objects, first came to light at the London Design Festival and is now available to buy online. You can invest in a piece that has been created with noted artisans, with quality and provenance at the…

How has your style evolved? As the years go by, despite acquiring more ‘things’, my style is becoming less busy. I'm no minimalist, but maximalism just looks messy whenever I have a go at it. In saying that, our walls are very full. I love buying large (and I mean large) paintings at auction. People assume that bigger equals more expensive, but usually it's the exact opposite; most bidders don't want outsized pieces, so there's generally very little competition. Who is your biggest influence? One of my oldest and dearest friends missed his calling by not becoming an interior designer. His understanding of colour is genuinely incredible and, when it comes to our flat, what he says goes! Who is your design hero? In the antiques world: Christopher Dresser. In…

In the 1990s, when most kids were shaking tubes of glitter over Pritt-Sticked drawings in the manner of Art Attack‘s Neil Buchanan, Tom Fraser was moving in a more sophisticated creative realm. “My brother and I were always in Dad's workshop, making things from wood: boxes, coffee tables, small cabinets,” he recalls. “And when my parents bought a derelict gite in France, we would go there for a month each summer, bring a friend each and do the construction work to restore it. That's the kind of practical stuff I loved doing. To me it felt perfectly normal.” Understandably so. In 1985, two years before Tom was born, his parents had founded the Chippendale International School of Furniture, the first and only school in Scotland dedicated to teaching the craft…

LIGHT AND BREEZY…

CHANGING ROOM We often harp on about the difference a lick of paint can make, I but swapping out your lampshades is even easier and can make I a big impact. For example, here Houseof's Stripe pendant shade] complements the bright accessories and textiles in this personalitypacked bedroom. The organic stripes make more sense in this space than a plain white shade and make the room feel complete. £lOO. theroost.com Big stretch Goodness gracious, great balls of… light? This rolypoly stack is called Upward: a sculpture by day and a lamp by night. Each of the nine spheres is expertly crafted from sturdy borosilicate glass, with a central strip of LED hidden within. It's 178cm tall and is controlled by touching the very top sphere. This floor version caught our…