Who: Laura Mears-Reynolds 41, who has her own podcast ADHD AF, and her husband Jonathan, 42, a logistics manager plus their cat Ziggy Starpuss.
What: A quaint and quirky end of terrace, two bed, period property with adjacent outhouse building with sunny private garden and terrace.
Where: The charming mid 19th century former fishing community designed by John Smith, the architect responsible for Balmoral Castle.
As told to Rosemary Lowne
“We moved from Norfolk to Aberdeen for Jonathan’s job back in 2020.
We had a temporary home near Duthie Park where we spent a lot of lockdown stuck indoors planning the renovations for our dream home.
We also looked up local places of interest, and were immediately enamoured by Fittie’s charm.
I went for a walk to find it, and the brightly coloured doors, benches and garden ornaments really lifted my spirits.
On another visit we spotted the for sale sign in the window and just fell in love with place.
Fittie home was a blank canvas
For us the real draw was the location and the views – both looking into the square and out to the sea.
So we purchased the house in April 2021 and since then we’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into transforming this property.
Inside, the interior was very plain with white walls and beige carpets so it felt like the perfect blank canvas.
Although the bathroom had been recently renovated it wasn’t to our taste so we replaced white panels with black horizontal herringbone tiles and added a checkerboard floor which is really striking.
In the living room, the walls and ceiling were stripped, removed, re-boarded and plastered and the carpets were replaced with hardwood engineered floors.
We completely removed the fireplace which involved taking two tonnes of rubble to the skip and an inglenook was added.
In its place we installed a new wood burning, dual fuel stove.
The kitchen is from B&Q and Jon continued the herringbone tiling in rust to match the ‘Leopard Walk’ wallpaper by Cole and Son, set off with orange accessories including a Smeg Fridge.
Upstairs we stripped our main bedroom wallpaper before cleaning, skimming and painting the walls plus a new carpet was added to create a calming minimalist look.
Outside, the garden patio has been levelled and re-laid to incorporate a new garden bed along the front edge and Western end.
The patio slabs we removed were used to lay a floor in the coal shed while I painted two benches at the front of the home in rainbow colours.
Fittie home brightens up dark days
I wanted to brighten up a dark day for any passers-by, just as mine had been on that first trip to Fittie.
And judging by all of the pictures of our Dolly Parton rainbow bench on social media, it definitely worked
In terms of interiors, I love maximalist, eccentric decor.
I wanted to play with leopard print as the leopard is the symbol of Aberdeen.
I also wanted a continuation of the colourful benches for a dopamine hit on dreich days, so I created the rainbow staircase.
It’s a really fun and vibrant welcome when you open the front door.
The inspiration was woodland lodge meets Pikes Hotel Ibiza.
I think we achieved that in the living room, or rather ‘the green room’.
We tried a lot of different greens in the living room until we found the perfect paint called ‘Ditch the Tie’ by Coat.
We then added a similar shade of snakeskin effect wallpaper in the alcoves for texture.
For us, the greatest challenge was the woodchip wallpaper as it was a complete nightmare to get off, and the fireplace was a real labour of love.
Truthfully, we love everything about our home and are sad to be letting it go as we’ve loved Fittie life.
We feel incredibly proud of the renovations especially as we’ve never done anything like that before.
My advice to anyone who is renovating would be that your home should be your haven.
Create a space that brings you joy; a place that you look forward to and enjoy being in.
Don’t worry about what other people think of your decor.”
7 Pilot Square, Footdee, Aberdeen, is on the market for offers over £245,000.
To arrange a viewing contact Mackinnons on 01224 868687 or check out the website aspc.co.uk
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