Video: 32 Edgehill Road, Aberdeen
‘Thoughtful present a fine addition to the perfect pad’
Published:
THOUGHTFUL Christmas presents are always appreciated.
But Paul Collins has one problem with the football table his fiancee Kirsty Walker bought him last year – no decent competition.
So whenever he has mates round, there’s a queue for playing on Kirsty’s present.
“It’s great for parties as everyone congregates around it,” said the 30-year-old Subsea projects engineer for Well Ops.
“Boys will be boys, but we tend to get into bother for being antisocial.”
Paul bought 32 Edgehill Road three years ago.
He’d been living in a beach cottage in Cruden Bay and the Kincorth lad was desperate to move back to town.
And as soon as he saw the bungalow, he knew he had to have it.
“The fact that it had two-and-a-half garages was a huge reason why I wanted the property. Having the same amount of garages as bedrooms is a great idea.
“I head out there to tinker with my car and motorbikes whenever I’ve got a few spare hours.” His last property was close to immaculate when he moved in, so Paul wasn't looking for a challenge – but he certainly got one.
“It was nine months until I could move into the property,” he said.
“It was built in the 1960s and it had never been modernised.”
Paul set to work removing the wood panelling and replacing the old fireplace with a new one in the living room.
He then started on the kitchen, which needed a complete makeover, including moving the boiler.
He also replaced all the single-glazed windows with double-glazing.
“I stripped everything back, cleared everything out and started again.
“It’s an ongoing process – I only put all the curtains up at the back end of last year!”
When the time came to start the decoration from scratch, Paul opted for a hybrid of modern and more classical styles.
“I mixed old and new. The open-plan feel and the neutral colours are modern, while the sandstone fireplace and the Victorian chaise longue in the dining room add a bit of age to the place.
“It was the same in the bathroom – I went for the aqua panelling which is chic and modern, along with the very busy wallpaper which is a complete contrast.
“A lot of the houses I went to see were very modern and chic but they also had a cold, clinical feel.
“I wanted my house to be homely and welcoming.”
When Paul eventually moved in, all he had were two sofas and a shoe box, but he was delighted.
“Once all the decoration had been done, it’s been a really easy house to live in.”
A year ago Paul’s fiancee, 22-year-old contracts engineer Kirsty Walker, moved into the property which has made it feel even more homely.
And around the same time the pair decided to extend their family.
“We got our Golden Retriever Tilly a year ago.
“Around that time I made a dog-run out in the back garden.”
Although Paul didn't have to do much more to his back garden, the front was a different story.
“I removed six overgrown conifer trees that were too big to cut back and had the roots removed. Then I removed all the concrete slabbing and graded it out.”
Although Paul and Kirsty love the area and find the house easy to look after, they have decided to move out of town.
“We are looking for a country house around Inverurie which is on the right side of town for work and family.
“We’ll be looking for a place that we have to do up, but that we can do at the slower pace of one room at a time.”
