Dundee doctor Anna transforms five-bedroom townhouse

The Courier

05-05-2025

'The house gets such amazing light. And I think light is the number one thing to look for in a property. It totally changes the feel of a house.'
Anna Johnston is recalling the moment she viewed her five-bedroom townhouse in 2019.
A student at Dundee University at the time, she had been tasked with finding a suitable renovation opportunity in the city on behalf of her Northern Ireland-based dad and his cousin, who have various property projects together.
Interested in the up-and-coming nature of Dundee (this was one year after the V&A opened) the business partners saw a promising investment opportunity.
While they would finance the project, medicine student Anna would lead on the renovation, design, and decor choices. She would also be the one calling it home.
And with that beautiful light – as well as 'lovely old features' including cornicing, an original fireplace, tall windows and high ceilings – the mid-terrace house on Beechwood Terrace was perfect.
But the house, which they bought for £250,000 in September of that year, needed a lot of work.
'It was very outdated,' says Anna, who is now a doctor at Ninewells Hospital.
'It probably hadn't seen a lick of paint in about 40 years.'
She has spent the past five years restoring it to its former glory, increasing its value by more than £200,000.
It is now on the market with Thorntons for offers over £460,000.
After a few false starts thanks to Covid, a construction team was brought in towards the end of 2020, and the house was stripped back, replastered and painted.
A wall was also knocked down between the kitchen and dining room to create an open plan space.
Anna, who had had plenty of time to brainstorm decor ideas thanks to the cancellation of her university exams, moved in.
'The house was liveable, but not finished at that stage, and then I have finished it off as I've lived in it,' she says.
Anna was keen to preserve as many of the original features as possible, while cleaning them up to give the house a 'fresh feel'.
'I think there's nothing that beats going into a shop or a showroom and just getting inspiration there and taking different ideas from different designs.'
'In the master bedroom, there is a beautiful marble fireplace, but it had been covered over with a cream, shiny wallpaper.
'When we came into the house, I literally just peeled off a layer of the wallpaper and was like, 'Oh my goodness, it's this gorgeous mantlepiece''.
She built a folder on her phone full of ideas from Instagram, showrooms and interior design shops.
A visit to Tresco in the Scilly Isles gave her more ideas.
'The house we were staying in had these gorgeous bookshelves and lovely utility room spaces, little details and furnishings.
'I remember going around taking photos and all the light fixtures and just saving all those up, so that whenever I came to pick light fixtures, for example, I just went back into that folder and was like, 'Oh yeah, that worked really well''.
While her sophisticated navy and cream kitchen was bought from Howdens, she selected her three bathrooms from Belfast-based shop Soaks Bathrooms, who delivered the suites to Dundee.
In keeping with the rest of the house, Anna wanted classic bathrooms with a modern twist.
'I went into the Soaks showroom and had quite a lot of fun picking out the different styles and things, and then they mocked up a really useful image of what that would look like,' she says.
'It was really good going in and sitting down with someone who knows their stuff and getting a bit of help with layout, but also having a good idea before I went in what design I liked,' she says.
In the downstairs loo, Anna opted for beautiful blue Victorian-style tiles with a matching vanity unit.
In the main bathroom upstairs, she chose white marble tiles and a pale green vanity unit. 'With that being such a lovely light bathroom, I wanted to keep it really light,' she says.
When it came to furniture, Anna went for a mix of old and new.
Antique finds include the chandeliers and dining table chairs in the kitchen dining room, as well as the partners desk in the office.
Meanwhile, much of the artwork and the cast iron radiators throughout the house were also bought at auctions in Northern Ireland.
She contrasted these pieces with newer items, including beds and dressing tables from IKEA, sofas from M&S and lamps from Pooky.
'I like things to be a little bit mix and match, as opposed to everything matching perfectly.'
This is a trend that continued with the colour scheme.
'The living room used to be more grey, and then my mum was like, 'I think you need a bit more colour in here'.
'So that's when I brought in the green lamps and the rug and things like that, just to try and make it a bit more interesting.'
Anna says she will miss the house, but after nine years in Dundee, she is ready to go home.
She says: 'I've been so happy here, and I love this house.
'But I think the draw to Northern Ireland is family, and that will always be the case.
'So I think now is a good a time as ever to leave.
'But definitely this house will be something I will be very, very sad to say goodbye to.'