Scotland’s Home of the Year: East Dunbartonshire 1960s Bungalow crowned winner

A 1960s Bungalow in East Dunbartonshire has been crowned Scotland’s Home of the Year.

The house in Milngavie is home to Anna McClelland, her partner Harry Kinloch and their children Lexie and Marley.

The couple – both Glasgow School of Art graduates – use their home as an outlet for their creativity, with the property boasting clever decorating techniques and reclaimed materials including school gym hall flooring complete with colourful markers.

‘It’s very flattering to be named Scotland’s Home of the Year – especially considering some of the other homes involved,’ she said.

Credit: IWC MEDIA/BBC SCOTLAND

‘Our home is distinctive and unique because it’s like the inside of our heads and that’s also what makes it homely to us…but maybe not for lots of other people.

‘It’s been a really positive experience taking part in SHOTY. Apart from anything else, entering the show meant Harry had to finally finish doing DIY in the house.’

‘I was so impressed by the ingenious use of ’normal’ things in extraordinary ways, patterns made with electrical tape, inexpensive Zebra carpet given a whole new cool context, colourful decals on plain tiles & light switches…I could go on.’

The Scotland’s Home of the Year (SHOTY) judges – interior designers Anna Campbell-Jones and Banjo Beale and architect Danny Campbell – picked the winner from a shortlist of six finalists found across Scotland.

Credit: IWC MEDIA/BBC SCOTLAND

Credit: IWC MEDIA/BBC SCOTLAND

The 1960s Bungalow has been extended twice and the judges loved its clever decorating techniques and the use of reclaimed materials including the flooring from a school, complete with colourful markers.

SHOTY Judge and interior designer, Anna Campbell Jones believes the 1960s Bungalow is a very worthy winner of the prestigious title.

‘This electrically eclectic creative home exemplifies what it means to truly make your home unique to you,’ she said.

‘It was fun and playful – an absolute dream family home to spark children’s imaginations and keep that same feeling alive in any adult who has the good fortune to experience it first-hand.

‘It felt like being inside the very souls of the people who lived there, rarely have I had that sense so strongly in an home.

‘I was so impressed by the ingenious use of ’normal’ things in extraordinary ways, patterns made with electrical tape, inexpensive Zebra carpet given a whole new cool context, colourful decals on plain tiles & light switches…I could go on.’

Credit: IWC MEDIA/BBC SCOTLAND

Credit: IWC MEDIA/BBC SCOTLAND

Architect and lecturer Danny Campbell said: ‘The carefree abandon to which the homeowners had turned their home into their family curated artwork, but also, how cleverly they remodelled it.

‘This one had it all – there were double front and rear dormers, a split-level kitchen and reconfigured internal layout, a large rear extension and landscaped garden – I was in architectural heaven. The new spaces they created were elevated by the commitment they had to their vision and how expertly every detail had been turned into artwork.

‘It was consistent, it was creative and it was clever – very memorable. We knew these homeowners would be fun to meet in person, they didn’t disappoint.’

Read more Home and Garden news here.

Subscribe to read the latest issue of Scottish Field.