Home Office Transformation – East Craigs / Burnbrae, Edinburgh

• Tucked between Corstorphine Hill and the Gyle, the East Craigs and Burnbrae area is a quiet corner of Edinburgh popular with families and professionals alike. Our clients had recently moved into a modern tenement and wanted to upgrade their plain home office into something with more personality, warmth, and focus.

  The room had good bones—built-in MDF cabinetry and slatted wall panelling—but everything was finished in standard white, with no real flow. The goal was to turn it into a calm, elegant study space with a cohesive look throughout.

  The Challenge

  Like many new-build homes, the office space lacked definition. The MDF shelving and cabinetry were unfinished, and the white walls made the room feel flat. The clients were looking for a high-end finish that didn’t require ripping anything out—just smart colour choices and expert detailing to tie everything together.

  Our Approach

  After discussing the look and feel the clients were after, we created a plan focused on two things:

  • Giving the MDF built-ins a rich, furniture-grade painted finish

  • Unifying the walls, panelling, radiators, and cabinetry into one calm, sophisticated palette

  Here’s how we did it:

  • Thorough prep of all MDF and wall surfaces, including filling, sanding, and priming

  • Precision masking to protect flooring, sockets, and trims

  • Priming with specialist MDF adhesion primer

  • Multiple coats of premium paint for full, even coverage

  • Crisp detailing around corners, slats, and radiator pipework

  The Colour Scheme

  • Walls, Cabinetry, Radiators & Panelling: Selvedge by Farrow & Ball — a soft blue-grey with a calm, focused feel

  • Ceiling: Skimming Stone — a warm neutral that keeps the room feeling airy

  This carefully balanced combination brought depth and cohesion to the space, while still feeling bright and modern.

  The Result

  The finished study feels like a fully bespoke space—with no major construction required. Painting everything in Selvedge gave the room a designer feel, highlighting the vertical slatted centre of the bookcase and turning the once-basic MDF into a statement feature.

  The ceiling in Skimming Stone adds softness without lowering the room’s height, and the white trims and clean edges keep everything feeling crisp and balanced.

  What started as a standard new-build office now feels personal, calm, and crafted—a perfect space to focus, think, or work from home.

📍 Nearby
Corstorphine Hill • The Gyle • Cammo Estate • Drum Brae Library • Maybury Junction