The Tranquil Interior of Manar House

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be the owners of Manar House?

“Hi! I'm Christina married to Dean, and we've had the keys to Manar House since Valentine’s Day 2020. We had always dreamt of owning a chateau in France, and we even viewed one to buy the summer before we bought Manar. Work, however, brought us to Aberdeen, and as our little family began to grow, we were looking for a house with a bigger garden, when we stumbled across Manar. It was in desperate need of someone a little risk averse and with lots of vision!"

Bought at auction, we knew the renovation journey was going to be an interesting one. As an 1811 Georgian Mansion set in 65 acres of beautiful wild grounds, fields and forest, it was love at first sight, no matter how much work was needed. This project was a huge undertaking, but we knew that Manar would be more than a family home – it would be the start of a new business venture. To that end, the renovation works have been focused on creating a comfortable family home, as well as creating great event spaces and three five-star luxury apartments in what we call ‘the West Wing’!”

Tell us about your Yoga Room project. What was the vision for this space?

“This room is southeast facing and has the most beautiful light, in part due to the four huge sash windows. A flexible space in the house, the room needed to evoke both relaxation and elegance. A place where you could both enjoy an uplifting Yoga class and meditation, but also somewhere you could create a magical wedding ceremony.”

Tell us about your Dining Room project, which features our Jangala – Willow mural. How would you describe this scheme?

“WILD. Throughout the house we have looked to use nature for inspiration and to bring nature in through wallpaper designs. I am both a Yogi and an Environmental Scientist, and we are surrounded by the most incredible Scottish countryside. So it was a non-negotiable that nature would be a huge part of our inspiration and design.  

I was immediately drawn to the Jangala paper – my hardest decision was the colour we would use! We also knew this was going to be a key event space, so we wanted to have some fun and do something a little bold. It was an all or nothing approach. We wanted you to feel totally enveloped in this beautiful wallpaper design.” 

Spacious rooms with high ceilings often seem to have endless design possibilities. Do you have any interior design tips and advice?

“For these two rooms, it was the first time we actually asked for some expert help from the Colour Consultants at Paint & Paper Library. We had a good idea of what we wanted to do, but having that independent expert opinion and guidance was invaluable! I loved bouncing ideas and playing around with schemes and testers.  

Our key advice though would be to try it at home. Colours look so different in different lights at different times of the day, and even on different walls/ ceilings! We would also encourage people to be bold. I am a massive fan of really working with the fifth wall - the ceiling is such an important part of an overall scheme, yet it's often not given much thought.”