Scotland's Home of the Year: 3 Edinburgh and Lothians houses visited by Kate Spiers, Anna Campbell-Jones and Michael Angus

This week’s episode of Scotland’s Home of the Year visits the Lothians as judges Anna Campbell Jones, Michael Angus and Kate Spiers search for property perfection.

Jean & David Short, whose Bellsmanins home is set to feature in Scotland's Home of the Year. Pic: BBC Scotland

A Victorian Terrace goes head-to-head with a New Town flat in Edinburgh and there’s also competition from a stunning 18th century cottage in Borthwick

The telly trio start by visiting Morningside, which has been home to Ella Fletcher, husband Rory and their children Daisy and Arthur for the last four years.

Spread over three floors, the traditional terraced townhouse has five bedrooms, two family bathrooms and a stunning open plan kitchen.

Bellsmains will feature on Scotland's Home of the Year on BBC Scotland.

As well as period features, the family home boasts a colourful palette and plush interiors such as velvet curtains, bright and bold wallpaper and modern touches including a newly refurbished kitchen.

The next home is also in Edinburgh, this time in the New Town. Mike Horne and his partner James bought the B-listed Georgian tenement flat together and, since moving in, they’ve been busy furnishing the home. and adding their own personal touches.

The second floor flat is full of period features including curved walls and doors which have proved challenging to furnish as they are neither a conventional shape nor size.

The judges also visit Bellsmains in Midlothian, home to David and Jean Short, their dog Monty and cat Oscar.

David and Jean have tastefully extended and furnished Bellsmains

The property dates back to around 1760 and David and Jean extended it three times in the 40 years the have lived there.

Set in a rural landscape, Bellsmains marries together traditional alongside modern interiors, with views of the garden acting as focal points throughout the home.

Each of the contestants gets their 15 minutes of fame while showcasing their property and while it is competitive, the show never fails to bring out the friendly nature of those taking part..

David Short said: “We have followed the series from the beginning and have enjoyed being inspired by other peoples’ homes. We have lived in our home for over 40 years and brought up our family here.

The Fletcher's home in high-demand Morningside.

“We hope that it is seen as a welcoming home for family and friends to relax and spend time together in.

"We are big fans of the series and enjoy tuning in every week to compare our thoughts with the judges assessments.”

Jean added: “”Winning would be the icing on the cake. It would also be an amazing accolade to all the trades people who have helped us with the changes to the house.

Despite wrangling to find furniture to suit, Mike Horne says he is “lucky” to have found a stunning home in the Capital.

Arthur and Ella Fletcher with Arthur and Daisy outside their mid-terrace Victorian home in Morningside. Pic: BBC Scotland

He said: “The pandemic has been a tough time for everyone, so when we saw them looking for homes for this series, we thought it would a chance to create some positive memories for us to look back on.

"The flat is over 200 years old, and while we were really lucky the previous owners did all the hard work modernising it, it still has lots of original features - and wonky floors.;

"It's our first home together and we wanted it to be a warm and inviting space to share with our family and entertain our friends. We're big fans of mid-century furniture so it's been fun hunting down pieces from antique shops together.. We've also tried to reflect us and our interests - so lots of Scottish and Irish art, and film, music and exhibition posters we've collected over the years.”

Asked how they would react if the flat won the overall title, Mike added: “We'd be shocked but delighted! We're going to have lots of friends round to watch our episode so we'll have a fun night whatever the result.”

Meanwhile, Ella Fletcher said that having her biggest concern about appearing on the show was their family pets – and their children – having the opportunity for them to cause chaos.

She said: “We’ve always loved watching the show and have been inspired by many of the amazing things people have done. So we thought it was only fair that after spending the last few series nosing around other people’s houses we should let them have a look at ours.

A furry member of the Fletcher family waits to give visitors a warm welcome to their home in Morningside.

"It is colourful and fun. With two kids a cat and a dog it’s often very messy . . . we also love socialising and having people over so it is often pretty busy.

Ella added: “I am a potter and I like to take the colours and styles that I use in my work into my home.

"it would be lovely and really exciting to win but we really we just did it for a bit of fun. We absolutely love our home and our neighbourhood and that’s the most important thing.”

Each week, the judges mark the shortlisted properties out of ten but only one from the Lothians will go through from the nine regions to the grand finale at Glasgow’s House for an Art Lover.

This episode will also be shown on the BBC Scotland channel on Wednesday May 11 at 8.00pm.

Each of the contestants will be waiting with bated breath desperate to see if they have firstly made it to the finale and then to find out if their home has impressed enough to lift the coveted title.

Previous winners and their homes feature regularly in style and property magazines and on other telly shows and while there’s no pot of gold in terms of a prize, the accolade of being named Scotland’s Home of the Year is as good as a giant cheque.

Scotland’s Home of the Year, Ep6/10: The Lothians. Monday May 9 on BBC One Scotland, 8.30-9.00pm

Scotland’s Home of the Year is made by IWC Media (a Banijay UK company) for BBC Scotland.