Mina Bruce lives on the beautiful Isle of Skye, in the Northwest of Scotland, and her account @vintage_skye is one of my favourites on Instagram. I just love Mina's modern rustic style and was thrilled when she agreed to let me feature her home on the blog. Apart from her home being gorgeous, Mina lives in what I consider one of the most beautiful places on the planet, for those of you who have not been to any of the islands off the coast of Scotland I thoroughly recommend a visit....... 

My inlaws used to live in Carradale on the east coast of the Kintyre peninsula and the Isle of Arran could be seen from their house- the views were just incredible. We visited many of the nearby islands, Jura, Islay and The Isle of Mull, however we never made it as far as Skye (though our first dog was named after it) and I'm hoping that one day Mina may want to come South and we can house swap...... Mind you, she may be a bit busy for a while as they are currently in the process of designing their new home..... Mina tells me..... We are in the first stages of building our own home on Johnnys croft and its really exciting - We've both put so much thought into designing it just the way we want it and it will hopefully be our dream home. It's going to be both a modern and traditional style building - I love industrial vintage style and there will be lots of natural materials- wood, concrete and lots of glass -  Probably not a dark wall in sight but it will certainly be spacious, light and as energy efficient as we can possibly make it. 

So, let me hand you over to Mina to tell us a bit about herself.....

Hi, My name is Mina Bruce and i live on the beautiful Isle of Skye. I've always lived here and have never felt the urge to move anywhere else - I love it here! It's so peaceful and the scenery is second to none! I live in rented accommodation with my partner Johnny, stepson and our daft dalmatian.

I currently work part time in the office of a small remote primary school here on Skye - in the little village I grew up in. It's a stunning village, just a stones throw from the distillery where Talisker Whisky is made- That made for an interesting childhood! I also work as a Weight Plan Consultant which I've been doing for 18 months. It's the most rewarding career ever when you can help people - or as they put it - I'm changing lives! My business is growing fast and I'm in the process of building a team - it's very exciting! 

I have always loved home decor and when my two daughters (who have both now left home) were small I would use any leftover paints to upcycle furniture and I'd make my own curtains and blinds. It was (and still is) one of my favourite interests.

I asked Mina how it has been decorating a rented home and how her style has evolved......  Our rented home has been a challenge to decorate as we are very limited in what we can do. All the walls were white so I've gradually added one of my favourite paints, Farrow and Ball Railings into most rooms. I've made a lot of mistakes along the way - mostly by impulse buying - it's good to remember that your tastes can evolve with time and now I'll wait weeks before I buy something unless im 110% sure I love it. I still love dark interiors but I also love rustic earthy shades, and white. There will be a complete change of style in our new home!

Mina's kitchen is a fabulous example of modern rustic decor, like me she loves natural textures and plants in her home and although her kitchen is monochrome in essence with black and white units, walls, tiles, art and blinds the addition of natural wood, bricks and plants as well as glassware and pottery on the open plank shelving add a rustic feel. Add a few vintage pieces into the mix and you have yourself a modern rustic delight.

I asked Mina how her kitchen design came about...... 

The kitchen is another monochrome room - I never intended any room in the house to be monochrome  - it just kind of happened! And it gives us a laugh when people point out our dog matches our home!!! I'm not a lover of fitted kitchens or wall units so we removed wall cupboards and put up rustic scaffold shelving instead. Then we just popped some of my favourite things on them- The green vintage wall light you see was one of the things I had to save up for and I love it! 

Mina's kitchen shelves make me want to totally change my own, I love the mix of textures and natural colours and that vintage pieces sitting next to modern topology prints...... I love Mina's eye for style.....

...... The most used corner of the kitchen is where you'll see my favourite Nickie Kelly 'Peace Out' Print. Youre not doing monochrome right without one of Nickie's prints on your wall! ..... I agree with you there Mina!

On the other side of the kitchen I have a second hand sideboard with some scaffold shelving above. Johnny (forever trying to get out of a DIY job) told me the shelves were too heavy to put up on plasterboard - but not to be beaten I salveged some red bricks (48 to be exact) and built what you can see here! Job done!

...... If you are in a rented home like Mena and are worried about damaging the walls this is a great idea, and looks so much cooler than getting a traditional sideboard top!

Mina decided to paint her sitting room in Farrow & Ball Railings, one of my favourites too, she has added character with lots of art prints, accessories and textures and of course plants and has used two black framed round mirrors as statement pieces and to bounce the natural light around the room...... I asked Mina what advice she would give to anyone thinking of going over to the dark side..... 

The sitting room was first to go dark, it's a small room and most people would stay away from dark colours in small spaces but it really works - I believe a room is only dark if there is very little natural light in it - not by the colour on the walls. Coldness is another myth - this room has never been so cosy! Johnny doesn't want me to paint the ceiling dark in here - but if you have dark walls and you can paint the ceiling the same colour - my advice would be to do it!.... And the woodwork too. 

My favourite item in the sitting room (and possibly the whole house!) is the massive round beast of a metal mirror from Maisons Du Monde (below) I once read an interior stylist say its better to save up for big statement piece for a room rather than lots and lots of smaller things - and I think it's so true. At a recent Abigail Ahern Design Class I went to, she talked about the importance of statement pieces, I got so much out of it and I think that class is well worth going to if anyone is considering it!

Mina has recently repainted her bedroom in one of Abigail Ahern's new range of colours, Baked Clay, and I have to say people are often scared of using brown paints in the home but it looks so serene and peaceful don't you agree? Mina says...... It's a wonderful earthy shade and gives the room a more rustic feel - which is the look I was hoping for. The stonewashed linen bedding adds to the natural rustic vibe and I love the rusty brown throw and pillowcases- its my favourite colour right now!

Mina's daughters room is one of the few rooms in the house that has remained painted white from  five years ago when Mina painted all the rooms white as she loved it so much at the time..... I love this room with the plain white walls and natural textures and cool prints, I think it's a fabulous teenage girls room and I certainly wish my teenage daughters rooms were this tidy!.....            Mina says..... My daughter ironically wanted it painted black at that time but I felt sick at the thought and wouldn't do it, she now loves reminding me she had the monochrome thing going on way before me..... Lesson learnt..... sometimes your teenage girls are right! 

Mina loves her Bathroom and rightly so! She wanted a patterned floor in here but as it's a rented house and it has to be exactly as they found it when they leave she decided to go for a Lino floor rather than tiles which is not only cheaper than tiles but will be much easier to pull up when they move out.... Mina also added the wall pattern herself..... My monochrome bathroom upstairs was all white but was 'lacking' something - so I free hand  painted some moroccan inspired shapes with F&B Railings, adding lots of greenery and some wall art. It's now one of my favourite rooms. 

The downstairs toilet is a small room but that didn't stop Mina from making it stylish or painting it dark..... She wanted a patterned tile in here but couldn't change the existing tiles, not to be outdone Mina bought tile stickers from eBay and used them in the bathrooms as well as the Kitchen..... I'm so pleased with this tiny room I love the small round black mirror from TK Maxx and I made the wall hanging myself with fabric, driftwood and a staple gun!

Finally I asked Mina who inspires her interior style..... My dark interiors inspiration comes from so many lovey Instagram accounts, to name just a few that I first followed; @artynads @Jazzierere @abigailahern. But when we build the new house the interior is going to be totally different to our current home- I'm loving the style of @mamoesjka_nl just now, all the gorgeous warm earthy tones- watch this space!

Well, I for one certainly will be, I love Mina's current home but can't wait to see the new build progress and how she styles her new home..... 

Thank you as always for reading and if you have a favourite home on Instagram you'd like to know more about and see featured on the blog give me a shout and I'll see what I can do!

Sharon x