Boat repairman Douglas Sutherland's latest vessel is outfitted with compasses, an anchor, port holes and rigging, but is not the least bit seaworthy.

It doesn't have to be since it is a land-based upper floor apartment.

Mr. Sutherland completely redid his living space — a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in a nautical theme almost entirely using recycled materials.

"Before I started, the place had been used as a junk room," he said. "It was just a dead space. I thought it would be nice to make it a home."

Mr. Sutherland, of Sandys, works for a boat maintenance and repair company.

For privacy reasons, he asked us not to reveal his exact address.

"One thing that is nice about the space is that it is close to my job," he said.

"The other evening there was a boat that was struck on the reef and was taking on water at 1.30 a.m. and I was able to go and deal with them. It was a local boat."

Mr. Sutherland is originally from Scotland and has been working in Bermuda for eight years.

"When I first started renovating the apartment, I never thought it would end up like this," he said. "When I started I thought it would take a couple of months, and it ended up taking two years. I worked on it every night after work for two or three hours."

The kitchen has the feel of a galley. You sit at a table that displays a boating map of Bermuda.

In the bathroom, towels sit on a platform above the toilet. The platform lowers by a pulley system to make the most of the space.

Sharks and fish handcarved by Mr. Sutherland hang from the rafters, adding a decorative touch.

By the door there's an anchor windlass, a piece of machinery normally used for raising anchors. The handle cranks, but there's no anchor attached anymore. It gives fidgety guests something to play with, though.

The ocean feel is only broken by the odd nutcracker doll and tractor model which Mr. Sutherland and his 11-year-old daughter collect.

Half of a small, red boat protrudes from one wall with the words 'boat house' on it.

"In Newfoundland I designed two 65-foot trawlers and a 50-foot trawler," he said. "That boat on the wall is one-tenth the scale of the 50-foot trawler."

Many of the bits and pieces around are relics of various well-known local boats.

"The compass by the television is from Teddy Tucker's boat Miss Wendy," said Mr. Sutherland. "The one by the floor came from the shipwreck Xing Da. The lanterns came from the Sea Shepherd that visited Bermuda recently."

"The coffee table is made from the boat hole from the Reef Explorer."

All the woodwork was made from old pallets and packing crates.

"I was in town one day and saw all these old packing crates," said Mr. Sutherland. "I asked what was going to be done with them. I was told they were going to the dump."

He said nothing about the project was particularly complicated. All of it was a labour of love.

"When you go from doing boatwork to housework, it is easy," he said. "With boatwork you are working with angles and curves, but a house is square. That is why you will see I have tried to introduce some boat ideas, some curves and angles in."

Making the inside of his home look like a boat, seems natural when you consider that he has been working on boats since he was 12 years old.

"I grew up in Lybster, a fishing community of about 700 people in the north of Scotland," said Mr. Sutherland. "My father had a fishing boat.

"I wouldn't put a hook in the water today," he said. "I grew up fishing on my dad's boat. I just had one brother and sister. I left home when I was 16 years old. The fishing industry is not like it used to be. It is pretty hard to make a living. My father mainly fished lobsters. The lobsters in Scotland are different from here. They are more like Maine lobsters. He used to fish 300 pots every day. He is retired now."

Mr. Sutherland came to Bermuda after working in Newfoundland, Canada and then Nigeria.

"I worked in Nigeria for 11 years," he said. "It was getting a little unsafe there, so I decided to leave.

"I was building boats for the oil companies. It was great. I would go back there tomorrow. It was in Warri about 300 miles from Lagos. But there is a lot of unrest there, and it hasn't improved since I left. But it was a good place to work. You only ever hear bad stuff about Nigeria. But the people were nice, and good to work with."

His advice to others thinking of renovating their home in a creative way, is to plan carefully.

"Just start off with an open space," he said. "You make some drawings and mock-ups to see what it is going to look like.

"When you think it is right just go ahead and make it."

He also said to get some outside perspective.

"Some of my friends gave me some ideas," he said. "A friend suggested I put the sink facing the living room and television he said. That worked out well, so his advice was very helpful."

Mr. Sutherland said if he had to do it over, he wouldn't do anything differently.

"The layout is good, and is very functional," he said.