People shop for kitchens in the same way they shop for clothes. They wander around the shops until something catches their eye. Then, if they can afford it, they buy it. Sure how else would you...
Q: We are a young family about to build a new home on family land. We work a lot outdoors and take part in GAA and can't decide between a boot room and a utility room as storage is a big issue.
Growing up in the 1970s, candles were for Christmas and power cuts. The good candles were wrapped in tissue paper and hidden away with the Christmas table linen. The power-cut candles, which were used much more frequently, lived in the emergency drawer along with a box of...
If you want to see whether the Art Deco look is for you, go and see Goodbye Christopher Robin - it plays out against a backdrop of stunning interiors from the period.
Kids' interiors have never been cooler.
There's no downside, as far as I can see, to upcycling. Breathing new life into old furniture can only be a good thing. The dictionary defines upcycling as processing discarded objects or materials to create something that is better, or worth more, than the original and you can...
You've scrimped and saved for the deposit on your house, paid out your inheritance in surveyors' reports, endured the horrors of contract delays and taken your relationship to the very edge. But finally, finally, you are in possession of a home.
1 Do your research - put 'Ikea hack' into Pinterest and houzz.com for clever ways to upcycle or mix up Ikea furniture with other items. "I love Ikea and I have plenty of Ikea in my house, but I hide it amongst other items."
If you want to predict the next interiors trend, look to the catwalk. The colours, patterns, and textures sold to us today for our homes were first seen in the fashion industry. Within a couple of years, the designs filtered through to homeware. It's a commonly accepted chain of influence...
This year's international design fairs have been dripping with decorative lighting creations. Designed as stand-alone art installations that really command a room, there was everything from life-size horse lamps by Moooi to shades brandishing Missoni's unmistakable print. It won't take long...
The spooky season is upon us again! For the next few weeks the shops will be filled with pumpkins, fake cobwebs, and scary decorations. Not...
Let's get one thing straight: within the world of interiors, there exists a lot of unnecessary and poetic hyperbole surrounding colour, and more specifically, paint. For example, it's not grey;...
There's no getting away from it - we're a colour-shy nation. "Playing it safe with colour is an Irish thing," says Sarah Jane Murphy. "People come to me with the intention of using colour on their walls, but they almost always bow back to a softer palette." An interior designer based in...
Make a statement with a larger piece and hang it against a wall that's in a neighbouring analogous colour; normann-copenhagen.com
Q: Our son is about to start college in Dublin and, as he won't be able to afford moving out, we thought of converting the attic of our semi-detached into a bedroom/study for him. What...
Time was, we kept a distinct separation between our work lives and our home lives; it wasn't good for our wellbeing and we strove - in our droves - for the perfect work/life balance. Today, things are a little different; a bit more Californian, if you will. More and more of us are moving away...
The Irish mammy is still going strong. That's speaking from personal experience. My 25-year-old son has just moved back into the family home. I'm refusing to call this a problem - I'm delighted to have him back - but there's some queue for the bathroom in the morning!
Capable of being turned into everything from fabric to wallcoverings, flooring, furniture and even sinks and baths, cork is no longer solely associated with pin boards and wine bottles.
Wall decor is a very personal thing. Time was, you'd save up your hard-earned pennies to invest in a worthy piece of art - an oil on canvas, for...
Cork is 'bursting with interiors stores' that offer unique pieces as well as tapping into the latest trends.
'Don't buy anything that you haven't sat on," said the man in the furniture shop. At the time, I saw his point. How else would I know if the chair he was trying to sell me was comfortable or not?...
Giving the impression that you've abandoned your renovation project halfway through is all the rage as we head into autumn, with exposed raw materials taking precedence in many homes.
With autumn known to many as spider season, those with a phobia of the creatures will be hoping to keep the critters out of their houses.
I once got a new sofa stuck in the stairwell. I had measured - of course - but I got it wrong. That sofa was totally jammed. There was no way it was getting in the door. Since we live in a terraced...
Winter is coming. And it's going to be a dark one indoors. We're talking black, navy and deep-purple walls, button-back furniture in leather or velvet, and bright metallic accents in brass or gold. It's a moody, nocturnal look with a fairly strong Gothic influence. Just imagine that you're decorating...
There's a certain style of minimalist interiors enjoying widespread popularity at the moment, particularly when it comes to the chairs we sit on. Unless you're a furniture history enthusiast,...
This year, the Irish summer has been touch and go, that's for sure. One minute, there's a violent, torrential downpour but then, the sun seems to take pity on us, gracing us with its presence for...
There's nothing romantic about a footstool. It's probably the least glamorous piece of furniture in the living room. I blame the name. Footstool conjures an image of unfortunate people with tired legs, bunions and varicose veins. An ottoman, in contrast, sounds full of Eastern promise. That's...
The Blackrock College website boasts high-achieving pupils in most professions, including the law, politics, medicine, finance, sports, media and the arts, but there's no mention of one particular area - hairdressing.
It will come as no surprise that one of the most exciting rooms to decorate has got to be a bedroom/playroom for the children of the house.
Afew years ago, a young man in Poland reupholstered his grandmother's chair.
I'm a recent convert to tunable light. By this I mean lighting that can be changed from bright clear white to warm mellow white. It's a massively effective way of adjusting the mood of a room.
Anybody remember macramé? It's the craft of making decorative objects out of knotted rope or string and it was big in the 1970s. I remember a...
Outdoor living is a moveable feast. One minute you're pouring lemonade in the sunshine... then the wind changes. Clouds blow across the sun, but you pretend not to notice. The clouds release a few...
Leading designer Jo Hamilton has said 2017 is one of the most thrilling years she's ever...
It's a sunny day in May and the terrace at Monkstown Crescent in Dublin is teeming with people enjoying an al fresco lunch. Beyond the crowd, in the doorway of White & Green...
It's arrived! House 2017 kicks off in the RDS Main Hall this weekend. If you've got plans for your interior, there's never going to be a better opportunity to gather ideas, information and inspiration. It's a chance to make contacts, ask questions and meet some of the country's...
Interior designer to-the-stars Jo Hamilton shares the key pieces she's using in her designs this season.
Over the years, you've probably read articles that make choosing wall colour seem easy. I might even have written one or two myself. But choosing paint colour isn't easy at all. It's really, really difficult.
Interior designer to the stars Jo Hamilton tells you how to make 2017's biggest decor trends work in your home.
Chandeliers, marble-topped tables and personal paintings are among the contents of Nick Munier's Temple Bar restaurant which will be placed on...
Personal Finance expert Sinead Ryan answers your property questions.
Make sure yours is up to scratch with Ciara Elliott's guide to the top 10 bathroom trends.
Interior designer to the stars Jo Hamilton shares her expert answers to the décor questions she's most commonly asked by clients.
'Geometry - it's almost foolproof!" says the interior designer Jo Hamilton. My heart sinks. When a celebrity chef tells me that a recipe is...
Time was, we'd take a selfie, ignoring whatever was going on in the background, and focus in on our face alone. How's the hair? Are both eyes open? Have we managed not to treble our chin? Today, things have changed somewhat: with countless influencers and bloggers vying for our...
I once spent time with a family that didn't have a dining table. They prepared their food in the kitchen and carried it into the living room on trays. Then they ate it on their knees in front of the...
If online statistics are anything to go by, the popularity of wallcoverings has been growing fast this year. We're not talking twee designs of hot air balloons and ladybirds - raw, rough and ready...
These fun décor touches will turn any kid's bedroom into a playground (and delight your inner child too!).
They're a tool of the Devil. They're an enemy to peaceful sleep, unstable to sit against and decidedly anti-romantic. Anyone who has ever had a hotel break ruined by a creaking, rattling or...
