My Favourite Room: Dragons, bees and sunny shades make fantasy author Sarah Rees Brennan’s home magical

Author Sarah Rees Brennan is a wonderful example of a person who seized the lemons life flung at her and turned them into gold nuggets. Fittingly, the citrus fruit is one of the key motifs in her home

Author Sarah Rees Brennan in the yellow kitchen of her 120-year-old red-brick house in Dublin 8. The units and countertops came from Remo Kitchens. “They listened to everything I said and gave me what I wanted.” Her demands included some tiles featuring bees, because the winged insects are so positive. She wanted some more outlandish things like sparkles but, on the insistence of her siblings, opted for the more restrained copper handles. She found the lemon-print curtain fabric on the internet. Picture by Tony Gavin

Mary O'Sullivan

Sarah Rees Brennan’s home has many subtle yet whimsical details. Some of her kitchen tiles depict bees, just because bees “are so friendly and kind”, she says. Sarah has a secret cupboard in her sitting room because she loves the idea of no one knowing it’s there; a chandelier in the bathroom; and a pirate chest in the bedroom, just because she always wanted one.