Eoin Lyons gets some decorating advice from designer Philippa Buckley
When Philippa Buckley, an interior designer, tackled this family home in Churchtown, in south Dublin, one of her aims was to work the family's existing antiques into a contemporary setting. "A home has to be lived in, and people usually have things they want to keep," she says. "What I tried to achieve is a marriage between the old and new . . . Modern furniture and antiques can merge really well." Although the house has been extended, most rooms are of average size, so the neutral colour scheme and much of the new furniture were chosen to make the place feel larger.
A LITTLE LIVING ROOM
The sofas - by Kingcome, an English company - are low and compact but still very comfortable. Each can seat three people and is covered in tweed. A glass table allows more of the wool-and-linen Habitat rug to be seen. A dated mantelpiece was replaced with something simpler in stone from Belle Cheminée, on Capel Street (01-8724122). "We made the hearth quite large and deep. It's good to do this when a room is small." Mahogany tables stand on either side of the mantelpiece; one is a family heirloom, the other is for symmetry. Lucite lamps from the 1930s sit on each.
A SEMI-TRAD KITCHEN
The units had to be worked around a structural pillar and an immovable beam. They are painted cream with glass doors and smart black handles, made to Buckley's spec by Designwood, in Rathmines (01-4977539). "It's traditional because we wanted something that would last that bit longer style-wise. But I love stainless steel, so the splashback behind the hob is in this material, and so are all the accessories. It brings a modern element."
AN ARTY WALL
In other rooms the original floorboards were sanded and treated, but they chose a mahogany floor ("expensive at the outset but lasts forever") for the family room. One wall is given over to art the family has collected. To hang them, they drew two imaginary horizontal lines along the wall. The biggest picture determined the space between them, and the rest of the collection was then hung within the lines. Buckley had some of the pictures reframed, including a fine piece by the Irish artist George Campbell that hangs in the centre of the grouping. She uses Slattery Framing (01-4978446) in Rathmines, one of the best framers in Dublin (they also work with galleries such as Ib Jorgensen). The sofa is covered in a soft cord by Ka International and is from the Sofa Factory (01-4546877).
AN OLD-NEW BEDROOM
For the master bedroom, Buckley found small tables with inlaid mahogany at a small antique fair. They sit alongside a gilded French antique bed from Morrin Antiques. The blend of old and new is here too: on the tables are tall metal lamps with mesh shades, bought at Brown Thomas. "What I like about them is that height. People think they need a low lamp beside a bed, but taller is better, because it brings the eye upwards. Tall, slender lamps are better for reading in bed".
A 1930s HALL
A mirror by Knowles & Christou, an English furniture company, has 15 angled sides with bevelled edges. There's a subtle 1930s atmosphere throughout the house. Two Murano glass lamps, which also owe a debt to that period, offset the mirror. The console table they rest on already belonged to the family.