0 of 8Dulux (dulux.ie) is setting up a drop-in design hub at 51c Dawson Street, Dublin 2, where you can peruse its 2014 colours (above) and attend free daily lunchtime and evening talks with Denise O’Connor of RTÉ’s Design Doctors , who will be discussing how to unlock your home’s interior design potential. Open from 10am to 6pm each day you need to pre-register for the talks on dulux.ie, or design-week.ie. Bring along photos and dimensions of the room you would like advice on. Industry (01-6139111, industry design.ie), 5 Essex Street West, Temple Bar, Dublin, has popped-up at 41a and 41b Drury Street where it is selling its usual cool interiors, including an army pouffe, €145, and a table lamp with a knitted shade, €215 (above), and have also introduced fashion accessories. It has launched a competition inviting Dublin designers to create prints inspired by the city. The winning design will go into production and be sold in the shop. Their designer shortlist will be exhibited in the shop from November 8th when there will be a launch party that readers are invited to. The shop will be in situ until January 6th. To celebrate Design Week (designweek.ie) Dublin-based textile designer collective Print Block is holding an exhibition which explores the synergy between architecture and textiles (above) at the offices of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (676 1703, riai.ie), at 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. It opens on November 5th and will include an evening of free talks including one given by Angela Rolfe, assistant principal architect at the Office of Public Works, who will be talking about State architect Raymond McGrath, who collaborated with Donegal Carpets on projects for Dublin Castle’s State apartments and for Irish embassies in London, Washington, Paris, Rome and Ottawa. The talks are free but must be booked in advance by contacting Teresa Harte, tharte@riai.ie.The exhibition ends on November 18th. Savvy shoppers already familiar with the Tiger’s thrillingly cheap Danish-designed accessories will be delighted to hear it has just opened a new dhop at the GPO Arcade, Dublin 1. Stock up on glue guns, €5, edgy face masks for Halloween, €2, gorgeous jigsaws for small kids, €2, on-trend folkloric lunchboxes that can double up as a handbag,€3, and Movember- inspired moustache doormats, €8 (above). tiger-stores.ie The Eileen Gray exhibition at Imma makes you want to emulate her aesthetic. This chair, in the style of Gray’s Bibendum, is seen here in black but is also available to order in white, cream, red, antique tan and chocolate-brown leather from, by appointment only, CA Design (01-514 3540, cadesign.ie) at 44 South Dock Street, South Lotts Road, Dublin 4. It normally sells for €1,100. Bargain Hunter readers who present today’s column can buy it for €770. Offer ends November 7th. Keep burglars at bay with DoorJammer (0044-1424 429641, door-jammer.com), a nifty device that slips under your door and prevents it from being jammed open by converting any horizontal force exerted on the door from the outside, into a vertical force. DoorJammer helps prevent kick-ins, shoulder slams and any forcible attempt to enter. The device can be used on any floor type; flat or inclined, stone, hardwood , carpet, tiles and linoleum. The device normally costs €29.99. Bargain Hunter readers who call the number above and mention the column can avail of an introductory offer of €25.49. Offer available by phone only and ends November 30th. The Jotul Scan 1001 (jotuluk.com), 59.60cm by 66.80cm, is a modern-looking, wood-burning, insert fire with a white surround door and a clear glass handle. Greystones-based Fenton Fires (01-2811069, fentonfires.ie), Stanley House, Church Road, is offering it at the introductory price of €2,450, a 20 per cent reduction on its recommended retail price. This picture is of its larger brother, the Scan 1002, which measures 81.80cm across rather than the 66.80cm of the Scan 1. The fire has an efficiency of up to 82 per cent. Offer ends November 15th. Bo Concept’s (boconcept.com) Breda stacking chair, 84cm by 46cm by 51cm, has a Halloween feel to its colour options and comes in orange, black and grey . The 3D-injected moulded design is reduced from €169 to €135 at the brand’s two Dublin shops at Arnotts (01-8045881), Henry Street, Dublin 1, and Unit 7 (01-2932008), Beacon South Quarter, Sandyford, Dublin 18. Offer ends November 30th.
‘Buying the bank seemed daring’: how one couple transformed a rural bank branch into a home and business
Merrily Harpur – painter, cartoonist, author and co-founder of the Strokestown International Poetry Festival