Curtain calls

When production designer Noel McEntee first moved into this 1940s house it 'looked like a squat'. Not any longer, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

MEET PRODUCTION designer and curtain maker Noel McEntee, whose fun mix of kitsch and collectibles has created a home with heart. McEntee learned his craft working on RTÉ television shows creating looks for Fair City and The Saturday Night Show. He even upholstered the chairs that are the focal point of The Voice.

From his rented home in Dublin 14 he’s created a fake vertical garden for the Masterchef set and blacked out the Helix Theatre for Fame the Musical. He sewed two square kilometres of curtain, sewing 18 kilometres of continuous curtain from his modest front room.

Before that he was merchandising manager for Habitat, responsible for creating the alluring room sets that made the furniture and accessories sing. His home is testament to the staying power of that shop’s designs.

He rents the 1940s house with his partner, Stephen Kelly, a horticulturist and painter. The house belongs to Stephen’s grandfather.

“When I first moved in Stephen’s college friends shared the house with him,” Noel explains. “The place looked like a squat.” Slowly but surely he set about creating a clean space that also celebrated the property’s 1940s origins. In the kitchen he installed new cabinets bought at Homebase. He held onto the rest of the furniture reupholstering the original dining chairs using a vintage-style fabric, Leaf by Osborne and Little. A pull-down press, the type once seen in every home in Ireland, was repainted rather than thrown out.

In the sitting room he installed heavy wool, floor-length curtains to keep out draughts. They have a narrow pelmet so as not to overwhelm the space. The table is also original to the house but had decades of dirt ingrained into it. Noel pared back the surface using wood stripper and finished it with bee’s wax.

The house has a retro feel. The avocado green sofa was purchased from Table Lighting Chair and is carved out of one piece of wood. Other mid-century modern pieces were purchased from 20th Century Design, a concession within Habitat. Adorning the wall above the sofa is Noel’s cabinet of curiosities, knick knacks from his life and souvenirs from his extensive travels in South America, Asia and North Africa. It also includes items of sentimental value – ornaments from the family Christmas tree and soil from Uluru – Ayer’s Rock in Australia. On an adjacent wall there is a beaded jaguar made by the Huichol Indians in Mexico – one of the few tribes not conquered by the Conquistadors.

Two terracotta Day of the Dead ladies sit under a bell jar in front of the TV. He carried these in hand luggage wrapped in acres of tissue paper all the way home. These were made by Guanajuato Indians.

On the shelves there are goats from Austria, dolls from Peru, a bull made by Royal Dux, and an Aztec children’s toy, said to be given to a child who was about to be sacrificed to distract him or her from their impending and gruesome end.

The central light in the living room is one of the many pieces he bought from Habitat on staff discount.

The room is painted a gooseberry green, a colour that “goes with everything”, Noel says.

A comfortable wingback chair sits by the fireside. He bought this at auction and reupholstered it. He reimagines furniture, mainly chairs and standard lamps, taking chairs with good bone structure and giving them a new lease of life by upholstering them. These are for sale in Article in Dublin’s Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.

The front room is now Noel’s sewing room where he works on these largescale jobs. It’s a space he’s outgrown and he’s looking to set up studio outside the home.

In the roomy hall he’s papered one of the walls in dramatic foxglove print by Suzy Hoodless for Osborne and Little. On the side board there is a lampshade by London-based Irish felt artist Ann Kyyro Quinn.

An “awful-looking carpet” on the stairs was removed and Noel created a paint-effect carpet using a mid grey. A dark border makes the paint pattern stand out. Along the stairwell is a selection of framed watercolour prints from a children’s book.

A wooden moose, a piece he describes as “vegan taxidermy” hangs from on high and is another Habitat purchase.

In their bedroom a map of the world features large above the bed. It’s an eBay buy. The Indian bed side tables were found in Oxfam Home. The quilts on the bed were made by Noel’s granny.

The house is a work in progress. It is unfinished. You should see the spare bedroom, says Noel. "It looks like Fr Jack's bedroom from Fr Ted – it doesn't even have kitsch factor." Noel McEntee is available for curtain and upholstery commissions. For more call 086 1716599 or see noelmcenteebydesign.com.

His reimagined work is available to buy in Article, Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin 2. Call 01-679 9268.