THE INTERIORS of the houses in the Lyons Village (see page 1) are inspired by an eclectic mix of eras and styles - all chosen by the late Dr Tony Ryan. This kitchen is in a typically rustic French farmhouse style with rough walls, beamed ceiling and distressed furniture.
The wall of logs was inspired by the 19th century practice of stacking logs horizontally so you could see the woodgrain in all its glory.
Michael Martin, the MD of Lyons Village, says it's not a particularly expensive look to replicate. For a wall of that size you would need four to five logs - the ones used are birch - with 2.5mm trunks 150mm in diameter. The tricky part is in cutting them so there's no chipping and the log face is smooth, so preparation is required. The ones used at the Lyons Estate range from 50mm to 250mm in diameter and are glued onto the wall.
Next step is finding suitably rustic or aged furniture. If you can't, then cheat by distressing furniture using paint techniques. The table and benches and antique dresser were sourced in France and painted light blue using a mix of base coat, blue and white Farrow Ball paint from MRCB paints and papers (01 6798755). www.furnituretoday.ie (1890 882500) has a large range of dressers that can be painted to achieve the look. Their French-style one is €1,579.
