Romaine Scally's house is not just highly personalised - it's also a clever spacious extension to a small dormer bungalow. Photographer Barbara Egan paid a visit.
Dublin divorce lawyer Romaine Scally has put her own stamp on this once-ordinary dormer bungalow in south Co Dublin. "I just fell for this house the minute I went in the door, before I even saw past the hall," says Scally. "It had such a lovely feeling to it I sensed I could be very happy here, and I was right."
Although she loved her new home from the start, its layout was not ideal. There was a maze of small rooms: "a tiny sitting room, dining room and galley kitchen on the ground floor, a complete nightmare to even try to cook in," she says.
She decided to knock through the walls and flood the house with light. Two architects and sets of plans later, architect Robin Mandel produced a scheme which included a double-height kitchen extension with a mezzanine gallery, full of light and space, and it was budget-conscious, too.
"My most cherished dream was to have a really lovely, easy-to-work-in kitchen, which would be attractive and a sociable space for small groups, where friends and family would like to come and eat and relax," explains Scally.
Luckily, her neighbours passed on a name to her: Tony Lalor of Lalorcraft Kitchens, who was happy to discuss a choice of designs for her new kitchen.
Interior designer Greg Kinsella helped with the colour scheme, but when he showed Scally a sample wallpaper for the dining room, she was quite hesitant. "Greg knew I loved vibrant colour, and was trying to guide that taste into something a little more sophisticated," says Scally, "but that particular sample paper made me nervous."
The day it was hung, Scally rushed home from the office to see. "I knew I would either love it or hate it; I opened the door with great trepidation," she says. "I loved it. I love it even more now."