A Modern Family Home With a Creative Flair

“Showhouse Showdown” was a rare and exciting opportunity to showcase my style on TV, and the production company VIP and Pivotal Construction helped make it a very enjoyable experience. the brief was simple and precise from the offset, design a home for “family living”.

Having two boys I know the necessities and design implications needed for a family home and this took centre stage when generating the concept for my design.

I designed a sofa, derived from a simple sketch, for comfort and slouching but also to withstand the imagination of a young child (tried and tested as a wrestling ring) using a commercial rated velvet on a customised frame it ticked the box for durability and adding an abstract Harlequin fabric (cushion) that set the colour scheme throughout the downstairs of the house.

 

 

For this project it was important to implement my style and my love for simple and timeless design, in order to find the perfect balance of texture and colour in the sitting room I ran the abstract design from the Roman blind across the floor in a customised wool rug, David from Rugs by Design dyed wool to perfectly match the Indigo blue in the velvet and 2 Colourtrend colours Ocean Cruise and Oyster Bed, the lovely chalky green on the wall covering and white based grey that acted as the perfect neutral throughout the house. The heavy texture in the Lincrusta Linoleum wall covering connected the TV room and sitting room and completed the design perfectly. Harvey Norman sponsored the show which gave me the opportunity to use an Italian range of furniture they sell exclusively in Ireland “Domitalia” which represented my style perfectly, the modern tv unit and sideboard were the ideal storage solution for both rooms.

 

I was ridiculously excited about using some usually creative light fittings from Slamp and Limelo Design throughout the house which completed each room with a modern yet creative feel.

 

 

The kitchen was offered as standard and had a restricted budget, using an innovative textured door and colour was “my get out of jail card” for showcasing something a little different, the challenge was to achieve a counterbalance with colour by using a very light white Grey in the worktop and tiles. My obsession with Indigo Navy carried into the hall with a Navy feature wall running up the stairs which co ordinated perfectly with the striped “Roger Oates” runner supplied by Matt Brittion carpets.

 

 

 

Using neutral tones and muted finishes delivered the objective to create a calmness in the bedrooms, by running the colour scheme from downstairs it created a simple flow and connection from one space to the other, Once again Conor and Danny from Concar designs worked tirelessly to colour match the concrete for my customised circular mirror in the master bedroom I felt it would create a feature in the room without altering the ambience.

 

 

I used the kids bedroom to let loose a little, the Forbo flooring was practical and allowed me to implement my love for distinctive colour, I think the petrol blue and bright yellow in the Scion bed range worked perfectly together to create a space that was just “fun for a kid”.