The Interiors Directory – Latest Blogs

You are here :

Orna O'Reilly (9)

I have been an interior designer for more than twenty years. A long time in this business! I qualified years ago in the eighties, but Ireland was, at that time, pretty well an interior designer free zone. I then had the opportunity to move to South Africa, where interior design was – and still is - truly recognised as a profession of note. I suddenly had a terrific opportunity to be taken seriously and I really worked hard, opening my business in Nelspruit (close to Kruger National Park) in 1990. I began working in Mozambique after the civil war ended in 1992 and all the embassies were moving back there from Overseas. Lots of renovations of beautiful, old Colonial mansions - and even a courthouse - gave me enormous satisfaction. They were great times…there’s something about being on site beside the Indian Ocean with the hot sun and the palm trees……I returned to Ireland in 2000 and within a couple of years had got my business up and running again. It just goes to show how portable we designers are! I have been working happily in Galway since I returned and, though the past two years have been a bit turbulent business-wise, most of us are surviving quite well, as far as I can tell.

Tuesday, 27 March 2012 09:55

First Impressions

First impressions count! As we all know, that first sight over the threshold of an unfamiliar house can create a lasting impression.

Many people spend a great deal of time and money decorating their main living areas stylishly and expensively. The hallway is often ignored and can unintentionally create a cold and unfriendly atmosphere. The starting block for the style you wish to create in your home begins here. A real and lasting impact can be made on those who arrive at your front door. Light and airy or dark and mysterious, fabulously luxurious and sophisticated, or cool and casual-the choice is yours. It can set the mood and even build the image, and because less time is actually spent there, we are able to incorporate more dramatic design aspects.
Hallways need to be welcoming. Good lighting, a wall mirror to check the lipstick and hair with a handy table or console for keys underneath, which can also hold a vase of flowers, a place for coats and umbrellas, and a convenient loo and washbasin are all essential.

As the entrance hall says so much about the rest of the house, it is a most important area and one that is often forgotten when designing the rooms leading off it. The halls and corridors are the areas which link these rooms together and are as much a part of the final picture as any room in the house. In fact, these areas are the linchpin-the whole knitting together of the interior design of the home.
The hall, stairs and landing areas must be decorated as part of the whole house, not as a separate and neglected part of it, deemed to be an unnecessary extra in the scheme of things. These areas are not just blank, soulless corridors to be ignored as you pass through, like hurrying through the area from an aeroplane to the baggage hall in an airport!

If your hall is large and square, it is most attractive to place a round table in the centre, with a big vase of flowers. This will create a very luxurious feeling to the home from the moment the front door is opened.

If you place furniture in your hall, look at it from the stairs to ensure that the proportion is correct when viewed from all angles. Your hall, landings and corridors are excellent places for bookcases. It is important to light them well. Don't forget the beauty of an Oriental rug can be used to wonderful effect if wood or tiles are the flooring of choice. It will help to improve acoustics and add a splash of colour to an otherwise bare floor.A mirror could be placed over a radiator cover and your hall is furnished with very little effort. In addition, your hall is an excellent place to hang pictures. The same applies to landings and corridors.
The photographs here show two different halls I recently designed and refurbished. Galway House was great fun and very challenging. You will see by the "before" photo that it is a large area with no place for coats except for a coat rack. A difficult area to keep tidy, this hallway needed to be completely redesigned.

Galway House - Before
rsz_1galway_hall_before

If you look at the "after" photos, you will see that I designed built-in units under the stairs and created a cosy corner with shelves and a sofa. To add to the "room" feeling, I added bookshelves with the background painted the same colour as the luxurious deep purple carpet. To add to the effect, I installed curtains over the front door and installed a roman blind over the window at the bottom of the stairs.

Galway House - After
rszgalwayhouseafter1

I then renovated the tiny shower-room off the hall to reflect the modern design and colour scheme.

Galway House Shower Room - After
rszgalwayhallshowerroom

The County Clare House created a different challenge altogether. A typical Irish hallway, it was a dark, neglected area. To inject some light, I had the spindles and handrail removed from the stairs and replaced with glass panels. I also replaced the front door and installed the new one with glass side-windows reaching the floor by taking out the two side nibs. A simple solution to an everyday problem, which turned out extremely well.

Clare House - Before

rszclarehousebefore