Interiors & Lifestyle

Inside a Showstopping Georgian-style Galway home

Published

Oct 29, 2024

Words

Nathalie Marquez Courtney

A daring and colourful mix of cool, contemporary design and elegant conservation make this Galway City abode stand out from the crowd.

It is rare that the dreary “before” stage of a project serves as inspiration for the “after”, but that is the case in this dramatic makeover of a three-story 1960s Georgian-style house, which is home to a busy family of seven.

“When we first met the family to get the original briefing, we all sat in the then dark and cosy kitchen, around a pot of tea served with home-baked treats,” recalls interior designer Róisín Lafferty. “Although cold and lacking in natural light, there was a character that we wanted to retain.”

The lounge area gives way to a light-filled dining space, which Róisín says is “the bridge between the old and new.” The sleek and contemporary bench and dining table are juxtaposed with original dining chairs, combining them with Italian mid century wall sconces for a stripped back and raw aesthetic.

Designing a home that blends old and new with natural light and family life

“This house had a wonderful soul and spirit from the onset of the project, and we sought to embrace and harness that,” she continues. “Our key self-appointed task was to create an interior that sensitively encompassed the essence of the property and for the end result to feel like it had always been like that.”

Róisín’s award-winning eponymous design studio (previously known as Kingston Lafferty) worked with architect Helena McElmeel on this bold and ambitious project, which took four years to complete.

“Our role was to look at the interior architecture of the whole house, the connection between old and new, the functions of the house,” explains Róisín. “We also looked at the way the family wanted to live in their home, the spaces that they naturally gravitated towards and how best to design the configuration and journey between these, and, most importantly, how best to integrate natural light to key areas.”

The sunken “conversation pit” lounge features Davide Groppi’s Moon lamp, which is hand-made with Japanese paper, alongside dramatic Flos wall lights and Roche Bobois Mah Yongsofas.

The home is the epicentre of a hectic and bustling family life: “Busy days with family breakfasts, homework, after- school activities, paths crossing throughout the day, to calmer evenings, home-cooked meals, Irish dancing practice, and both quiet and raucous evening times. It is very much a lived-in home.”

The rear extension, with its sunken “conversation pit” seating area, was a favourite of Róisíns to design. “The thinking was to sink the seating down so that the view through to the garden could be better celebrated,” she explains. “By creating a structural opening in the kitchen, suddenly we were able to visually connect the kitchen, dining and rear lounge, and, by sinking the lounge, we kept a clear visual to the garden.”

“Unlike the rest of the existing house, this space is light-filled from all aspects, including a vaulted roof light, so we designed streamlined limed oak joinery to clad the stove and TV wall, adding a warmth and natural tactility and integrated classic light fittings to sculpturally define it.”

Bold and bright stone coffee tables were selected to anchor the reception rooms and sculptural seating and fun mid-century lighting was chosen to layer up shapes and add youth and vibrancy. The kitchen holds on to its traditional feel.

Blending tradition with playful design: a timeless, dark-stained kitchen and vibrant, eclectic living spaces

The team focused on making the kitchen a central core, visually connected and framed by the other spaces on the ground floor. “It was designed to be deliberately old-fashioned,” says Róisín. Dark-stained oak abounds, and the design team took inspiration from the original kitchen table when designing the kitchen island.

“Our role was to look at the interior architecture of the whole house, the connection between old and new”

The main reception rooms flirt with old and new elements. Strong stone coffee tables were selected to anchor these two rooms and sculptural seating was chosen to layer up shapes and add youth and vibrancy.

“Rather than opting for formal chandeliers, the eclectic forms and mobile-like shapes of the Sputnik lights offered a playfulness and fun to these spaces, picking up on the primary colours of the original floor tiles [in the hallway],” says Róisín.

Another surprising source of design inspiration came from 2017’s American television series The Handmaid’s Tale. “Although heavy, intense, futuristic and dystopian, the series captivated me in terms of set design and overall atmosphere,” says Róisín. “The spaces in the main home exuded a shadowed, atmospheric and poetic darkness, whilst at the same time, a strangely inviting feeling, drawing you inside the well-worn, homely and somehow timeless interior.”