The Creative Touch

A lovely combination of modern and upcycled pieces give this Swords home a fresh and unique look.

- PENNY CRAWFORD-COLLINS

I love to upcycle and where possible do the work myself, every room really reflects this,' says Andrea O'Connell, a sales consultant at Helen Turkington, who lives in owner of BBT Furniture. The couple has completely transformed the dated décor of the interiors. The house was in great condition when we moved in, but the décor wasn't to my taste. The kitchen looked relatively new, it was cream and high gloss but I really didn't like it, it wasn't my style at all. The living room had an orange oak floor, the hallway had chalky terracotta tiles with a patterned border and the bathroom was cream and brown tiled. Thankfully we didn't have to do any structural work, but every room needed decorating,' explains Andrea.

When the couple first moved in, to freshen it up they set about painting the main rooms, the living room, kitchen, hall and their bedroom. After about a year they had a small budget and they decided to tackle the downstairs rooms in the house. 'We did it all at once, we fitted a new kitchen, floor and wall tiles, we laid laminate flooring throughout and fitted carpet in the hall and landing. We painted everywhere again and bought all new furniture,' says Andrea. Now looking back Andrea admits, in an attempt to make everything look shiny and new, she really rushed into the redecorating. 'Our DIY disaster was covering the oak floor in the living room and hall with a dark brown laminate, the living room is north facing and is quite dark and this made it even darker!' says Andrea, who just last year finally ripped this all up, sanded the oak floor back and stained it in a chalked oak oil. This has made such a difference, it's so much lighter and a lovely room to relax in,' says Andrea.