Confidence in Colour

When Kim Hankey, interior designer and colour consultant, was approached in 2017 to reimagine a 1970s bungalow in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, the initial request was modest: style the living room and hallway. But once the transformation began, it didn't stop.

- EDITORIAL BY EMMA DEIGHAN.

When you call in an interior designer to work on your home and that designer has a specialism in colour, you know the result is going to be bold, brave and conclude in a marriage of hues that will create an identity like no other, and that's what Kim Hankey has done with this homeowner's space.

'My client originally contacted me for two rooms,' begins Kim, but once they saw the impact of colour and considered styling, they wanted that same energy in the rest of the home.' What followed was a full redesign, both structurally and aesthetically, of a now 12-room family home.

A rear extension was added, and the entire internal layout reconfigured to suit the needs of a the growing family. The original floor plan just didn't work anymore. We took it right back to basics and built it around how they actually live,' Kim adds.

With everything on one level, flow and cohesion were vital. 'Each room needed to complement the next. You're not going upstairs to 'change tone', the transitions here are immediate, so they have to feel seamless,' Kim says when asked how she approaches each room.

Colour is Kim's calling card. As a paint consultant, she was delighted that the clients were open to bold choices. 'I always grab those chances with both hands,' she says.