Cohesive & Considered

When renovating and redesigning their family home in Cork, these homeowners enlisted the help of a professional to ensure the layout was functional and a seamless style flowed throughout.

Project manager and interior designer Dave O'Brien from RJ O'Brien Building Contractors was approached by these homeowners just as they had received planning permission for their home renovations. 'I was brought in right at the beginning and while I also project manage builds and renovations, in this instance, I was only tasked with the interior design.

The design process is very much a collaboration between designer and client and always includes a huge amount of trust. It's a good idea to engage with your interior designer from the very beginning because it reduces the risk of any costly structural changes further down the line. For example, in this particular project were able to reposition the sliding door and the steps up into the garden, which in turn gave a better flow with the proposed design for the living room and out into the garden.'

With three young children, the owners were finding the existing layout of their home very cramped and it just wasn't meeting the demands of how they liked to live in the house. So, they decided to extend and open up their existing living space which Dave then zoned into four distinct areas.

'As an interior designer, it is important to listen to what your client needs to achieve from the layout of their home. Once I had a better understanding of the dynamics of their family life I was able to segregate this large open-plan area, which allows all five of them to be together within one space, while doing what they want, whether cooking, eating, watching TV, or relaxing.