Designer Simon O'Driscoll got his brothers to help plan his city cottage, writes Eoin Lyons
Simon O'Driscoll has a friend to thank for ending up with his perfect home. Four years ago the furniture designer moved into her terraced cottage, in Harold's Cross in Dublin, while she went travelling for a year. "By the time the year was up I'd fallen in love with the place," says O'Driscoll, whose business, which he runs with his brother Tadgh, is a relatively short walk away. "The terrace is very quiet, and because it's close to the city centre I can cycle everywhere."
By luck a house on the terrace came up for sale soon after his friend returned. He bought it and set about renovating it, a process that ended last year. "It was in a dreadful state, so we demolished and rebuilt from scratch, adding a first floor, but at the back only, so it didn't interfere with the single-storey look of the terrace."
Another of O'Driscoll's brothers, Michael, who is an architect, designed the house; another, Patrick, a landscape designer, created the front garden. "The idea was to open up the house, so the living and kitchen areas would become one, and light could penetrate through to other rooms. We moved the bathroom from the ground to the new first floor, beside the main bedroom, and made the original bedroom, downstairs, bigger, so it could be an office."
KITCHEN AND LIVING AREA Douglas-fir flooring runs through the kitchen and living area. "Narrow strips can make a room seem smaller, so these are wide." O'Driscoll likes variety: the orange Zoon chair was one of his first pieces; the red sofa is also by O'Driscoll Furniture.
The coffee table is from Design Link, a new line that he and his brother Tadgh have designed for Sherry Furniture (available at Arnotts). It's circular with a glass top and two small nesting quadrants that can be pulled out to become side tables. It costs €490. In a small house it often makes sense to have an open-plan kitchen. O'Driscoll's front door opens straight into the living and kitchen area. The staircase opposite the door hides the fridge, recycling boxes, vacuum cleaner and spare mattress. O'Driscoll designed the kitchen: units are veneered in wenge, an exotic wood. The oval oak kitchen table and dining chairs are also O'Driscoll designs.
HOME OFFICE "It's good to get away from the office and work from home the odd time," says O'Driscoll. "I can design here when it gets distracting at work. A maple table and an Eames chair sit near the window. The entertainment and display unit has a sliding door that can hide one side if the other is untidy. The exterior is walnut and the interior is maple. The room, which is beyond the kitchen, doubles as a bedroom when friends stay.
BEDROOM The wardrobes are made from bamboo flooring. Subtle vertical lines suggest the shape of the compressed stalks. "I like this material because bamboo is fast-growing and therefore ecological. I don't like to use materials that aren't from managed forests. We got it from a company called Plyboo in Holland. Cut-out handles keep it simple and avoid anything projecting from the surface." Polished-steel O'Driscoll lamps rest on two Sherry side tables. The red quilt was designed by Marc O'Neill, a friend who stays when in Dublin.
BATHROOM The bathroom runs the width of the house but is quite narrow. Using a mirror to make the space seem larger works very well here: two walls are clad in mirror from the Glass Centre (01-4541711). "The ceiling is sloped - it's not really a proper-sized room - so the mirror helps bring in as much daylight as possible." The walls and floor are covered in tiny round tiles from Mosaic Assemblers (01-6765328). There's nothing superfluous, such as skirting boards, which gives the room a stream- lined look and makes it easy to clean. The sink and toilet hang from the wall, which aids cleaning and makes the room seem larger, as you can see more floor. Two mirrored doors hide the washing machine, dryer and ironing board. The chair is by Gio Ponti.