- “Our HOME is very MUCH a CONVIVIAL space.”
- “I’m CRAZY about ART.”
Accountant turned Interior Designer Kerry Hiddleston lives in a delightful home in Sandymount with her husband Patrick O’Grady and their four young children Will, Vivienne, Harley & James.
Ms Hiddleston decided to make the transition to interior design whilst on maternity leave and hasn’t looked back. Her focus on understanding the client’s needs and delivering a beautiful and practical space with wow factor. She often works on family homes and as a mother of young children understands the needs of parents to provide spaces that work for all the family and that they can be proud of. Here, Ms Hiddleston talks to this publication about her marvellous family home.
“We lived in a flat in Sandymount and Pat saw this. It was very higgledy piggeldy, with lots of little extensions and in a terrible state,’’ explained Kerry Hiddleston. “We bought the house and continued to live in the apartment until baby number two was on the way and then we decided to make the house a home.
The house was a 150 years old, but it had no original features – the 1970s hadn’t been kind to it. There was nothing to keep, so we knocked everything except the front wall and a side wall. “The roof was fine and we added the kitchen extension. We’re very lucky, it’s more like a new-build,’’ enthused Ms Hiddleston.
Originally, Kerry wanted a white box, but then she decided to add some curves for interest, including a curved wall in the living room and a curved stairs, and the builders obliged in every way. She also wanted a wall of glass in the new kitchen and light where-ver possible.
The house now has a large open-plan, kitchen/dining/living space and a study on the ground floor, while upstairs there are four bedrooms, one en suite. “In terms of the interior of the house, I am crazy about art and there are some things that I will spend money on and there are some things that I won’t spend money on! For instance, I found the green chesterfield sofas on Done Deal and I bought them off a farmer in Meath for little or nothing,’’ revealed a laughing Kerry.
“Our hall is dark blue and that is because I bought a really nice seascape that I absolutely adore and I thought that if the hall was blue that it would be interesting to arrive in through the front door to a dark space before moving on to a light filled space and that the dark blue would make the painting really pop. “Similarly the green room is quite dramatic but that colour was picked because green is a relaxing colour and it is a reading room. I also bought another amazing painting that has gorgeous shades of red, green and blue in it and I thought the green would really make that painting stand out.
“Our home is very much a convivial space and it is somewhere that you want people to enjoy being in rather than having them thinking that they have to stand on ceremony,’’ she added.
As to Kerry’s overall thoughts on her home?
“We love our home because it works for us and it functions really well for our family. There is a spare room upstairs that we haven’t done any work on yet but it will be tackled! My favourite space in the house would definitely be the front room because it is a reading room and I love reading, there isn’t a television in there so the kids tend to leave me alone when I’m in there!
“I loved renovating the house and we had a really sound builder working with us. The process wasn’t stressful, it was really enjoyable,’’ concluded Kerry Hiddleston.
CONTACT LIST
INTERIOR DESIGN:
Kerry Hiddleston,
Hiddleston Interior Design
086-9582195
www.hiddlestoninteriordesign.com | kerry.hiddleston@gmail.com
KITCHEN UNITS:
Robert Mooney Furniture,
6 Druids Court Industrial Estate, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow – A63 FY90 01-2871397 – 086-2546174
www.robertmooneyfurniture.ie | info@robertmooneyfurniture.ie
BUILDER:
Daren Mollloy,
Spring Construction LTD, Unit 5 Crag Crescent, Clondalkin Business Park, Dublin 22
01-4572525 – 087-9967563
www.springcon.ie | dmolloy@springcon.ie
CABINETRY:John Stewart,
Cófra Kitchens,
25 Northlink Retail Park,
Coes Road, Dundalk, Co. Louth
042-9351599 – 087-2223399
www.cofrakitchens.com | info@cofrakitchens.com
