In this house by the sea in Co Dublin designed by Caulfield Wright, Eilish Rickard has created a contemporary, relaxed and inviting interior…
Interior architect Eilish Rickard established her eponymous interiors business in 2019 with the aim of creating beautiful, liveable family homes. Her style mixes traditional with contemporary, focusing on high quality materials and incorporating timeless architectural details. The pursuit of perfection, she says, is the enemy of comfort.
Deep shelves and a window seat create an inviting space.
“Comfort is big for me. I want to walk in the door, and for all my senses to respond, to relax. I want big sofas, natural materials that can take dogs and kids and that age beautifully over time, in other words real, as opposed to precious.”
People, she says, are bombarded on social media by the perfect interior image, styled to the hilt. “In reality, this is a horrible space to live in – hard, shiny, flat. We all long for softness, a warm glow, spaces that accommodate, not ones that make you feel on edge.”
With 13 years’ experience working in high-end residential and commercial interior design studios and five years leading her own practice, Eilish knows the value of being involved at the very start of a project, even before the electrical plan is designed, and ideally while the architect is still on site. “Being able to collaborate in the early stages in that triangle with architect and client means the outcome will be so much more satisfactory.”
A navy kitchen is a nod to the seaside location of the house.
In this house by the sea in Co Dublin designed by Caulfield Wright, Eilish has created a contemporary, relaxed and inviting interior. She stresses the importance of paying attention to how spaces will be used and will evolve over time so every important detail is carefully considered from the very beginning.
The exposed brick wall of the dining room and a beautiful pendant light with fabric shades at different heights.
Even without an interior expert, there’s no reason why anyone’s spaces should contain sad or empty-looking bookshelves or lack lamps, vases and other decorative pieces. Eilish’s online interiors store Dwell has gorgeous things, along with tips on how to style them. www.dwellbyeilishrickard.com; www.eilishrickardinteriors.com, @eilishrickardinteriors
A dusty pink palette and pink zellige tiles make for a pretty bedroom and bathroom combo.
Eilish Rickard begins projects with a muted colour palette, building up layers of materials and textures that age well to add warmth and character.
