In early March I attended my nephew’s confirmation. We all went for lunch afterwards, three generations, the restaurant was heaving. Every table was full, plenty of other families were out celebrating. Little did any of us know that within two weeks we would be in lockdown. I work for myself but I am lucky in that I share a busy office with some architects in Blackrock. There are always comings and goings. We stop for coffee around eleven and have a chat and catch up and often have lunch together in the communal boardroom. It is great to be able to run ideas and work issues by likeminded people. Myself and my husband worked from home during lockdown. My husband was still busy but I found myself with more time on my hands. I cleaned the house from top to bottom, rehung art, tackled some, but not all, of the tasks that we have been putting on the long finger. We have both been doing more gardening and thanks to the beautiful weather, we have been able to enjoy the garden more.

The bed is not always dressed like this and I’m pretty sure that the Eileen Grey tables need a good dusting but if I’ve learnt anything over the last couple of months it’s to enjoy the spaces we have. Too often I’m guilty of thinking too much about the jobs to be done (I’ve two wallpaper panels waiting to be hung out of shot!), so slowing down is not easy! This is my conscious place of rest and relaxation.

We moved during the middle of the pandemic and the house we moved into really needed a paint-lift. It was previously an Airbnb type let so it needed some serious TLC. We painted the entire house ourselves (ceilings included) in Colourtrend paint. In my work life Colourtrend is always a first-choice paint for its coverage and trueness to colour. The house is a coach house, so the living room area sits under the stairs as part of the dining space, so I really wanted to zone this space to cocoon the area. I painted the living room alcove in ‘Huntsman’ whilst leaving the other walls in the space ‘Wild Garlic’. Huntsman is a beautiful moss green colour that changes throughout the day with the light. In the evening it’s a gorgeous deep tone, perfect for lighting the candles for those all too familiar nights spent indoors, whilst during the day it’s a lighter tone injecting colour into the space.

Our dining area is the family room and we congregate around an oak table by the Danish family business – dk3. The table was made to order and, with two extension leaves, it can seat up to 16 people. With all the men in the house, I kept the chairs in practical tan leather. The shelving unit is one of my all-time favourite storage designs, dating from 1948, by Danish architect Paul Cadovius.