A ‘cleverly designed’ cosy Cork city home sailed through to the Home of the Year final with flying colours, getting top marks from the judges.
In the penultimate episode, judges Hugh Wallace, Amanda Bone and Sara Cosgrove were back in business this week with three more homes to visit.
And the competition was tight, as they visited a modern panoramic house in Dublin, an old shop conversion in Kilkenny and a city home with protected facade in Cork.
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But it was the latter that proved the big winner, proving size is not the be all and end all in the programme.
Sinead Murphy lives in a stylish city home with a protected façade in Cork.
When Sinead viewed the home it was in need of a full renovation but she fell in love with it. The building has a protected façade so the work was completed from within with the help of her dad.
Sinead furnished the property with a mix of 70’s, Scandi and art deco furnishings inspired by her travels in New York. She loves how central and stylish her home is. It’s a place where she can people watch but also be away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
And the judges loved the space too, particularly Sara, who gave it a top score of 10/10.
She said: “Great things come in small packages and this house for me was just a great package. Very romantic but practical and clever. And therefore I give this home a 10.”
“It’s a lesson really in how to maximise a cosy footprint and make it absolutely sing.”
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Amanda added: “I think this is gorgeous, it is a very feminie space, it is not a very large space, but they have managed to create two very generous zones. And there is quite a lot of furniture but it doesn’t feel cluttered.
“In every single room I have been surprised by the clever design.”
The house scored a huge total of 28 points and will go through to the final in April, where the winner will be crowned.
Elsewhere in Dublin, the judges visited the home of Shirley Coleman and Alan Coleman.
The pair have created a modern panoramic house in North Co. Dublin.
Shirley loves the contemporary and spacious interior of her family home and how the house echoes the modernist style, that of linking the indoor and the outdoor living spaces, she loves how it sits in the landscape with a view to the sea, enjoying panoramic views of both the sunrise and the evening setting sun.
The judges were also hugely impressed by Padraig and Gráinne Haughney’s home.
The couple live in the old shop conversion along with their three boys, in Kilkenny.
Built in the 1820’s as a commercial property, it had been lying vacant for over 50 years before they purchased the premises and, over a three-year period, transformed it into a family home.
As the shopfront is listed, it remained, but was restored along with other original characteristics including the high sloping ceilings, beam and tie bars.
The family love the history of the property and how they have been able to turn it into a family home at the heart of the community.
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