A colourful interior
February 6, 2009
Clodagh Conroy has been working as an Interior Designer in the commercial sector for the past six years. Her commissions include a select amount of private work including project managing refurbishment and interiors projects and has also been a presenter on the TV show 'Desperate Houses' in 2005-2007 for RTE television. Previously she worked in the film idustry as a Production Designer for 12 years with many credits including 'The Beckett' plays on film (2001), 'Dancing at Lugnasa' (1998), and 'In the name of the father' (1993). She is married, has three young children and lives in Dublin, here she tells us about her use of colour for a recent project in Dublin.
This 'show apartment' is one of six that I produced for the launch of a development of 320 apartments on the North side of Dublin city. The developer deliberately nominated only 2 different types of apartments. So my brief was to make 3 identical apartments look as individual as possible and so give the prospective buyers some imagination as to what they could achieve within their own apartments, I thought this was an excellent idea, given the nature of the spaces.
My idea was to first of all appeal to the young buyers that the development was geared towards. So I went for strong themes with bold colours and a sence of fun, while still maintaining a consistently high ideal of style. I wanted them to have a pop culture feel and the over emphasis of colour themes would help people viewing to identify which apartment types they liked and help the development feel memorable when they left.
The starting point was the Orchid wallpaper which is from the Cole & Sons range. This paper was the inspiration and style theme of the apartment. They had a matching fabric for the drapes, which in any other circumstance I would never go for, but in this particular case, with this particular wallpaper, I really felt 'if you start you may as well finish' so I went ahead and matched the drapes, which gives a very dramatic effect in the room.
The Lime green velvet sofas were made bespoke for me from an excellent upholsterer I have up my sleeve, and their stong sense of line and solidness are the perfect counterpoint to the graphic walls. The coffee table is a makey-up job as I wanted an oval mirrored piece which wasn't available to purchase, so I simply used a wall mirror and had the base of another coffee table welded on. It looks great with the oversized retro wall mirror, which brings a lightness and bit of fun to the room. The furry rugs emphasise the fun element and add the essential softness. The prints were very carefully chosen too, as the Tango dancers are dynamic, dramatic and pure.
If your decorating with colour my advice is not to be scared. Colour is wonderful. Look at nature, it is simply bursting with vibrant colour, and the crazier the better. Nature doesn't do bland, so why should you in your home. Every home is different and every individual has their idea of taste, so broad strokes of rules rarely apply. Sometimes it is better to keep the walls neutral, and put colour into your furniture, and then sometimes it is better to do the reverse. But remember, just because a room is dark, lacking in natural light, does not mean that you should paint it cream or white as this can make the room bland and washed out and leave you feeling no emotional connection when it comes to living in that space. Instead do the opposite and go for a rich colour to cozy the whole thing up.
The good thing is, and what I always maintain, is that paint is cheap. Try the colour, and if you don't like it, change it. Really it's not a financial disaster and more often than not you won't really know until its on the walls and in the room. Low level lighting really helps with dark rooms too, as it adds atmosphere instead of natural brightness. If your room is already decorated and you feel it's not really 'coming together' simply buy a range of accessories that co-ordinate, like cushions and a few ornaments and you will be amazed what they can do. I'm a big cushion fan, and change my own regularly to freshen up our living room. Marks & Spencer, Habitat and House of Frazer are great on these products and they won't break the bank either.
To see more work from Clodagh go to www.clodaghconroyinteriors.ie
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