Eoin Lyons peeks inside the weekend home of an interiors specialist.
For some, acquiring a weekend house follows a chance discovery, a love-at-first-sight encounter. For others, it is a rational process of compiling a list of needs, searching in appropriate locations and coming to a decision. Then there those like Glenna Lynch, for whom it involves building. She and her husband chose a site in Killinick, in Co Wexford, with almost uninterrupted views of the countryside, and built a home with enough space for their three sons.
Lynch owns Mimosa, a Dublin interiors shop that sells a mix of light New England, French and Gustavian styles, as well as dark furniture in an adjoining showroom. The house, unsurprisingly, is decked out in these goods, punctuated with antiques and pieces from other shops.
At this time of year, when the days are growing shorter, it's easy to see the advantages of a light interior. The main living space is a large open-plan kitchen, dining area and sitting area, decorated in shades of white, cream and grey, colours that seem to make the space continually bright, no matter how dark it gets outside.
A section juts out from the rest of the room to form the sitting area, where two traditional sofas face each other on either side of double doors to the garden. The kitchen units are a blue-grey shade, accented by blue and white china displayed around the cooking range. The room is an oasis, spare but comfortable, which is one reason there are no curtains - something about them would make the room seem old-fashioned. Having no close neighbours helps, too.
In a smaller sitting room, red silk shades were bought from La Tabard, in Blackrock, Co Dublin, chosen for their elegant tulip shape, and placed on antique lamps. In the main bedroom, an iron daybed sits at the end of the bed. Bed linen can be life-enhancing; you'll wake up feeling good. Dress a bed as you might yourself: layer complementary colours and textures.