Make the most of your space

If you are looking for a home to renovate, think about the bare bones of the space and how you might rethink them without doing high-cost structural refurbishment. Brendan Courtney tells ALANNA GALLAGHERit's all about seeing potential

BRENDAN COURTNEY, Off The Railspresenter and TV producer, lives in a city centre penthouse off the south city quays. The two-bedroom apartment comes with a communal roof terrace, offering 1,000sq ft of skyline.

The views take in many of the capital’s landmarks: the River Liffey and its bridges, lit emerald green at night; the dome of the Four Courts; the bright light atop the Spire; the Guinness stacks and onion dome; and the steeple of John’s Lane church on Thomas Street.

The two-bedroom property was a classic make-over candidate, Courtney says. “The place was badly furnished, but I could see its potential.”

It was a malodorous space, a leak having rendered the carpets sodden and fetid throughout. But as model scouts say, the place had good bones – high ceilings and a sliding glazed window that opened the whole south-facing wall of the large open plan kitchen, living and dining room.

It was a recession move. Courtney paid €220,000 for the 1,000sq ft property last summer, down from an original asking price of €480,000.

He had been renting since he returned from London to live in Dublin three years ago to start co-presenting RTÉ fashion programme Off The Rails. The first thing he did was to remove the carpets, hiring a man with a van to dump them. Then he started to nip and tuck the space. Intrusive light fixtures were replaced with recessed spotlights instead, which helped open up the floor-to-ceiling space.

He then took down the over-counter kitchen cupboards to better integrate the kitchen into the open-plan living space. The units were replaced by a wenge floating shelf, one of his most expensive purchases. By his own admission he doesn’t cook, so he does not need a lot of kitchen storage.

Then he painted everything white – floors, ceilings and woodwork – to further open up the space. This is the interior version of putting on good underwear; it creates a smooth silhouette from which you can rework the space. Architect Dermot Bannon uses it to great effect on the TV programme Room To Improve.

The carpets were gone, but the rotting smell lingered, even after he had the place professionally cleaned. For a brief moment he faltered, thinking he’d made a terrible mistake.

But mammy and daddy came to the rescue, rowing in to help with the renovation work. Luckily for Courtney, his dad is a builder. But his mother, a “gorgeous and glamorous woman”, also got stuck in. “One day I came in and she was painting the skirting boards, wearing a sweater and a baseball cap. I took a picture and put it on Facebook saying: “Isn’t this beautiful?”

On his father’s recommendation he replaced all the appliances with recycled white goods, sourced from Murphy Discount Appliances.

He wanted polished concrete floors, so the by-now bare floors were sanded and polished, but he hated the end result, which didn’t look like they do in interiors magazines.“They looked rubbish,” he admits. So after a long consultation with staff at MRCB he went with floor paint, using a smoky slate blue. It feels warm and inviting and using the one colour throughout creates a great sense of flow and continuity.

His parents may have helped out, but Courtney directed the whole revamp. He also put into practice the fashion savvy sacred scripture of a high-low mix; investing in a few good pieces and mixing in high street and vintage buys to add texture. The mix of contemporary and antique pieces and the great pops of colour make the room come alive.

His biggest purchase was a 10ft-long sofa by Linea at House of Fraser. It’s big enough for someone to sleep on, he says, and cost almost half of the €10,000 he spent on the refurbishment.

There are several pops of colour in the room. The sherbet yellow powder-coated lamp table was bought in Ikea. There’s a tangerine orange sideboard, bought in a closing-down sale. Paintings lean against the walls, waiting to be hung, but for now Courtney isn’t committed to where they might go: “I like the sense of impermanence they give by being set on the floor.”

An emerald green enamel desk sits in the corner, opposite the yellow lamp table. It was bought at the Conran Shop in Arnotts. A scarlet Hot Lips Houlihan phone adorns it.

In the dining area there’s a change of mood from modern to Victorian. The solid oak extendable dining table and a harlequin set of dining chairs was bought at Busybees, an upcycling furniture shop on Bridge Street. The set cost €280. The shop also picks up any unwanted furniture and bric-a-brac you might want to get rid of. For €35 it removed a pair of “rank” brown leather sofas that came with the apartment.

Kate Moss’s sphinx-like face looks up from the boxed hardback special-edition book shot by Mario Testino, one of several coffee table tomes that decorate the sofa’s matching ottoman. It is one of only 1,500 signed copies.

A floor-to-ceiling glazed door slides back to open up the space to the property’s L-shaped balcony, which faces the setting sun. A set of doors from his bedroom open directly on to it and he has plans to manoeuvre the bed to face the view. While you can hear some sirens and city sounds, the apartment is surprisingly quiet

In the hall there’s a 1950s-style ornamental cabinet that Courtney uses to display photographs.

He bought this at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, the savvy shopper’s first port of call for reinvented furniture sourced from house sales. Its skilled furniture restorer Gerard Griffin decides whether the piece needs to be taken apart or simply French polished to smarten it up.

Every day he lights Dyptique candles, lavender at night and summer fruits during the day.

Has it been worth his efforts? Six months after he bought, the apartment below sold for €245,000, up €25,000 in a falling market. He plans to be here for a long time and is already planning phase two of the make-over. He hopes to extend the bathroom to fit a bath (there is currently a shower in the space). He estimates the refurbishment cost at €10,000, so far.

Courtney makes refurbishing a flat sound easy, but he’s a relative old hand at buying property. He owns a flat in Notting Hill in London and at one time had two properties in Capetown in South Africa. The Dublin penthouse is his fourth makeover.

He’s planning to throw a housewarming drinks party before Christmas, maybe on the roof terrace. It will be a civilised affair where he will pay a mate to be bar tender. He’ll be serving cocktails – classic Cosmopolitans are a favourite chez Courtney.

Brendan Courtney’s black book

Murphys Discount Appliances(MHD) specialises in new and reconditioned appliances, as well as repairs and parts. Courtney bought reconditioned white goods for his kitchen at its Dublin 22 branch. 1C Robinhood Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, tel: 01-4050025 and Unit 4, Riverside Business Park, Tinahely, Co Wicklow, tel: 0402-28776, mdh.ie

Busybees Furniture Recyclingwill take away unwanted furniture and bric-a-brac for a small fee. Bridge Street, Dublin 8, tel 01-61615185, furniturerecyclingdublin.ie

The Rediscovery Centreis a furniture reuse, recycling and restoration business that also provides employment and training opportunities and reduces the amount of discarded furniture going to landfill. Unit 4, Shangan Neighbourhood Centre, Shangan Road, Ballymun, Dublin 9, tel: 01-8422078, rediscoverycentre.ie

MRCB Paints and Paperadvised Courtney to use its International Paint floor paint. It comes in three colours; brick red, slate blue and dark green. €49.99 for five litres. 12-13 Cornmarket, Dublin 8, tel: 01-6798755

Brendan Courtney and Sonya Lennon have launched a Facebook competition to celebrate the wearing and making of hats – search for Who Wants To Be A Milliner? They’re also launching a concept book, Your Fashion Needs You, and are looking for fashion and beauty questions, as well as advice from Facebook and Twitter followers, whose comments and questions will form the basis of the book.