0 of 9THREE OF THE BEST . . . ENTERPRISING DESIGN This beautiful child’s rocker, made of birch ply, is by Michael Whyte of Ro Óg (086-8345867, roogltd.com), which is based outside Kinsale, Co Cork. The rocker, 84cm by 46cm by 39cm, can be purchased directly from the designer for €220. It is suitable for kids aged two to six and a maximum weight of 20kg. This price includes delivery to Ireland and England. THREE OF THE BEST . . . ENTERPRISING DESIGN Alan Horgan (087-6842349, alanhorganstudio.com) is based outside Mallow in Cork’s Blackwater Valley. This one-off hall console table, 141cm by 32 cm by 88 cm, is made of Irish ash and walnut and costs €980. THREE OF THE BEST . . . ENTERPRISING DESIGN Letterfrack-trained, Ballingeary-based Denis Cotter set up Allua Furniture Design (086-303 3353, alluafurnituredesign.ie) when work in the building trade dried up. The first thing he made was this six-coat hanger, 70cm by 30cm by 6cm, originally crafted as a birthday present to his wife. The spalted beach and walnut wood with heart design costs €245. TRENDING. . . WALL TO WALLFarrow and Ball is taking a walk on the wild side with its new print wallpapers. Having branched out from the demure shades of chalky paint to introduce leopard print wallpaper to the chattering classes, they are now pushing the boat out even further with this new range of chromatic stripes, €82 per roll, samphire, €100, jasmine, €114 and parquet print (pictured) wallpapers which launch in Farrow and Ball showrooms (01-6770111, farrow-ball.com) next Monday, January 27th. Add a pop of colour to your home with these eye-catching Bonaldo batch-dyed polyethylene tree coat and hat stands. Measuring 31cm by 175cm, they come in 12 colours and finishes and can be used indoors and outside. Lomi Design (01-8397001, lomi.ie), Unit 124, Baldoyle Industrial Estate, Dublin 13, is offering Irish Times readers who present today’s column 10 per cent off its asking price, making it €288 instead of €320, on orders placed before January 31st. Put on a trunk show with these Stoneyhurst travel-inspired pieces of furniture by Halo Living. Buy a cigar brown leather chest of drawers, 100cm by 120cm by 50cm, seen here in a brushed steel finish, reduced from €2,499 to €1,299, or a brushed steel coffee table, 130cm by 80cm by 45cm, in cigar brown leather, reduced from €1,999 to €999 at Caseys (caseys.ie), 65 Oliver Plunkett Street (021-427 0393), Cork, and Raheen roundabout (061 307070), Limerick. If your new year’s resolution is to finally print all your digital photos then head straight to your nearest Harvey Norman Photocentre (harveynorman.ie)where they’re offering six inch by four inch prints for just seven cent each, a big reduction on their normal 19 cents per print price. Also reduced is this smart floor-standing, adjustable stained wood chrome head tripod lamp, 140cm tall, down from €199 to €99. Offers end this Sunday, January 26th. This La Canche range, handmade in Burgundy, France and available in 27 colours will add colour to cooking. Chef Jean Christoff Novelli is a big fan. There are two styles available at In-House (01-2368400, in-house.ie), Sallynoggin Road Upper, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin: the Cluny, a one-metre wide, two-oven, five burner classic, is reduced from €5,995 to €4,995, while the Macon, also one-metre wide, with two ovens, five burners and a separate grill is down from €6,290 to €5,290. Offers end February 6th. Delivery within the greater Dublin area is an additional €200. Kilcoole-based Smart Storage (01-2017676, Smartstorage.ie), run by Paul Jacob, gave us plenty of food for thought when they introduced their Under Stairs unit, €249, a set of deep drawers that accommodated vacuum cleaners, sports gear and other unwanted on view household essentials. Thanks to investment via TV series Dragons’ Den, Jacob has been able to turn his talents to other designs including this shoe wheel, a rotating device that can be placed in a wardrobe or left to stand alone in a room, and stores up to 30 pairs of footwear. The wheel, normally priced at €69.50 is available at a special introductory price of €49.50. Offer ends March 31st.
‘Buying the bank seemed daring’: how one couple transformed a rural bank branch into a home and business