Wonderful fabrics give a grand reception

THE double drawingroom of number 32 Bloomfield Avenue features a salon setting where not one but five different sofa styles sit adjacent to and opposite each other. They are upholstered in a range of fabrics from a striped Chesterfield to strong colour blocking as illustrated by the 1950s red linen sofa. Murphy Sheehy (01-6770316/01-2020642) has a raspberry red linen union at the perfectly fruity price of €19 a metre. The blue gilt frame George V Danish two-seater library sofa is covered in a hand-painted fabric designed by print artist Michelle Sweetman.

Elsewhere in the house, the kitchen mixes a traditional farmhouse pine table with mahogany balloon-backed chairs that were part of the furniture at Locks restaurant – formerly run by the owner of number 32 – before its refurbishment some four years ago. The chairs are upholstered in ticking, at €10.50-€25 a metre from Murphy Sheehy.

Yellow hall walls add a shot of fashion’s sunny side. Yellow is one of the season’s hottest colours and works very well on period walls. Farrow Ball’s Ciara Yellow looks muted on the colour chart but lifts and separates when applied to four walls.