Inside an interior designer’s renovated home
Marie Kelly chats with Lynne O’Loughlin, an interior designer who has sensitively and innovatively restored a small Victorian terrace in the heart of Salthill for her family of five.
Situated in the centre of the vibrant village of Salthill in Co Galway, Lynne O’Loughlin’s beautifully restored, A-rated 1920s home was in large part derelict when she first viewed it in 2020. But as an interior designer and lecturer in design at ATU Galway, who is married to an engineer, she wasn’t phased by the enormity of the task at hand. “We put in an offer on the first day of lockdown and it was accepted straight away because there would be nobody else viewing the property,” O’Loughlin reveals.
At just 97 sq m, the house was small for a family of five so O’Loughlin knew they would have to think carefully about how every centimetre of space was used if their new home was to function long-term for the couple and their three children. They called in Galway architecture and design studio Sotoparra to work with them on bringing a fresh take to the Victorian property and to help them navigate the extremely tight site on an equally tight budget. Their most innovative design decision was to excavate into the ground to create a third floor for the couple’s triplets. “We added an extra 40 sq m to the house,” explains O’Loughlin. “It’s now a semi-basement with two bedrooms, a den and a small under-the-stairs toilet and shower.”
The den, which has floor-to-ceiling bifold sliding doors leading out to a small but beautifully presented courtyard garden paved with terrazzo tiles and decorated with planted borders, is equipped with a bespoke media unit made by Dogwood Designs in Westport and has plenty of much-needed storage for the children’s toys and books. Elevated beds in both bedrooms allowed O’Loughlin to squeeze as much usable floor space as possible out of each room to create spaces that are both functional and stylish. The bathroom may be tiny, but there’s no shortage of chic design details there either, including a sleek navy concrete sink from Galway concrete basin company Glyde.
She describes furnishing the Victorian terrace as a game of restraint. “Period properties need a curated approach; it’s about having a plan and taking your time. Choosing all old furniture or all new wouldn’t have worked,” she explains. O’Loughlin also rails against “generic dust collectors”. “Choose decorative items that mean something to you or resonate with you,” she explains.
The living room perfectly embodies O’Loughlin’s ability to pull back without sacrificing personality and warmth. A slimline antique sideboard – housing her father’s old vinyl records – and writing bureau add old-world charm and complement the restored or reinstated panelling, coving and wall mouldings. O’Loughlin kept the fireplace surround for aesthetic appeal and to maintain the integrity of the original interior, but the opening was blocked up to prevent heat loss through the chimney.
As someone committed to sustainable design solutions in her interior design practice and with a husband who works in sustainable development, creating a home that was as energy efficient as possible was important to both of them. So fireplace openings were sealed, PV solar panels were installed and an air-to-water heat pump was instated. Despite the limited square footage available, O’Loughlin also incorporated a draft lobby at the house’s entrance hallway.
She chose a semi-solid herringbone floor in Smoked Lime for the entire ground floor. It’s hard-wearing in rooms with plenty of footfall like the living room, but it also adds an attractive visual dimension to interior spaces. When navigating a tight budget, O’Loughlin warns against skimping on flooring. “Quality flooring and painted walls, if done right, can create a beautiful canvas,” she explains. A 40-year-old cow hide rug found at a market in France creates an intimate conversational space around the fireplace, which is punctuated by an energetic contemporary artwork by Cork artist Tom Climent. Modern pieces are peppered throughout the room: a wishbone chair from CA Design in Dublin, an armchair from online furniture store Six The Residence and a gold table lamp by Helen James Considered at Dunnes Stores.
Wooden Crittall-style doors, which were bought for significantly less than the originals at The Door Centre in Galway, give this bijou room a more open and spacious feel, an atmosphere that is mirrored in the kitchen as it benefits from a roof light and floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto a rear balcony. O’Loughlin opted for skinny shaker kitchen cabinets beneath the sink, which were custom-built by a local joiner and an island crafted from oak veneer with a granite top. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets along the back wall, also custom-made, were given a traditional tongue-and-groove-style finish to maintain that nuanced negotiation between old and new visible throughout the house.
The cabinet with frosted glass containing a coffee dock was bought on Done Deal and painted in Sweet Caper by Colourtrend; along with brushed brass hardware, it prevents this primarily white room from feeling in any way sterile. The kitchen table is O’Loughlin’s granny’s. It adds character and nostalgic warmth to the space and works beautifully with wishbone chairs from CA Design and bench seating created with a tongue-and-groove finish to mirror the cabinets at the other end of the room. The Samsung Frame TV hanging above it doubles as a piece of art and blends beautifully with the toasted chestnut tones of the furniture.
Upstairs, the original house had a main bedroom and two boxrooms, but because the family was able to dig down into the basement and house the children’s bedrooms there, it freed up both boxrooms. One was transformed into the family bathroom while the other is used as a dressing room. This in turn freed up space in the master bedroom as there was no need for wardrobes, giving O’Loughlin a more serene, less strained space perfect for winding down at the end of a busy day. She did include hidden storage in the bench beneath the window and she selected Colourtrend’s Arctic Blonde for the walls for its fresh but soft snow-white hue.
With bedroom views of Salthill main street stretching out to the Atlantic Ocean, O’Loughlin chose a seascape by Galway visual artist Siobhan McNutt to sit above the spindle bed by Ethnicraft bought from CA Design. O’Loughlin has a sizable art collection, which includes pieces by Irish artist Eimear Jean McCormack, Liverpool-born Blaze Drummond and Danish-born, Ireland-based Cecilia Danell. The maritime striped bedlinen is from Morris & Co and subtly nods to the house’s coastal location.
Although her budget was far from infinite, O’Loughlin splurged on a couple of key items, among them a Victoria & Albert bath from British brand Victoria + Albert; the brushed brass taps are from Crosswater, also in the UK. In the spirit of cutting your cloth, the French dresser next to the bath is an inexpensive marketplace find. “We had a local plumber cut into it to create a vanity unit,” O’Loughlin says. Its intricate fluted design gives it added character and a premium finish that perfectly matches the polish provided by the extravagant bath tub.
An intelligent use of space, a best practice approach to energy efficiency and a reverence for the bones of the original building have elevated this modest Victorian home into a paradigm of modern family living. Comfortable, characterful and fully functional for a family of five, it’s a masterclass in how taking the time to make considered choices will yield a cohesive and comfortable forever home.
This article was originally published in The Sunday Times Ireland, March 2025