Our previous issue featured a most beautiful cottage in one of Galway’s most famous areas – the Claddagh.
Using all the colours of the seaside the owner of this home renovated an old huse into this beautiful family home
Classic Bespoke Kitchen
Exceed Expectations
This bespoke classic kitchen was handmade and hand painted in classic style by Noel Brannelly Kitchens. The large island also works as a breakfast bar. The cabinets are all off standard, are custom built to fit to the ceiling. The units are topped with Silestone – this is composed of 94% natural quartz and is the first and only countertop with bacteriostatic protection, giving it unique features. The seating area of the island in American white oak has a rounded area to soften the look of the island and add some extra seating space. The contrast of the painted timber and the natural look of the American white oak gives the kitchen that extra character and this is why it can be said that a Noel Brannelly Kitchen ‘exceeds expections’
As the building boom takes off again, many of us are contemplating an extension or renovation. I often ponder, when looking at my own space, whether I would plan it out any differently if I were to start over again. Now, my space like some of my readers’ homes most likely, is open plan with one large room incorporating the kitchen, living and dining space.
On the Edge of the Wild Atlantic Way
The Edge Of The Wild Atlantic Way
This little gem of a home is situated slap bang in the middle of Roundstone village. I was lucky enough to spend a weekend here recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. A very simple layout catches the eye with one main living space, leading into to a galley kitchen and dining area at the rear of the house. The hall door opens directly into the living room and as a consequence it has enlarged the space as well as brought in more light.
Home Away From Home
Country/Contemporary style
Driving out along the Wild Atlantic Way you will enjoy many a feast for the eyes. The scenery is wonderful, while taking in the Atlantic Ocean and all its wonder, you will from time to time come across a run down cottage or farmhouse. Perhaps you too dreamed of owning a house by the sea and dreamed of doing it up. It’s not for the faint hearted and many of us aren’t lucky enough to do so or maybe you just find it all a bit too daunting. This wasn’t the case for the owners of this beautiful cottage.
Stylish & Functional Home
Functional Space
The brief here for designer Pauline Dowling was to create a stylish yet functional home. The owners wanted to put their own stamp on this previously owned property while taking into account their busy lifestyle and two teenage children The living room/dining/kitchen, was a vast space incorporating all the elements for functional living. As the hub of the home, this needed to be a casual comfortable yet very functional.
As the building boom takes off again, many of us are contemplating an extension or renovation. I often ponder, when looking at my own space, whether I would plan it out any differently if I were to start over again. Now, my space like some of my readers’ homes most likely, is open plan with one large room incorporating the kitchen, living and dining space.
Upstairs Downstairs Feb/March Issue 98
A bi-monthly publication showing readers homes and all the latest trends in home interiors and lifestyle. This issue we have a beautiful home in Ranelagh – ” The Ranelagh Project” and all the latest trends from the the European trade shows. Including, Industrial Interiors a new concept in Interior design – we show you how to achieve it. Latest issue – On Sale Now
Cosy & Warm Energy Efficient Home
Cosy Energy Efficient Home
When the owners of this home decided to move, there was no arguing about the setting of their new abode. As they already owned the site with a run down old cottage in situ, they were very confident that everything would go according to plan and that planning permission would not be a stumbling block, and they were right. This beautiful home is surrounded by the rugged countryside with a luscious green forest in the distance.
A Luxurious Home
A Luxurious Home on the Edge of Galway City
The brief for interior designer Sharon Matthews, was to create a light and airy property that would make an ideal family space for all age groups. The owners wanted a home that was modern, stylish yet relaxed with plenty of open space for all the family to be together and yet offer areas of privacy within the open plan layouts.
The Ranelagh Project
When the owners of this home decided to move, there was no arguing about the setting of their new abode. As they already owned the site with a run down old cottage in situ, they were very confident that everything would go according to plan and that planning permission would not be a stumbling block, and they were right. This beautiful home is surrounded by the rugged countryside with a luscious green forest in the distance.
The Ranelagh Project
Our latest Issue for December/ January
Cover Story. – A Veritable Wonderland
Once again we went to Home Gallery Interiors to style our Christmas cover. Although they have numerous displays of Christmas trees in every colour scheme, we were very taken with this white room. Both Christmas trees are decorated completely with white decorations to create a very dramatic effect. It blends in charmingly with the white french style furniture. Likewise we feel it would look striking in a more colorful room. For this room we chose a light blue canvas sofa and a graphic patterned rug. The ‘piece de résistance” has to be the selection of deer at the base of the tree. We highly recommend a visit to Home gallery Interiors, as we think it is one of the best decorated stores in Ireland. All decorations and furniture are available at Home Gallery Interiors, Newtownsmith (above Born) Galway. Tel: 091 895228
Cover Story
Clarinbridge Garden Centre
Clarinbridge Gardn Centre
Clarinbridge Garden Centre, have an online shopping website, to help you choose your plants, shrubs and trees from the comfort of your home. Check out their seasonal special offers.
Interior design course @ La Maison Chic.
Successful Interior Design Course with Joy O Keefe
Big congratulations to the La Maison Chic Interior Design night class who graduated this week with flying colours (pun intended!)
Jokes aside, we are proud as punch here at La Maison Chic to have our first in-store course be such a great success!
When we first decided to run a night course from the our gorgeous store we didn’t really know what to expect as it has never been done before, but here at La Maison Chic we like to lead the way when it comes to design, so it was obvious that we needed to lead the way in educating our customers about Interior Design also. Having being a tutor of Interior Design for 12 years myself, I have always been passionate about educating people when it comes to design.
The format of the course was to give our loyal customers the opportunity to design a room of their choice in their own home in the La Maison Chic style which we did using the format of mood boards.
Sample Mood Board – Natural Greens
Students had access to a range of expert speakers from our own fit-out team who covered a whole range of topics.
The team included our new La Maison Chic architect, Juan Sotoparra, (who will be available to do our brand new “architects clinic” service which is free of charge and can be booked instore) our resident curtain maker, furniture restorer and upholsterer James Maguire, and even the tres chic director of La Maison Chic himself Laurent Billiet who gave an inspiring and very informative talk on French style, and yours truly, who covered a range of weekly topics including concept development, colour schemes, soft furnishings, lighting, flooring, kitchen and bathroom design. A special thanks to Mark Ryan of Universal Kitchens, Limerick who drove all the way up to Galway after a hard days work to give a brilliant talk on kitchen design!
Juan Sotoparra
As well as having access to the widest range of fabrics and wallpapers this side of the country and expert talks and demonstrations, they also benefitted from receiving the newly launched customer VIP card which entitles them to a 10% discount all year round on any of their purchases in-store as well as on fabrics, wallpapers and curtain making services etc. As if all of that wasn’t enough, all of their materials were included in the course fee and all samples needed to complete their mood boards where ordered directly from our suppliers. We concluded with our students receiving their specially designed La Maison Chic Certificate of attendance (insert pic 2 of certificate please!) and as a parting gift our La Maison Chic candle.
Sample Mood Board – Strong Colours
The feedback from our students was extremely positive and included comments.
Joy O’ Keeffe and the team at La Maison Chic guided us through the world of Interior Design with the relaxed aplomb of those who know their subject intimately. Their 8 week interior design course is a must for anyone interested in adding style to their surroundings or gaining knowledge on how to pull a moodboard together for a design project. Delving into their vast library of fabrics and furnishings every week opened my eyes to a world of interior design possibilities that I didn’t know existed. A thoroughly enjoyable experience overall – highly recommended!
The new course starts – Tuesday 10th February for 8 weeks.
Student’s Mood Board
Places are limited so call – La Maison Chic to reserve your place – Tel: 091 530694
We look forward to welcoming our next bunch of eager students!
Joy O’Keeffe, Manager, Interior Designer, La Maison Chic.
Meet the Maker – Louise De Vignoles
Louise De Vignoles – Atelier
The wheels for De Vignoles Atelier were set in motion many moons ago, born out of a hobby for craft & a love of floral fragrances. Michael Vignoles was a young man and worked very hard to support his wife & 5 children. Michael’s own original family came from an area in France near Provence and he remembered fondly many summer afternoons traipsing through fields of lavender on his grandparent’s land and the aromas that filled the air. This he claims set him sail on his passion for fragrance. Curious and capable Michael set about making a homemade wax candle. He melted his wax among other components in a slow old fashioned double boiler on the cooker in his wife’s kitchen, much to her amusement. The candles were poured with the use of a solid copper pitcher which the Vignoles family still have to this day and is still in use!! Michael used old oil lamp wick to get a flame for his candles & even though the scent was beautiful he only ever made five different candle fragrances lavender, rosa-geranium, geranium, patchouli and plain rose. He liked to stick to the floral base and he made a unique formula to ensure that each candle burned equally. Even though highly scented candles back in 1927 were somewhat a rarity, Michael loved creating his aromas & blends from a make shift shed in the back garden. He had rose bushes in abundance and made a really beautiful geranium and rose blend from cold pressing his own home grown flowers. Unfortunately for Michael his candles never took off. Money was tighter in those days & small mouths had to be fed. This however did not stop Michael experimenting & passing his experience down to his children. His son Michael Junior is a highly skilled and sought after instrument maker, making bodhran & uillean pipes. Michael is also a very talented musician. Craft is simply in the blood.
Fast forward to 2014 and De Vignoles Atelier has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Louise who is the owner of De Vignoles Atelier, in keeping with tradition has penned a poem for each candle fragrance. The De Vignoles family grew up on a healthy diet of poetry & music, so it seemed fitting to keep this theme going through the candle line. Each poem is unique to each candle scent. Every candle is personal from start to finish. No mass production. All hand poured and finished. Old fashioned methods mixed with some new romantic poetry. Perfect.
Pouring the wax
Great care & attention
Attention to detai
The Christmas Eve in Galway candle was undeniably one of the must have gifts this Christmas.
Fill your surroundings with the undeniable echos of aroma, all in exclusivity at La Maison Chic, 11 Lower Abbeygate street, Galway City 091530694
Christmas Eve in Galway
Our Upstairs Downstairs Magazine is filled with great ideas about interior design, gardening and nifty things. But we’re not the only ones, like we showed you last year. So we went browsing again in the great sea of weblogs to find things you might like. We definetely do!
Who: Catherine Drea, a photographer with heartfelt passion
What: Catherine is a winner two years in a row: The Blog Awards Ireland 2013 and 2014 are well deserved. If you want to get totally distracted from everything go ahead and enjoy this beautiful photography blog.
Where: http://www.foxglovelane.com/
Who: Marian („Herbi“) and Tony („Carni“) Hearne, a happy Irish couple with two opposite diets
What: Herbi & Carni follow two different food-lifestyles with loads of recipes for vegetarians as well as meat-lovers. This blog is gorgeous, has a lot of delicious food photography and some step-by-step videos. We already found something to try out right now (butternut squash soup – yumm)!
Where: http://herbicarni.com/
Who: April and the Bear, an online lyfestyle and homewear blog/shop, based in Dublin.
What: This blog has a couple of DIY ideas. Very nicely done website and Blog. Since it is also a shop you can order loads of nifty things!
Where: http://www.aprilandthebear.com/blog/
Who: Louisa Armstrong featuring many eager organic gardeners who happen to like blogging about their greens.
What: f&f has a very modern design that works on your computer as well as on tablets and smartphones. It is plain inspiring to touch any of the pictures that will lead you to crazy things like moss graffiti or practical advise like growing broad beans.
Where: http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/
Who: A young woman with a keen eye for ecclectic design.
What: Moon to Moon has a lovely collection of many different homestyles. Every post is shouting individuality and creativity! How about old unused books for displaying your decor instead of using a table? And which idea are you going to adapt?
Where: http://frommoontomoon.blogspot.co.uk/
Words by Katja Rohde
