Wouldn’t it be great to have a dedicated area for homework and study?

What about a media unit for the TV?

Or combine a study area with some wardrobe storage in an attic area you may have thought not usable…

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/4801

I’ve been away for a while and haven’t quite caught up with myself yet, so I have to say WOW to technology and both Sky Plus and the RTE player services.  I’ve just sat and watched the two episodes of Room To Improve that I missed while away.  Thank goodness I didn’t have to miss out on my fix!  

Loved both episodes!  Lots of rows and controversy!  

I thought the design that Dermot came up with for the farmhouse in Tullow was absolutely amazing, and so brave too.  I completely get why Tom was nervous when he was dealing with all that family history.  Cutting through that stone wall with the diamond saw was pretty immense.  What a kitchen though!  I just couldn’t get over how they made a traditional cream AGA work so well into a seamless and modern kitchen.  The extractor in the worktop looked great as well. They are a fabulous idea but are probably much easier to install in a full refurb like this rather than trying to retro-fit them. 

The two houses into one in Dundalk was really interesting too.  Yvonne and John were obviously very strong minded people and knew what they wanted.  I absolutely LOVED the builder!  He handled the whole window thing very well but when he won on the kitchen, well I thought he might do a little dance!!!  Brilliant!  It is always difficult, as the customer, when you’ve got so many experts all fighting for different things.  I think it’s great that the professionals get so involved but how do you as a client decide who to trust.  I guess the answer has to be your own gut instinct.  Anyway, as always it all worked out in the end.  The house was fantastic and as I must always pass comment on the kitchen….it wasn’t my kind of style but it worked really well in the house.  It’s always frustrating that we can’t see more though.  There was some sort of argument over the design and I’d love to have more detail on that.  AND I really wanted to see how they furnished the open plan office.  The open plan concept is also a really good idea in regards to kids and computer usage in the future.

And that was the second last episode in the series, what will I do when it’s over?!!!! 

I’ve become completely obsessed by this programme. I was convinced that I would never see an episode where Dermot didn’t go over budget and wondered if anyone ever told him their real budget for that very reason! However, this week they came in €16,000 UNDER budget. Amazing! I was also delighted to hear that they reinvested this saving into their kitchen and appliances!

It was a really interesting project though. It’s such a shame to hear that the planners dictated how it all went and that poor Ben had no chance of getting his ensuite!  The dynamic between project manager and architect was very funny to watch.  I always think there’s a huge spoilt child in Dermot who wants every job to be done with his design in mind and forget budget or what the client actually wants.  How could they possibly disagree with his vision???  

It’s not the first time though that I’ve heard clients express the fact that even as the walls go up and things start to take shape, it is impossible for them to visualize the completed project.  This is where the experts come in, but not just to visualize on the client’s behalf but to paint that picture for them, help them to see what we see.  

I did feel for Dermot when the curved wall became an issue.  There was a little bit of accusation there, as if he’d gotten it all wrong by putting it there in the first place.  I loved his quote “form follows function”.  He was doing as requested and incorporating a home office.  I think had they decided from the planning stage to leave out the office, the shape of the extension would have been completely different. Hindsight, though is a wonderful thing.  

I loved the kitchen in the end as well.  I was kind of surprised that they didn’t put any wall units into though, now that they had the height, but the black and walnut were spectacular.  I would have expected maybe a black high gloss door to be more contemporary but to my surprise the vertical lines on the painted door were brilliant.  

I thought this week’s Room To Improve was really interesting. The house really was set up the wrong way round, with the kitchen and master bed to the front of the house and no natural light getting in at all. I thought Dermot’s idea of opening up the centre of the house to an atrium was amazing. The way it worked out at the end of it all was spectacular, and thank God they decided to go with the glass and oak staircase. I completely understood where the concerns about it came from though. It just goes to show you how important it is for interior designers, architects and furniture suppliers to bring their clients to see similar products. Look, touch and feel are vital. We can’t expect people to understand our vision just because we want them to! It was also really interesting to see how projects like that can be contentious, who’s it really about? I was very interested to see how the interior designer worked with the client’s tastes in mind, whereas Dermot saw it all as his project. He felt that they didn’t trust him to finish the job and sell the whole concept to them. I think it worked out really well in the end, where Dermot pushed them a little outside their boundaries and he was reined in from going too far too. They didn’t go into it a lot but on the show, they had bought all the appliances before planning the kitchen. This happens a lot and can be an awful shame, especially when you’re looking at a complete renovation or new build. You’re already restricting the potential design options of your kitchen! That said, it does depend on your priorities, I have a beautiful black 1950′s style Smeg fridge and for as long as it’s alive any kitchen I ever plan for myself will have to feature that fridge. One of the other points I thought worth noting was the fact that they simply had to put their foot down and move in on a set date no matter what was left to be done. When we built our house we had exactly the same situation. I actually organised a lunch for a group of friends on the day the builder finished up! He left at 12 noon. We had the place hoovered and dusted by 1pm and 10 ladies arrived for lunch at 2pm! The only furniture we had was the dining table and chairs and one bed made up to sleep in that night! Oh and the girls brought the food! But the point is we all work better when pushed to a deadline!

OK Wow!  It’s brilliant!  I write something here once and it gets posted to all my social network sites!  Fantastic!

I’ve no real idea what’s going to happen here…..