My favourite room: ‘The house was a ruin, but I was excited about doing it up’ — inside an interior designer's home revamp

Sarah Louise and Cormac Dunne bought a ruin of a house because of two of its trees. However, they’ve since created a great home for their large family and the renovation led to a career move for Sarah Louise

Sarah Louise Dunne in her living room. It's the room for grown-ups but she doesn’t want her children to feel unwelcome, so she opted for linen-like performance fabrics on her sofas. The mantelpiece is from King Fireplaces in Athy. Sofas, cushions and accessories are from Sarah Louise Interiors. Photo: Tony Gavin

Mary O'Sullivan

When lists of the most stressful life events are published, house buying and house moving are always at the top. However, even among the top 20 stressors, house renovation is never mentioned. Yet it can be soul destroying to see rooves taken off, walls torn down, skips of rubble filled and your home dismantled. Of course, the home owner is undertaking the work to improve the home, but with delays, supply chain issues and rising costs, there is a deep fear that things will go wrong and it will never be a home again. That’s one of the reasons many who have renovated say “never again”.

Former teacher and mother-of-four Sarah Louise Dunne is an exception. She was so excited by every stage of the renovation of her home in Mount Merrion, Co Dublin, that she decided to make interior design her new career and went back to study, despite having worked for nearly a decade in a job she loved. “We moved in with my parents while the work was ongoing and I used to love coming around every day to watch what was being done. I loved the process so much, seeing it all evolve and take shape. I just knew I had a strong passion and I was right,” Sarah Louise enthuses.

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