More is more in this redbrick terraced house in Dublin, where every item means something to its owner, fashion stylist and magpie, Catherine Condell. Eoin Lyons takes a trip down memory lane
Fashion stylist Catherine Condell bought her end-of-terrace redbrick house near the Phoenix Park in Dublin about 18 months ago from her friend, the make-up artist Mary Bruton. While it was previously decorated in an all-white style, with a minimum of furniture, Catherine has filled it with her collections of objects, to create a home that's high on visual simulation. "It's a bigger version of the tiny house I used to have behind Croke Park," she says. "Mary had done a lot of work to the house, so I all I had to do was paint it the colours I like. Being from a display background, I find it hard not to group things together in a way that makes them look good. Everything here means something - I remember the time and place someone gave it to me or I bought it for myself. The irony of the house is that you'll never see washing-up liquid by the kitchen sink, or shampoo on the side of the bath - but everything else is on show."
WALL OF FAME
"Because of the work I do, I get to meet a lot of people - it's the nice part," Condell says. The wall inside her front door is lined with photographs. Although there are notes from Daniel Day Lewis and John Malkovich, the majority of photographs are of friends such as former model Sonia Reynolds and hairdresser Michael Leong. There are drawings, too, including sketch by designer Mariad Whisker of a dress she made for Condell to wear to a wedding.
HALLWAY
On a shelf in the hall, Condell has grouped together a collection of very different items. "My friend Peter O'Brien did a brooch for each collection at Rochas and used to give some to me. I've pinned them to miniature dummies." There's a Frida Kahlo book from the exhibition of her work at Tate Modern, and another by Lulu Guinness. "My sister bought me the Tiffany-style lamp, and the drawing is by Bono, from the Peter and The Wolf series. Mariad Whisker gave it to me. And I've always loved Pinocchio,so he's here too."
BEDROOM
In Condell's bedroom, tongue-and-groove panelling rises halfway up the walls, contributing to the room's cosy atmosphere. Around the ledge are paper masks: "I bought them one at a time in the Cobwebs shop when it was on South Anne Street and had forgotten I had them, until I found them when I was moving house. I love Anthropology, the US chain of shops, and bought this bed linen in Miami on a work trip. I love colour on a bed, no white sheets." Beside the bed is an old-fashioned telephone: "I can't be dealing with new phones that look like remote controls." On the bed lies Dickens, a stray cat she took in. A 1950s chalk figure, a present from the fashion designer Richard Lewis, is displayed on a wall given over to storage.
HALF LANDING
Condell has painted the bare floorboards on the stairs and landing in her favourite colour - duck egg blue. Guarding the door to the bathroom is a wooden soldier wearing Mickey Mouse ears (a prop from a fashion show) on his hat. "He was rescued from a skip in BTs in the very early 1980s, soon after I joined, and was an original Christmas window prop. I grabbed him and ran." The walls here are lined with tongue-and-groove panelling. "I love what it does to a room, it makes it softer." Three kitschy ducks fly across the wall here.
KITCHEN
The kitchen is at the rear of the house. Catherine has painted it in her favourite dusty colours, chosen with help from John Redmond of Brown Thomas. Along the top of the units are more bits and pieces. "I don't know why it all works, but it does. I love hearts and stars and there are plenty of these around." To the side, not visible here, is a yard, covered with a wooden deck.
LIVING ROOM
"I built shelves on either side of the fireplace to hold the things I love," Condell says. On the right, one shelf is dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. In addition to books and photographs, she has framed a rose petal that had fallen from Monroe's grave in Hollywood, which she visited on a trip to LA. Nearby are fashion and art books, supported by two 1930s swimming girls: "A present from my friend Sinead Keenan, they look like they belong there." The mirror above the chimneypiece was inherited from Mary Bruton and is made from tin, although it looks like wood. Propped among the books are pictures of paintings by Tamara de Lempicka and Frida Kahlo, two of her favourite artists. There is also a lot of Americana in this room. "I love the American flag, but it's nothing to do with politics. I just love the imagery of the stars and stripes. But I do want to live in a Norman Rockwell painting. I look at 1950s movies to see the houses, and think I'd be very at home in Connecticut."