Design Solutions Helen CodyThe previous owners of fashion designer Helen Cody's house, in Dublin's Portobello, almost completely closed in a rear window when they added an extension. She was thankful that they'd left a bit of garden, though, as many people in the area, in the past, built extensions right across any open space.

"It was a nightmare when we bought it four years ago," says Helen.

"The blocked-up window was in the room I wanted to use as my bedroom. There was just a small opening left at the very top so it was really dark.

"I lived with it for a couple of years. In the end I decided to open it up again as an interior window into the new kitchen, which we'd created from a jumble of small rooms at the back of the house."

She called in architects Bennett McCleary to help her with this work, and the design of the rest of the house.

"Now light comes into the room from the windows in the kitchen."

The garden to the rear of the house can now be seen from the bedroom through the kitchen windows.

"It works from the other side too," says Helen. "From the kitchen you can see different textures in the bedroom."

Bennett McCleary Architects

Tel 01 6611300.