After moving in with just a wicker sofa and a TV, Sive O'Brien has furnished her house with objects and styles from many eras, writes Eoin Lyons.
If houses could line up to compete for a Trinny and Susannah-style makeover, then three years ago, Sive O'Brien's place would have been a hot favourite.
Sive is fashion editor at Image magazine and, with her boyfriend, she bought the house because it had the right ingredients - 19th century proportions (the architectural equivalent of cheekbones), a location close to the Image offices in Dún Laoghaire and masses of untapped potential - but it had gone to seed.
Now, while the couple have improved the place greatly, there's more work to be done: an overhaul is on the cards next year to expand the kitchen and dining area. "We moved into the house with a TV and a wicker sofa, so the decoration built up slowly. I'm kind of glad we didn't have much money then because I suspect that I'd hate the things we would have bought. It takes a few years to really know your space and what's right for it."
For example, in the dining area there are eight painted wicker chairs around a long table. "Those chairs were the worst buy ever - they cost a fortune and are so bulky I had to have a narrow table specially made."
A stylist's touch saves the day: over the table she has run a length of gold damask print wallpaper, tacked at both ends.
"It's just an easy way to change the look of a table. Image Interiors supply me with loads of different wallpapers that work the same way as a table cloth."
Some say the secret to creating a beautiful home is selecting objects and looking at how they harmonise with one another. Around this house the furnishings are eclectic, but the effect is melodic and unified. In the livingroom - bathed in soft light from a roof window - is a long plum velvet sofa from Habitat. A few choice objects sit on the ledge behind. "I bought the peacock feathers in LA - they're very hard to find here, so I smuggled them back home. A 1960s vase was a find from Portobello Market in London - I could spend forever there. I like to set aside a Saturday to trawl though all the stalls."
To the left hangs a print. "I saw this picture in a couple of magazines interiors and then found it in Selfridges: I like it because of the peacock colours."
The standard lamp is an old family heirloom that Sive updated with a shade from Arnotts, as is a Middle Eastern-style brass tray coffee table. The armchairs were also passed down from her mother: Sive recovered them in silk curtains from Harrods, another Portobello Market find. Sive loves to paint: chairs, frames, walls, even floors.
"We sanded and painted the floors in this room ourselves. Dark floors seemed a good idea at the time but I want to change them to something pale: I love crumbly looking dilapidated floors!"
In her bedroom, the wall behind the bed is covered in vintage 1960s wallpaper bought from www.ewmoore.com. "They've a warehouse of old wallpapers from kitschy things like tropical scenes and brick walls to delicate things like this: it's white felt embossed on gold paper with a sparkle running through. It's got a Japanese feel - I'm really drawn to Oriental things."
Also in the bedroom is a Louis Le Brocquy lithograph bought at The Pepper Canister Gallery (3 Herbert Street, Dublin 2).
Sive designed the deck at the back of the house and had a carpenter make it up at about half the price it might have cost. Because they have no proper shed, benches lift to reveal storage for the lawnmower and other garden paraphernalia. She's joined here by two pet pugs: Kofi and Ansi (a play on Kofi Anan). Both wear diamante dog collars by Newbridge Silver.
On the table is part of a range of china called Tonfisk that is designed by Sive's brother-in-law, Brian Keaney. Although based in Helsinki, they were sold to her at Nordic Living in Blackrock.
Sive cites two main influences on her home's style: her colleagues at Image Interiors and a childhood surrounded by antiques (in the hall is a miniature tapestry chair she used to play on as a child):
"My parents used to own a small hotel on Lansdowne Road so I grew up going to auctions picking out four-poster beds. Mum has an amazing eye."
The love of furniture has rubbed off on her brother too: he is a big collector of Art Deco furniture.
"Before people buy a house they probably think more about their wardrobe than furniture," says Sive. Having just finished organising her 10th fashion shoot in five weeks, she is now just as interested in interiors as clothes.
"I love fabrics - anything tactile, like velvets and silks, things with a luxurious feel. With furniture, I like things that are different, rather than cool. Antiques and retro stuff are a good mix. "In Dublin Francis Street is great but whenever I'm travelling I pick up something."
