By IMAGE Interiors & Living
27th Dec 2014
27th Dec 2014
This comfy couch comes from Orior in Newry, the cushion covers are from The Cloth Shop on South King Street and the lampshade from Oxfam was upcycled and sprayed navy. The black and white portraits are by Doreen, as is the chalk art.
Step inside the stylish Sandymount home of photographer Doreen Kilfeather…
WHO LIVES HERE Photographer Doreen Kilfeather, her husband, James, their two kids, plus Bonnie the Westie.
THE HOUSE An airy Edwardian redbrick in the middle of tree-lined avenue in Dublin’s Sandymount.
WHY WE LOVE IT It’s a darkly arty, lived-in, much-loved home that stays stylish among the hustle and bustle of family life.
Dotted with Polaroids and photographs, Doreen’s Kilfeather’s home in Sandymount is tactile and playful, with a sense of style that doesn’t take itself too seriously…
It would be fair for a photographer to have some reservations about being on the other side of the camera. But for portrait artist Doreen Kilfeather, it was quite the opposite. ?It was really interesting! And it was easy because it wasn’t about me – it was about the house,? she says. ?A side of me was absolutely dying to see how Mark worked, to see how he used light and how he approached the whole shoot. It was like watching one of your heroes at work.?
Looking around, art is everywhere. Bold and colourful paintings live near documentary-style family portraits, old posters hang out in Hang Tough frames, while Polaroids and drawn-on print-outs from Artifact Uprising are dotted around on dressers, walls and in crates. Art isn’t put up on a pedestal. Large square prints in the kitchen document family time at the beach. Doreen explains, ?Each one has a bit of a story behind it. My son Jamie is just totally at home in the water, and I wanted to bring that out. They remind me of summers away. It’s a bit corny, but it’s nice.?
Summer dreaming carries upstairs to the bathroom, where a Christmas project from a few years ago has found a new home. A mix of iPhone pictures and professional shots have been printed, individually stamped with captions and hung with bull clips. ?Originally I had hung them off the staircase garland,? she explains. ?People walked into the hall and starting pointing, remembering where and when they were taken. I love that people can connect with something – that you can touch it. It’s beautiful paper.?
Doreen has lived here almost 20 years, and in that time the house has seen some changes. A ‘dark and dank patio? was replaced with a kitchen extension, designed by Denis Looby of Sheehan & Barry Architects. ?Everyone just gravitates to the kitchen, so it made sense to make it into a big, decent room,? she explains. ?The reason we got an architect was that the house was quite dark, and Denis has a genius for light and space.? Whenever Doreen presented something cool she’d seen in a hotel, Denis would bring her back to earth. ?He was such a lovely influence. He was always that person on my shoulder saying, ?Don’t design your kids out of your life.??
Words Amanda Kavanagh. Photography Mark Scott. Christmas styling Ciara O?Halloran.
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