Danish and Japanese influences meet in this interior designer’s Dublin home
The new-build has been transformed into a quiet sanctuary.
Chloé Lasserre, founder of Lou Joia Studio has worked with clients to realise their dream spaces, but working on your own home is a different challenge. She explains that as a new-build, the home was entirely a blank canvas, with white walls and raw cement flooring.
“There was nothing inherently wrong with it,” she explains, “but there was also nothing of us in it. The challenge with any new build is the absence of soul: the rooms were waiting to be told what they were. What it lacked, above all, was warmth. Our task was to bring that warmth in and let the house become a family home.”
Her aim with the design was to create a feeling of sanctuary in the space for her and her family, “somewhere we could truly rest and just as easily open up to host family and friends. The hope was that anyone walking through the door would feel instantly calmer, simply from the colour scheme and the restraint of the design.”
One challenge that the space presented was that the living room was separated from the kitchen and dining space in the layout, making these spaces feel cut off from one another. “We wanted flow without losing intimacy,” Chloé says. “So, we opened up two sections of the living room, introducing a floor-to-ceiling Crittall black oak door and a window near the entrance of the hallway to draw light deep into the home. Now, the moment you walk in, you catch a glimpse of the Danish living room beyond.”
Joinery was also key to adding a sense of character to this space. “I worked with Nigel and his team at Oakheart & Co, a joinery specialist, and it became one of the most organic collaborations, we instantly understood what we wanted to co-create. Together we brought Danish and Japanese design into the space: custom oak joinery with linen sliding doors, finished with matte black oak Crittall doors and an internal window for a contemporary edge.”
This was softened thanks to light, hand-sewn curtains, tracked from ceiling to floor. “We worked with the same curtain atelier as the Westbury Hotel, precisely to capture that boutique-hotel feeling at home, the quiet luxury of fabric that pools beautifully and frames the light.” Scandinavian furniture finishes off the space, including some pieces sourced at 3DaysofDesign in Copenhagen.
While each room in this home has its own personality, there is a consistency of style to create a cohesiveness as you move from one to another: soft tones, warm wood, and black accents.
“Upstairs, the three bedrooms each tell their own story,” Chloé explains. “A playroom in blush with deep marine blue, our daughter’s room, a fusion of French design (where we are from) and the modern panelling of Scandinavian style and a guest bedroom of pure Nordic warmth, painted in a dark grey-blue from Farrow & Ball. Our own bedroom, on the second floor, is a mix of French and Japandi, something genuinely unique and the thread that ties the whole home together.”
Although she points out that a home is never truly finished, and will adapt with them as a family, Chloé says, “We are delighted to have made something that feels like us. There is a real joy in watching our daughter grow up in a home where art is always present.”
For her, the wood that runs throughout the home is key to the success of the design, from the custom joinery to the chevron oak flooring by Matt Britton. Marble candles of her own design are also found throughout the house, and the Scandinavian furniture are investments for life. “They will travel with us to every home we ever live in.”
Photography Johnny McMillan
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