'Knocking down the walls made it feel bigger and brighter': Inside this open-plan bungalow in Limerick

Wioleta Kelly and her husband revamped their home’s layout two years ago.

About your home

Where? We live in Tournafulla, a village in Co Limerick.
What type of house? A detached bungalow.
How many bedrooms and bathrooms? We have four bedrooms, but I turned one into my home office, and two bathrooms.
When did you move in? We moved in here in 2009.

About you

Name: Wioleta Kelly
Age: 36
Occupation: Interior designer
Who else lives there? My husband and our nine-year-old English springer spaniel, Rubee.

What made you choose this home over others?

We loved the big garden and the quiet area that the house is in. The views from the windows were a big factor, too!

What is your favourite place in your home?

Our open space living room, kitchen and hallway. About two years ago, we knocked down the walls around them to create one big, open space. It instantly made the house look bigger, brighter and more modern.

This large living room is definitely the place where we spend the most time. Before, my husband and I were often separated by the walls – me in the kitchen and him in the living room.

Now we spend more time together, which is wonderful!

Is there any part of the home you don’t like?

Our garden for sure. Funnily enough, it was one of the first things that attracted us when we first viewed the house and we struggle with it now.

Our house lies on a hill and we have a very unique, two level-garden with steps leading to the higher level, where you have amazing views of the village below and the hills above.

Every year, we add something new to the garden to make it look cosier and nicer, but it’s just so big. Don’t even get me started on the weeds, they’re killing me!

Is there any part of your home that makes it unique?

It has to be all the DIY projects I have done over the years. I am very crafty and I love trying out new projects.

I often joke that our home is my experimental field. For example, the ottoman in the living room was made out of my parents’ old coffee table and a baby mattress that I got for a few euro in the reduced section in IKEA. I also made a console table in the hallway out of stair banisters and a pine board.

I believe that pieces like these make our home unique and unlike any other homes.

Take us through an average day in your house, room by room.

7 – 8am: I wake up and hurry up to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee. I eat a quick breakfast and then go to the bathroom to get ready for work.

9am: I leave home and go to meetings with my clients.

3 – 4pm: My husband wakes up after his night shift and I come back home from my meetings.

4 – 6pm: We cook dinner, talk and watch some telly together. Then I go to my home office and work again.

9 – 10pm: This is when my husband leaves for work. I go to the kitchen to make myself a cup of herbal tea and a snack and go back to work.

11pm – 12am: I usually finish work for the day. I go for a long hot shower, slip under the bed covers and read a book until I fall asleep.

Is there anything you’d do differently if you were doing it again?

I would probably knock down the walls in the living room, kitchen and hallway a few years earlier. But it did take a while to convince my husband that it would be a good idea, so who knows if it would have worked out sooner.