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how we live
Inside this Walkinstown three-bed which was gutted and revamped: 'The living room is our escape'
Katrina Carroll takes us through a typical day behind her front door.
About the house
Where? Walkinstown, Co Dublin
What type of house? Semi-detached house built in 1960s
How many bedrooms and bathrooms? Three bedrooms, one bathroom
When did you move in? 2016
About you
Name: Katrina Carroll
Age: 37
Occupation: Manager of a laser clinic, creator of @vintageirishkat
Others in household: Husband and two daughters
What made you choose this house over others?
My husband saw it on Daft.ie and as soon as he saw it, he sent it to me and said, ‘This is our home.’ We got so excited.
When I went to view it I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Some estate agents do wonders with the photos! I had a little cry and then I went, ‘No, no, no, I can work with this.’
We gutted the whole place and we did it up room by room. There was so much work to do it but we eventually got there. Thank God it was meant to be and it all worked out.
Which place in your home do you love the most (and why)?
I have to say that my living room is my favourite. It’s a very chilled area. The kids don’t even go near there because we don’t have any toys in there. It’s just the perfect escape for me and Adam to just chill when they’re going to bed and we’re like, ‘Let’s watch something on telly.’ It has a little drinks cart so it’s just lovely.
Which place in your home do you love the least (and why?)
Every time I walk into the playroom, I’m like, ‘I can’t cope with you.’ You just can’t make toys look pretty, you know? It wrecks my head. The plan for this summer is to do a huge overhaul and go really funky for the kids. I am excited to do that and I have a few ideas in my head, but the playroom will always be my pet hate.
The kids are only four and ten months, so we have at least another ten years before we can shift them out of there! I might as well make it look cool if I can.
Take us through a day, in your house, room by room.
The main rooms we would live in would be the playroom, the kitchen and the living room. Those rooms are really the main focus of the house – where we chat, chill, eat our food and play. During the day when we’re not in work, it’s mostly in the playroom, playing with the girls and watching stuff on the television.
The kitchen is obviously where we cook and chat and listen to the radio as the kids are in the playroom. My kitchen is very cottage chic because I’ve always wanted a little cottage. We have a stable door as well so we would always open the top door. Then we have a little dining room where we would sit down and have our dinner.
The living room is where we go late at night when the kids have gone to bed. That’s our little sanctuary.
Is there anything you’d do differently if you were doing it again?
I would take my time. I wanted everything done and I rushed through designs in my head when I should have gone with the flow and seen what kind of vibe I wanted in each room. I’m only getting to that stage now where I see that this is how I want certain rooms to be.
