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# my home in one photo
'I wanted the space to work for family and entertaining': Lisa shares her kitchen renovation
Lisa’s aim was to create a multifunctional area that everyone would feel at home in.
EACH WEEK, WE ask someone based in Ireland with a passion for interiors to share one photo of their favourite spot in their home.
Lisa Healy lives in an end-of-terrace house in Balbriggan, north Co Dublin with her husband and three children.
“We have spent the last five years renovating our home, which hadn’t been upgraded since the 1970s,” says Lisa.
“We carried out the work in three separate phases, as and when we could afford it, with a lot of help from our amazing families. We eventually finished the renovations in November last year.”
This week, Lisa (@pocketfriendlyinteriors) chatted us through her favourite spot: her kitchen.
What do you love about this part of your home?
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and baking and I love being able to open the French doors on a warm day and hear the birds chirping away in the garden. We get the sun in our back garden from mid-morning right through to evening, so this is always a lovely bright room.
What’s your favourite object in here and why?
I think I would have to say the kitchen island. It’s huge! We love to entertain and, with the exception of the last few months, there would rarely be a weekend that goes by where we don’t have family or friends drop over for a visit and stay for a feed. The kitchen island is the centre of the open plan kitchen, living and dining area and it’s where everyone tends to congregate.
What was your inspiration when you were putting this room together?
My main focus was making the space work for family and entertaining. I wanted it to be open plan so that I could see the kids whether they were playing inside or out in the garden, and I wanted to be able to entertain without being locked away in the kitchen and missing all the fun.
I chose the handleless kitchen as I wanted it to be quite minimal given that it shares its space with our living area. I chose to have open shelves on the wall rather than kitchen units in order to keep the space light and airy.
Be honest: how much tidying did you do before taking this photo?
Not much at all to be honest, apart from moving the baby equipment. Anyone who knows me will vouch that I’m a complete neat freak. My husband jokes that I’m going to wear a hole in the kitchen counter if I continue to clean it so often. I’ve always been a bit obsessive when it comes to tidying and organisation. I like to think I could give Marie Kondo a run for her money!
