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Audrey Whelan
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Hailing from Clondalkin Audrey Whelan lives in Clane, Co Kildare with his husband Neil and 2 children. She has been a self-employed interior designer for Four years.
Her path into an interior design was an interesting one –, After doing a diploma in interior design Audrey started to work from home but became so busy she opened a shop in Clane Co Kildare where clients can come and browse. Audrey offers full interior design services and also supplies fabrics and furniture to some of her clients.
Recent projects include…. Audrey has focused her work on private clients but after doing Showhouse would definitely be interested in doing more show houses and other commercial work alongside private domestic clients. Also Audrey writes a weekly column for the Kildare post and teaches interior design classes in four collages in the Dublin /Kildare area.
When designing a property for Showhouse viewing Audrey feels that it is very important to follow the developers brief and look at the target market for the property and design for the potential buyers of that property. The advantage of an interior designer for a Showhouse is apart from the practical side of the design the designer has the opportunity to add something special to the overall look.
Audrey is a big fan of mixing practicality and comfort. There is no reason why a space that is comfortable and beautiful cant also be functional and low maintenance. Audrey loves fabrics and colour and believes if the bones are right then the look can be changed dramatically with fabrics or a splash of colour.
When it comes to colour no colour is a bad colour only a badly done colour. Audrey loves everything from soft duckegg to striking aubergine it really is about what suits your space and what you like and can live with.
In her/his property featured in Showhouse... Audrey has concentrated on quality. The house at Highfield is a four star bord failte holiday let and Audrey feels that because the tenants will change regularly the property will be subjected to commercial cleaning regularly. A solid wood kitchen and granite worktops will take a lot of abuse and cleaning over the years as will the suite of furniture that has been made locally. The frame is solid beech and the fabric a commercial quality so this also will withstand the test of time. The solid marble floors should be nearly impossible to damage and the tiles in the bathroom are marble and polished porcelain also very durable. The carpets are darker than the usual Showhouse as this shade will be easily maintained and can take a scrub if needed. Beds are hotel quality and the furniture is good quality. The feel for the whole house is luxury. 100% silk interlined curtains and roman blinds are used in the larger bedrooms to create a warm cosy sumptuous feel in the rooms and warm chenille in the third bedroom that doubles as a study/relaxation space. All of the accessories including the lamps and light fittings are of a very high quality so the purchaser or the person visiting the house really feels they are in four-star luxury. Audrey has stayed away from very strong colours for this property as she didn’t want to impose too much of a personal feel to the house and feels the luxury, warmth, and the natural character of the property will give enough of a feel good factor that anyone that stays in the house will find it personal to them for that fact.
Current design trends Audrey is a little tired of are suede. Audrey feels suede is just too overdone.
Audrey would sum up her/his design style as “warm comfortable practical and changes with each job to suit the clients needs”
Her/His ideal dream project would be? Every day I do my dream job and to continue doing what I do is my goal as well as a few more show houses.
If you would like to contact Audrey Whelan you can do so on: email /audreywhelan@iol.ie or 045893832, 045893836 / web
www.audreywhelaninteriors.ie or www.degaffeinteriors.com
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