Location Kenmare
Architect: Diarmuid Twomey
Interior Designer/ Designer: Nathalie Vos and Justina Gruzdyte
Other companies involved: Holbein Carpentry & Joinery
Photographer Credit: Lynda Kenny

The Little Red Bridge is a home that sits in a beautiful country-side setting, with fantastic views taking in Kenmare Bay and the Beara Peninsula. However, small windows and French doors opening onto the deck failed to optimise on the vistas. The interior needed to open up to those views and bring them in. The brief given to Edit Design Studio was to create a comfortable and inviting holiday home with soul and warmth for the owners, a functional home that is stylish and comfortable.

As the home is also let out to other holiday makers, the interiors had to be able to appeal to families or couples looking for an escape, with a pared down luxury, unique homestay feel that exudes character, personality, and individuality. The living spaces needed to be maximised and had to be able to deliver a great space to entertain. Style wise, it was important to maintain a modern country vernacular. With the help of the architect, Edit Design Studio opened up the ground floor living space by knocking out the back façade, and incorporating floor-to-ceiling sliding doors along the length of the whole living space.

Edit Design Studio’s reconfiguration of the ground floor allowed major changes to the living spaces. The previous single living space was converted into a large kitchen and dining room, with brand new bespoke fitted kitchen and a large dining table. The downstairs bedroom was converted into a spacious and airy lounge with a wood-burning stove and folding doors onto the kitchen and dining room to give the occupants the choice of semi-open plan living or separate rooms.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this project for the designers was being able to have fun with design features, expressing the personality of the owners. In the dining room, they used Shaggy sideboard from Kare that embodied holiday living, paired with the traditional Irish Skib baskets hung as an installation on a wall in the kitchen that was a nod to the past. The interiors were kept simple, using a base plate of white and introducing intense blues and greens as they flow through the house. Their idea was to bring the outside in and reflect the colours of the ocean views and the garden. For the furnishings, Edit Design Studio used natural textures and fibres such as oak, cane and wool, and local tradespeople where possible.