Not all gorgeous spaces have to cost a fortune, If you take your time to shop carefully you can get exactly the look that you're after without over stretching your budget.
House and Home reader Patrick McKenna has created a beautiful home without breaking the bank - here's his home.. and some of his best frugal tips!
(Photographs: Paul Sherwood)
Patrick's Home:
I got the table from a dealer in Kilkenny, it was stripped down and we just varnished it. Since it’s a small space I wanted to keep that intimate feel, so it’s actually a desk that can only fit about four or six people around it. It’s nothing grandiose, but there is something very inviting and unpretentious about it, which is something that I think Irish people understand really well.
I got the chairs for €10 each in a second hand shop in Dublin. They came from St Michaels convent in Navan, they’re Mundus chairs. I like the classic design, they’re so well constructed. You see them all over Ireland, they’re used a lot in cafes because they’re so hard wearing. They’re used for everything in our house – even for standing on to reach things that are up high!
The features in a space I would look to changing around every now and then – the mirror in the dining room might go into the bedroom eventually and something else might replace it there, or we might change a light shade. These are the things that keep it interesting, and then when friends come over and see something new it becomes a talking point.
I live in a small two-up, two-down house and my wife and I are avid Freecyclers! I have a furniture and kitchens joinery company and I’m the main designer. Stuff is always coming and going and having to be replaced. The rule of thumb in our house is that once something new comes in, something that’s already there has to go.
The cladding used on the walls in the back garden is made from offcuts of wood that we left over from a job that I did. It’s solid walnut, and it would otherwise just have been burned or thrown into a dump. Our architect, Jim Lawlor of Melted Snow, was really hands on and helped me put up the cladding, which was a nice personal touch at the end of the job!
Tell us what you think:
Patrick, being the main designer for Wabi Sabi, uses all of the free and unused material at his disposal to create fantastic looks for his home. He's also an avid user of Freecycle.
Do you use Freecycle - if so, have you had good or bad swapping experiences? We'd love to know, so tell us in the comments!
