The hassle in the castle

posted: 29-Oct-2009
Smarmore Castle is one of Irelands oldest lived in buildings
The Viscount room .... rather fab!

Sorry for not blogging til now about the final episode of At Your Service - I have been bonkers with the shop and with classes starting again ..... BONKERS!

Smarmore Castle - Ardee, Co. Louth

Well now what can I say ..... talk about tough clients to please.

My job was to reinvigourate the entrance hall as well as adding a splash of pizzaz to the bedrooms.

Man what a chore ..... it is amazingly hard to work with clients who don't believe you know what you are talking about.

I am a qualified professional and I do have an inkling when it comes to interior design ya know :)

"Trust me I'm a designer" isn't just a fancy catchphrase and I wasn't there for the laugh - it was a long drive from Cork.

Anyway the owners of Smarmore were resistant to say the least when it came to my fabulous new hallway.

My first pick wallpaper IS widely available despite what the castle owners said, so my second pick was used instead. As it happens I was pleased with the results and the hallway looked gorgeous when it was finished.

The chosen wallpaper was Connemara from Laura Ashley in Cinnamon.

The fact that my clients didn't like my first choice paper only hurts a little :) Cry!

Would have been fab lady !

Anyway there were cushions a plenty and some properly sized table lamps to lift the bedrooms.

In fairness the rooms were grand on the whole and I was more interested in creating wow factor in the entrance area. Cushions, throws and proper lamps were all I added to the bedrooms.

I hope the At Your Service experience helped Smarmore Castle cause its a beautiful building, in a lovely setting and it really should be raking it in.

I just wanted to thank Waddell Media and John and Francis Brennan for the pleasure of working with them throughout the series and I would be delighted to be asked back again for series three.

Thats for another day though eh!

So thats it for this collection of blogs and blabs.

I will be back next week with that build up to Christmas I was gabbing on about last time.

Until then ..... Karl

 
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Blogger Bio
karlfradgleyKarl Fradgley, 31, is one of Ireland’s leading interior designers and runs his own design outfit in Cork, Retro Metro Design. His TG4 show, Shabby go Chic,was one of the most talked about interior design programmes last year. Its slogan Reduce, Re-use, Reinvent strikes an even greater chord in today’s climate.
If you have any questions for Karl or want to share an interiors tip with other Ireland.com fans, just post a comment beneath his blog or email us at interiors@ireland.com

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