Design Ingenuity

Embracing the challenge of making the most of this terraced cottage’s small space, interior designer Jenny Butler has carefully designed a home that works perfectly for her and her husband Alan’s lifestyle.

Excited at the prospect of owning their first home, interior designer Jenny Butler and her husband Alan Dempsey, a civil servant, bought this 1870’s red brick cottage in Bray three and a half years ago. ‘I loved its location and the quirky elements of it, brimming with ideas, I knew we could make it a unique home to us. We both really wanted to live in a town so we could walk everywhere, as we both grew up by the sea. It was also important to have that within walking distance as well,’ explains Jenny. The cottage wasn’t in a particularly liveable condition when the couple first purchased it. The kitchen roof was leaking, the walls were damp with crumbling plaster, the floors upstairs were full of woodworm, and it was dark, dated, and icy cold. The little courtyard to the back was used as a storage dump. ‘Despite its condition, there was something about it when we viewed it. We both saw a lot of potential and knew we could make it ours.’

Read more in the July issue…