Flower power is back

Rose Martin admires the sense of warmth chintz designs bring to no 48.

CHINTZ isn’t dead. As long as there are women and houses, the floral survives.

In fact, it’s a refreshing release from the mute, buttery palettes, the coldness of chromey minimalism and the proliferation of pine.

It’s homey, but without the shabbiness of the farmhouse look — country but at the upper level.

And it works anywhere; that two-bed cottage, the neo-Georgian manse with room for a pony and the city townhouse, (read former slum now Millionaire’s Row).

Number 48 Woodberry in Ballincollig, is a very good example of the look, but also an exemplary model for the second-hand makeover.

This house was finished with pine internal joinery when bought by the present owner and she took a bucket of cream paint to the house and transformed it.

Then, the soft floral sofa moved in, subtly picking up on the tiles in the cast iron insert of the fireplace, and American cherry was laid throughout the main reception rooms and hallway.

The warmth of this deep rosy wood is good against the off-whites and heavy drapes that frame wide bay windows.

The staircase is also a feature of the house and again, is painted off-white with the newel post and hand rail in the original. A Louis chair sitting behind the doorway is a nice surprise.

The back of the house has the working rooms, (there’s only a small study to the right of the entrance hallway), and here, colours are bolder, with burgundy armchairs acting as a counterpoint to the lush red velvet, patterned sofa.

The kitchen continues the theme with wine-covered dining chairs, cream units and broad, gingham curtains.

This big, fitted room is accessed directly from the hallway and leads through a utility room to a large, back garden.

But it’s the upstairs, with its sloping dormer bedrooms that gets the full chintzy finish. Bergere furniture, ginghams and soft floral wallpapers all add up to a cosy and feminine space.

There are nice touches everywhere and the house is a work in progress.

No 48 comes with four bedrooms, a study, living room, kitchen and lounge and has the bones of 2,000 sq ft of space.

It’s in a rather secluded part of the Greenfields estate, in a quiet location.

On the market with Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald for offers in excess of € 720,000 this house is well worth a look for those shopping in Cork’s western suburbs.