What's making waves in our kitchen and bathroom spaces? 

Inside Out: We check out Mediterranean-inspired colours, sustainable practices, and how to enter 'Home of the Year'

Silestone Kitchen, Faro White.

The passions, rages, quirks and tantrums of the Greek gods (a sort of turbo-charged Love Island) were ancient civilisation’s way of explaining the at-times chaotic nature of the universe.

And considering the obvious disorder of the past year and a half, I’m tickled to think of Poseidon getting into the swim of things around my own sink or shower.

Silestone Sunlit Days Posidonia Green bathroom.

Because the mighty sea deity’s name crops up in conversation when I tune into the live stream of the launch of Sunlit Days, a collection of five new colours from surface specialist Cosentino.

 Posidonia Green kitchen.

Sean Nixon, Cosentino Ireland general manager, casually summons up the ruler of the oceans as he makes reference to two of the Spanish company’s Silestone collection’s five new hues, Cala Blue and Posidonia Green. “If we all remember our mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea,” he says.

Cala blue is a “deep sophisticated” shade, adds architect and interior designer Denise O’Connor but it can, like the other colours in the collection, be used beyond the kitchen.

The passions, rages, quirks and tantrums of the Greek gods (a sort of turbo-charged Love Island) were ancient civilisation’s way of explaining the chaotic nature of the universe.

I’m all ears when Denise says Posidonia Green, named after the trident-bearing god, puts her in mind for some reason of purging extraneous items. “People have seen the benefits of decluttering, of using their space, and that’s what this green does, without making it feel minimal,” she says.L

Silestone kitchen, Cala Blue.

The colours are versatile and brave, she adds. The other three shades are Faro White Cincel Grey and Arcilla Red.

Sean notes that homeowners after the past year are looking at their properties as never before. “Now, when you’re buying a house, you say, which room is my office? [You’re looking at] garden pods — spaces in homes are changing, the goalposts have moved,” he says.

Denise adds that rooms need to be flexible “for some of us on a daily or on an hourly basis”. Sean says the colours’ versatility allows “the homeowner and designer to be more playful with what they’re creating”.L

Silestone kitchen, Cala Blue.

The family-run Spanish surface specialist Cosentino is making a radical contribution to the circular economy with its innovative Hybriq technology.

Silestone kitchen, Faro White.

Based in Almería, on the Mediterranean coast, Cosentino has made sustainable surfaces for the architecture and interior design worlds since the 1990s.

During that decade, one of its key innovations was Silestone, a compound composed of over 90% natural quartz, which makes it extraordinarily hard-wearing and provides a seamless surface ideal for bathrooms and cladding on floors and walls — and is ground-breaking as a surface used in kitchens. 

Sunlit Days is the first carbon-neutral collection by Silestone within the industry of quartz surfaces and engineered stone, adds Sean.

Silestone Sunlit Days Arcilla Red kitchen.

“To this end, the company relies on different voluntary offsetting projects, duly certified and in the framework of the voluntary carbon market,” he says.

“This initiative is also complemented by a partnership programme for the preservation of the seabed.” Cosentino is also committed to a forestry programme. 

See more at www.cosentino.com/en-ie

WANT TO BE IN ‘HOME OF THE YEAR’?

SO MANY people have improved their home spaces in the past year or more and now the producers of RTÉ One’s Home of the Year are looking to hear from you.

The show is back for a new series and is open for applications from the public. Home of the Year sees a panel of three expert judges scouring the country looking for homes filled with passion, personality, and clever design.

The show features 21 diverse homes, seven of which will progress to a grand finale.

The production team is looking for homes of all shapes, sizes and styles, so, whether your home is a radical renovation, an interior passion project or a contemporary new build, 

The eight-part series is produced by ShinAwiL for RTÉ. To apply email [e-mail] or call 01-224 8600.