Meet the Cork mother and daughter creating wonder walls

As the boom in home revamping continues, we consult the painting and decorating duo for advice on what's on-trend

Sat, 29 Jan, 2022 - 08:30

Carol O’Callaghan

It's the time of year, with days getting longer, when we muse on the notion of getting a man in to paint the house. But what if a woman, or even two, proved to be the best man for the job?

Cork-based mother and daughter duo Mary and Lorraine O’Leary are one of those heartening pandemic success stories, who, like so many others, were obliged to down tools with lockdown, but set about adapting their business to suit changing times.

Lorraine took to Instagram and set up the LM Décor account to showcase their painting and decorating projects, offer decorating tips to DIYers confined to barracks, and give pandemic-friendly online colour consultations.

DECORATING

Once easing of restrictions allowed them to get busy with brushes and turps again, these consultations developed into securing the actual decorating projects.

“Lots of them were women, comfortable having us in the house,” says Lorraine, “and we bring the feminine touch.”

But they also bring what they describe as their pickiness and dislike of covering up shoddy work — something that comes out of the exacting training Mary received back in the 1980s when she embarked on her decorating career.

An entertainment and display unit is brought up to date with a light grey painted finish in this family living room. Picture: Larry Cummins

“At AnCO [subsequently Fás], you were taught things like sign-writing, graining, wallpapering,” she says.

“We were taught everything, domestic and industrial. It was a really high standard you had to achieve. Nowadays there’s so much focus on getting in and out of a job, but you have to give it time.”

Lorraine says: “I did marketing in college, but it was absolutely not for me and I couldn’t stick the part-time job I had. My mum said come and work with her for a while. I hadn’t done that since I was a child when I’d get my own section of wall to work on.”

That was over three years ago, in which time, she says, “I’ve been trained in that old-fashioned perfection by my mum and I love working with her.”

And there’s a particular perk of the job which any woman who has ever endured the tyranny of the wardrobe before going to work will envy. “I don’t have to put on my make-up and tights every day,” Lorraine laughs.

Mary and Lorraine Mary and Lorraine O’Leary.

In an area of work that has seen a surge during the pandemic, Mary and Lorraine have observed a change in how we see our homes and how that’s driving trends, including the increasing popularity of wallpaper and its application, and shifting colour choices. “People are using wallpaper as art in their rooms in panels,” says Lorraine. “Cool greys are out, warm greys are staying as a neutral.

Navy is a trending colour for 2022. In this hallway it's applied in a two-tone with a light neutral above to keep the hallway feeling spacious.

“Greens are huge for 2022, and people are going bold again with bright yellow, coral, and navy rather than a bright neutral.”

Special effects are also in their bag of tricks with murals for children’s rooms proving popular.

Kitchens can be transformed without ripping out the units, but by applying expertly applied paint.

“We do them specifically for the child, reflecting their own interests,” says Lorraine. “We had a brief from a child for pink walls with yellow spots.

“It is hand-drawn, not stuck on. Another was for a room for three girls. Each had their own mural in their section of the room but all in the same colour.”

If all this talk is getting you itchy to embark on a repaint now we’re getting closer to spring, Mary and Lorraine have four tips to focus us.

COLOUR ADVICE

Get a colour consultation or use an interior designer, or know the purpose of the room and the feeling you want to achieve.
Choose your colour in the room in daylight, not in a showroom with artificial lighting which alters the colour.
Consider the time of day you’re using the room and when the sun hits.
Don’t be afraid of colour. You can always change it in a year.

LOOKING AHEAD

But if you’re hoping to hire the ladies to tackle your room, join the queue: They’re booked solidly until May, but that’s not stopping them planning their own future.

Mary is keen to introduce decorating as a career to girls. “I’d love to go to a careers talk in a girls’ school,” she says.

“There were not many girls in the trades when I started, but I never thought that 40 years later there would still be so few. Schools aren’t offering it to girls. It doesn’t even come up in careers talks.”