See Jessica Cunningham's cottagecore home in Co Cork

We visit Jessica Cunningham's home in Killeagh, Co Cork, to explore its traditional Irish and French-inspired design

Jessica Cunningham in her main living space. Pictures: Chani Anderson

In a world of architectural monoliths, glass walls, pared-back interiors and relentlessly hard floors, it’s light relief to come across a home where comfort, texture and colour prevail.

Jessica Cunningham, nurse, wife, mother to a toddler, human companion to three canines and interiors enthusiast, takes a blend of French country and Irish country style with a touch of cottagecore as the basis of her approach to styling her home in Killeagh, Co Cork.

It’s a house which has come a long way from the mere shell built in 2007 and left lying idle until Jessica purchased it in 2016. “It had nothing in it — no electrics, plumbing, stairs," she says. 

"I had no kitchen for six months. I did the cooking on a little hob and I did the washing up in the shower. I had a little table with a Cath Kidston tablecloth for a bit of floral.”

Jessica Cunningham in her open-plan kitchen/dining room. 

The tablecloth reference is testament to Jessica’s love of creating a cosy home, even if the house was far from being the home it is today, and it gives a hint at the direction in which the four-bedroomed house developed, helped on the "bricks and mortar" side of things by her father. “He’s retired now but he’s a really good handyman,” she tells me, which proved invaluable.

The finished house, although Jessica maintains it’s a work in progress, is the antidote to cold white walls and grey accents without the dark tones of the colour-drenching trend. It’s something in between to create inviting warmth and colour combinations which are easy on the eye, especially on a July day when I visited and the weather couldn’t decide if it was summer or winter.

From the front door, softened by containers filled with thriving hydrangeas, it’s a step into a spacious square hallway and a clue to Jessica’s style, with a basket filled with fabric samples beside a vase of fresh roses. “I love fabrics and wallpaper and I’ve always been interested in colour but nothing jarring. I veer towards softer colours, what you see in the landscape," she says.

The main living space in Jessica Cunningham’s family home.

It’s a considered type of styling — slow interiors, you might say. “I’ve learned over time not to rush things,” says Jessica. 

However, it’s her love of traditional style updated for contemporary living which makes her home stand out: “I take my time picking things. It could take me six months or a year if I was choosing furniture. I would put it into a mood board. I hate just settling for something. I prefer to figure it out. It has to remain within the style which is traditional.”

Her open-plan kitchen and dining room illustrate the look, where traditional style units are finished in Farrow & Ball’s Setting Plaster with a darker accent shade on her larder, all set against a light green wall colour.

It’s easy on the eye as are her furniture choices in the dining area, some of which were sourced on DoneDeal, among them a French-style Laura Ashley armoire housing linens.

The nursery.

A theme throughout the home is wall panelling which is having a moment. Always part of traditional interiors Jessica has deployed it in one of two living rooms and in the nursery where she’s papered above it.

Every space is carefully considered: A writing desk in the understairs nook. 

In other hands, the house might have had a totally different interior design outcome, but Jessica’s eye for this particular style has attracted the Instagram interiors community where 73,000 followers get inspiration for everything from flower arranging to cushion styling and blending patterns and colour.

“I try to flow the rooms off each other,” Jessica explains. “From the kitchen, I can see the living room, utility and hall, that even though they are individual they tie into each other.”

The master bedroom.

To introduce the style Jessica makes suggestions to focus on. “Traditional cabinetry in the kitchen, pattern clash in accessories and adding florals. 

"Panelling in a living room is simple to do and it has a massive impact. Softer colours, brass door handles.”

Getting it right, however, comes down to staying true to it, she maintains. “Sometimes people veer away and introduce something modern. 

The sage mudroom.

"Take your time with what you’re doing. Do a mood board and add and take. Get a feel for how it will finish. Don’t rush it, get a feel for the home and figure out your style.”

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