Star attraction: Inside award-winning designer home in Kerry

Interior design architect Aoife Tobin has created a timeless look which works in harmony with views of the Atlantic and Skellig Michael

Fri, 24 Jan, 2025 - 12:10

Carol O’Callaghan

They say the three most important things when buying a home are location, location, location, something the owners of a house in Co Kerry’s St Finian’s Bay got right with coveted views out over the Atlantic straight to the now world-famous Skellig Michael, thanks to Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens filming there back in 2014.

Built in 1995 by Americans with an Irish connection, it was later sold to an Irish owner from Kerry who then contacted Belfast-based Aoife Tobin, creative director of interior architecture and design studio Style So Simple, to revamp it for her family of four. “I was in New York on a visit when the client contacted me but she wouldn’t send me photos. She said I had to see it," says Aoife.

Struck by the location and views when she first saw it, Aoife has now transformed it, maximising the views and the interior space, responding to the client’s brief to connect the look with the natural environment.

Using a soft colour palette with blues and little pops of green and greys in natural textiles like cotton, linen and leather, Aoife also added a considerable amount of skilled joinery to provide storage and seating.

When she started the project in 2021, it was an interior of the ‘90s, with typical dark brown kitchen cabinets, Tuscan tiling in the entrance hall and a nook for which Aoife commissioned floor-to-ceiling cabinetry for coat and shoe storage, with seating to perch on for prising off hiking boots and outdoor clothing.

Now the dreary Tuscan tile has been replaced by modern patterned beauties in a muted greyish-blue colourway; cabinetry is finished in deep blue, and walls have been given a makeover with white paint which has had a transformative effect to make that all-important inviting first impression on entering the house.

The entrance hall has been transformed with joinery, new floor tiles and paint.

But it’s in the open plan room that the house expands into a dining and living space for all seasons, the focal point being the double-height stone fireplace and chimney breast with inset wood burning fire, until you catch the view off to the side and it trumps the fireplace as the focal point

“Seeing the view through the apex window and sitting with the fire lighting is so lovely even in the worst weather,” says Aoife. “Working with the open plan, I made little pockets of seating. Every seating area has a view to Skellig Michael.”

Artwork throughout the home connects to nature also, including a canvas by the late Bob Ryan which hangs on the chimney breast and was a gift from the owner’s father.

Wooden floors have been sanded and stained to look like new and the addition of a neutral sofa with occasional chairs accessorised with cushions and throws make it an inviting space for relaxation and entertaining, and for interior design lovers a showcase for Aoife’s elegant contemporary style which has secured two prestigious awards.

As far as possible Aoife retained as much as possible of original finishes in the house and even kept furniture left behind by the prior owners. The ‘90s kitchen is now painted blue, citing the sea and sky outside; new cabinet door handles have been added and new work surfaces to give it a facelift.

“A cabinet that had originally been in the living area and belonged to the previous owners I moved into the main bedroom,” says Aoife. “In the twin-bedded room, a chest of drawers left behind has been restored and painted blue with new handles to update it.”

The twin bedroom is finished in a relaxing colour palette.

A third bedroom takes up the space in the double-height ceiling on a mezzanine overlooking the living area.

The soft colourway focusing on white blue, grey and soft green continues throughout what she found initially was a tired interior with “lots of pine going on”, she says.

It’s a transformation with considerable local involvement, a deliberate approach by Aoife and her client.

The main bedroom continues the muted colour palette with comfortable textiles.

“The construction was completed primarily by local trades and talents and products purchased for the project were Irish which makes it even more meaningful, and it made me so proud by winning Best Living Space in Europe at the Design et al Awards in September and Fit Out Project of the Year at the Fit Out Awards in November, so it's very special to me," says Aoife.