Jennifer Sheahan: Build, repair and maintain your dream home
There are many reasons to learn how to build, design, or maintain your home. File picture
There are many great reasons to learn how to build, design, or maintain your home. Not least of which is the abysmal state of the Irish housing market and the associated difficulty finding reliable tradespeople, but necessity aside, there is a huge sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with building, designing, or repairing something all by yourself. It’s good for our brains to learn how to do something new, and with a long, lovely bank holiday stretching out ahead of us and a new school year quickly approaching, now is a good time to think about doing just that.
There are plenty of excellent courses across the country that will take you all the way from building your own home from scratch, through designing your dream home, and finally to maintaining that home with DIY skills. I am highlighting three that I have heard first-hand rave reviews about from trusted friends who have taken these courses, and which I therefore feel confident recommending to you.
I’ve written about Common Knowledge in County Clare in the past, and I’m sure I’ll write about it again — it's a fantastic organisation and anyone I know who has done a course there has had nothing but excellent things to say. Common Knowledge is a non-profit group based near Ennistymon that runs a huge range of courses from furniture making to lime plastering, with a massive variety in between.
Here, I want to talk about their Build School — a five-day hands-on course aimed at providing a deep understanding of foundations, timber framing, insulation, roofing, finishes, plumbing, and electrics. A dear cousin of mine, who literally could not put up a shelf until recently, is now tackling much of the renovation work in his own home in Sligo, including plastering the walls himself — he said the course was hugely empowering. Anyone dreaming of a self-build, extension, or serious renovation and wanting real-world skills and confidence, this is for you.
Build School costs €850, including food, with affordable options available for those who need it — find out more at ourcommonknowledge.org under the Courses & Events section. There is also an option to stay onsite during the course in camping facilities or shared accommodation, with prices ranging from €20-€35 per night.
If you’ve ever browsed Instagram for interior design inspiration, you will very likely have been stopped in your tracks by the sophisticated luxury of Geri O’Toole (@geri_designs). Geri is an award-winning interior designer based in Limerick with over 15 years of experience, and her stunning work has appeared in countless top-tier interior design magazines. Her services are in high demand, but luckily for you, Geri launched her online Interior Design Academy last year.
The Interior Design Academy is packed with practical and inspiring content, taking you through everything you will need to know to design your own dream home. Geri takes students through design principles, colours, layouts, lighting, materials, and more through a series of video lectures, plus you will be able to discuss your learnings and questions with your fellow students and with Geri during the course.
The course is online and can be followed at your own pace. The total cost is €680, and there is currently a waiting list, which you can join at interiordesignacademy.co (yes, co — not dot com!). Friends of mine who loved this course found it surprisingly practical — one said: “Geri has a way of explaining things very clearly, and I finished feeling so much more confident.”
Once purchased, you will maintain access to all the course materials so you can go back and reference topics as needed. If you’ve ever struggled to bring your vision to life, or you want to elevate your style, this is the course for you.
Frankly, I think this course should be mandatory for everyone. Why we don’t learn DIY in school is beyond me, but until we get it on the curriculum, the DIY Evening Course at Cabinteely Adult Education in Dublin will plug the gap. I’m lucky I had a dad who was a DIY fanatic and loved passing on his knowledge, plus I have an over-inflated sense of confidence in my ability to try new things, so I’m fairly competent with home maintenance. Still, this course is essential, especially if you’re a beginner.
The sense of empowerment that comes with being able to fix leaks, install shelves, do woodwork, tile a bathroom, and repair basic electrics is intoxicating — and that’s exactly what this course will teach you. If you don’t want to have to rely on calling a tradesperson for minor repairs — if you can get a hold of one that is — or if you want the confidence to tackle jobs around the house yourself, then this is for you.
The course runs for eight weeks in-person on Tuesday or Wednesday nights from 7.30pm–9.45pm and costs €120. You can sign up or find out more at cabinteelyadulteducation.ie, look for DIY under night classes.
Friends who have done this course rave about the teacher, Andrew, and say that not only did they learn valuable DIY skills, but that the course was full of brilliant tips for saving money around the house with clever repairs and maintenance.
I will recommend accompanying reading here too — by the fabulous Laura de Barra is my personal favourite DIY handbook and every house should have a copy.
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