Bedazzled: A Jewel-toned Home in Cork by Kiosk Architects and Kingston Lafferty Designs.

When the pandemic hit and people went into hibernation, Irish interior designer Roisin Lafferty did the opposite. She was enlisted by a young family—a couple with a little boy—to redesign their home in Cork, Ireland, over the lockdown. The family lived overseas and were planning at some point to move back to Ireland. But they first needed a place to call home. “We initially got to know them over Zoom,” recalls Roisin, principal at Kingston Lafferty Designs, who took up the project in collaboration with Cork-based Kiosk Architects. “Then, as the project progressed, we would sometimes catch up in person. They were wonderful to work with and ever open to our bold ideas.”

What started off as a small decorating project soon evolved into something more. The site, as Roisin recalls, was worse for wear. The bones were fragile, there was no insulation and many walls were weak. The obvious solution, it seemed, was stripping the entire ground floor. And so, joinery was removed, glazing was taken down and the roof overhauled. Then, when it was confirmed that things were no longer leaking or creaking (or reeking), Roisin reconfigured the layout on both floors. Modifications included a new kitchen and lounge downstairs, and a master suite with a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite bathroom upstairs.

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With a new space, came a new spirit, one that reflected the family’s sensibilities. “Capturing their essence was hugely important to us, as was creating a warm and tactile atmosphere as a backdrop to their lives,” she shares. What was also a priority was colour—lots of it. “As people who would usually play it safe with neutrals, they decided to step out of their comfort zone with this home,” avers Roisin. Of course, the point of departure would remain the lush landscape and the modernist timber architecture, original hallmarks that the couple held dear.

The interior today is a cornucopia of jewel tones—as restorative as they are rich. Rich greens, burgundy, pinks and blues saturate every corner, dazzling individually and together, like pieces of a magical puzzle. “Each one tells a different story, like a work of art, but a work of art created by nature itself,” notes Roisin.

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True to her words, the home flows like a hypnotic river, darkening, lightening, then darkening again, before dissolving altogether into the outdoors. Bamboo marble in the hallway holds a mirror to the mossy landscape, while slabs of book-matched Verde Alpi in the lounge evoke the beautiful vistas of Cork city. In Roisin’s book, it’s the kitchen, however, that’s the true crowning glory. With a candy-like quartzite and tones and materials that at once coalesce and contrast, it’s a kaleidoscope of many moods and moments.

“The idea was to create an unexpected haven that transports the owners to another world, away from the humdrum of everyday life. It’s a place that satisfies the senses, delights and excites, and offers a playful, colourful and all-encompassing atmosphere to provide happiness each day,” finishes Roisin.

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[Images courtesy of Kingston Lafferty Design. Photography by Ruth Maria Murphy.]