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Denise O'Connor

Denise O'Connor

Irish architect and interior designer, founder & managing director of Optimise Design, and an architecture/interiors columnist for The Irish Times.

Sep 26, 2026

34:22
And when you're doing that, like, is there a list that you need to take into account? Or should you just close your eyes and imagine yourself going through a day or how best to prepare?
34:32
What we suggest to people, it sounds really simple, but it's actually a really effective little exercise, is to track a typical week at home.
34:41
So little notepad or the notes app in your phone, whatever you find easier.
34:46
And just, you know, look at your day to day.
34:48
What's it like at breakfast time? Where are the pinch points? Where do the arguments happen? You know, are you coming in every evening and tripping over a pair of shoes? Can you never find your car keys when you're rushing out the door? So by noting all these things, that's going to highlight where issues are, where maybe things need to have a better storage solution or where furniture might be in the way of the flow of the space.
35:10
And that's going to really help you figure out how to simplify and how to improve your day-to-day life.
40:00
So what's your advice around that? So,
40:03
again, that's another one that's completely counterintuitive.
32:04
Surely, surely there is no point in having a bathroom without a bath.
32:08
It's, you know, this is it's a debate I come up against all the time.
32:13
It just depends.
32:13
It depends at the stage of life people are at.
32:16
So people with little children, absolutely.
32:18
You know, a bath is wonderful.
32:20
I've no little children.
34:54
Now, what do we need to know about tiles?
34:00
So if you're replacing that, tell me what's on offer.
34:03
So at the moment, like a very, very popular, I suppose, but it is at the higher end of the market is what's called Aluclad.
34:10
So that's a window where you've got timber on the inside, but it's aluminium on the outside.
34:14
So it looks like timber.
34:16
It looks very smart.
34:18
You can have it in the same colour inside and out or go for what's called a jewel colour where you choose one colour outside and another inside.
34:25
So that can be brilliant if you're trying to pick up a colour Maybe that's in your brickwork or work in, you know, just differentiate the house from other houses on the street, but then keep the inside nice and neutral.
39:07
You say bigger isn't always better.
35:42
So, Like when you have to break the bad news to them, like do people get stressed out by that or is it about working within what they can have?
35:51
Yeah, I think it's trying to get them to step back a little bit because you can have very fixed ideas about what you think is the right way forward.
35:58
Like we would regularly meet people who want exactly what their neighbours have done.
36:02
When neighbours have done this, it works brilliantly.
36:04
The neighbours may not want that.
36:07
No, no, exactly.
36:08
But when you sit down with them, the neighbours have a different number of children.
37:50
Would you say do a little bit now and park the rest later? Or what do you recommend?

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