Operation Renovation: ‘Taking on the project myself didn’t scare me’

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A furniture designer steps up to the challenge of a solo renovation and transforms a traditional Kerry bungalow with brave choices and a ‘Below Deck’ spin

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Sometimes an old home presents itself in a way that’s easy to visualise its potential. It may be crumbling or in disrepair but its bones are elegant, ceilings high and original features still intact. And, sometimes, it takes an extra bit of squinting to sense the inherent beauty and potential, itching to be uncovered.

For furniture designer Adrian Duyn, his 1980s ‘typical square bungalow’ in Kenmare, Co Kerry, required some serious squinting when he clapped eyes on it in 2016. Luckily for Adrian, working in the family business with his father, Joop, specialising in furniture design, restoration and conservation, meant he had the moxie to not just pull off the restoration of the cottage himself but the design eye to visualise it as a modern home while paying homage to its past.

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His brother, Killian, an interior architect, helped with layout and his dad acted as a sounding board for ideas, but otherwise it was a solo project: no mean feat but, with his experience, he rose to the challenge. “Dad and I work together every day, we have a good dynamic, and while we may approach a project in different ways, we always come to the best solution together using our experience, so I was able to bounce ideas off him. My brother helped design the size of the rooms and the flow but I had a good idea of what I wanted to do to begin with. Once I got on to the roof and saw the joists and what walls could be moved,” he says, “it was like a game of Tetris!”

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The original house was a warren of doors, all seven of them facing you as you came into the hallway, which, needless to say, were the first things to go. The footprint of the 1,400 sq ft bungalow remains the same but the internal layout is completely reconfigured. Save for two walls, the entire house was gutted, walls were demolished, floors taken up, the former garage was made into a bedroom ensuite, windows knocked out and openings resized, insulation and underfloor heating added, flooring laid, new kitchen installed and interior joinery all made and fitted by Adrian.

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It took almost one year from the date he got the keys to moving in — record speed time given there was no team behind him. “I didn’t have a big budget so I knew I’d have to do a lot of the works myself but, being in the furniture business, I understood how things are put together, so taking on the renovation myself didn’t scare me really. I also have contacts in the business so was able to get good rates on some materials. When I was scratching my head over something, I’d refer to a builder friend of mine who told me how to go about it.”

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There must have been moments that he felt like throwing in the towel. “There were plenty of those,” he says. “Especially on those very cold, dark, January days, but I had to remember that everything I did was a step closer to the finishing line. In my line of work, it might take us a week to repair a small inlay on a piece of furniture so I’ve learnt to be patient.”

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This approach, along with his love of nature, has delivered a considered home that honours his love of wood and tradition with a contemporary purpose, filled with light, bold design and warmth, one that balances earthy tactile textures and sleek modern finishes with an Irish vernacular. “It’s easy to be inspired by nature in Kerry and, because I work with wood every day, I was able to choose those timbers that have texture and warmth, such as oak and walnut.”

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Walking through the home, there is also a distinct nod to boat interiors, a deliberate design choice given Adrian’s love of superyacht interiors. “Superyachts are like mini homes on water so there’s always clever space-saving ideas; they’re the cutting edge of high-end design.”

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Anyone who has watched even one episode of Below Deck will know that sleek wooden finishes hide all manner of items, from kitchenware to belongings, and that surface texture and sight lines are equally important in creating a comfortable ‘home on the sea’. Long bleached oak planks and black rubber strips run throughout the home, mimicking a ship’s deck, and the decision to install two kitchens, one at the back to “hide all the pots and pans”, is inspired by a ship’s galley kitchen — back-to-back spaces, one functional, one aesthetic.

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“Everyone who comes into the house is shocked by how tiny my sink is,” he says. “They’re always asking where I do my wash up, but I purposely designed it this way as now all the dirty pots and pans go straight to the back kitchen and the bigger sink is out of sight, keeping the one out front clean and uncluttered.” It is, for Adrian, about “optimisation of flow and use of space”. Originally, when you entered the house, there was a direct line of sight to the kitchen, but a clever reconfiguration that includes a curved fabric wall with a slant means your eye is now guided to a beautiful feature wall and not a dirty kitchen.

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His use of layering and textures was one of the trump cards when it came to judging his house for RTÉ’s Home of the Year in 2021. He never made the final cut but was delighted to have even made it before the judges. “They thought my lighting was a bit harsh and they were right,” he says. “But they did love the layering and warmth of the house and had never seen fabric on the walls.” He is referring to his “bravest” design choice — a floor-to-ceiling woven linen wall in the hallway and the olive green leather and mahogany lattice curved wall with access to a hidden wine cellar pantry, which his mother described as akin to a ‘sensory’ room.

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“When it’s your home, you can be braver in your choices as you don’t have the client’s opinion to worry about. I definitely pushed the boundaries here, adding darker textures and softening what would otherwise be hard rendered walls immediately brings atmosphere.” ​

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There is an air of organised casual about Adrian reflected in his beautiful cottage that walks the line between rustic and calm with slick modern flourishes where everything has a place. Its personality shines in curated corners and considered finishes: a Victorian dressing table that doubles as a whiskey bar tells its own story, vintage steamer trunks that have crossed the Atlantic tell another, or the candlelit brass hurricane wall sconces that come in handy when there’s the odd power cut. These vintage pieces sit comfortably with his own handmade furniture which is dotted around the cottage, a favourite being the Caha Motus chairs, replicas of those made for a client in the Caha Mountains that resemble Scandinavian mid-century dining chairs.

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“I love how the house works, how the individual spaces interconnect and seem to flow in every setting. It is an extremely comfortable space to be in.” After seven years, he’s very much at home but has left contingencies for an additional room in the attic. Given his woodworking skills, he’s happy to rustle up a curved wooden staircase to connect the pantry with an attic room but, as it’s only him living there, he hasn’t run out of space yet.

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The indoor/outdoor flow is also something that is very important to him. Initially there was no connection with the garden, which was completely overgrown and, in his words, “overwhelming”. “I know my way around a house, but a garden...,” he groans. He cut back countless bushes and shrubs and gained an extra four metres, which allowed more daylight into the house, and replaced a window opening with doors to the south-facing garden. “I love the open-plan kitchen living area, which connects directly with the terrace and garden. It’s a great social space to entertain, sit by the fire and watch rugby.”

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The cottage is a reflection of Adrian’s quiet confidence: one that doesn’t seek recognition and is unrelenting to trends where master craftsmanship and brave decisions shine. “Don’t be too afraid to do something different. Following an Insta design trend might be fun but it may not be a true representation of you.”