IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity
IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity

Sarah Finnan

Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero
Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero

IMAGE

Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland
Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland

Sarah Gill

Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’
Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’

Sarah Finnan

Winter wreaths you can use year after year
Winter wreaths you can use year after year

Megan Burns

There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play
There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play

IMAGE

Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques
Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques

Sarah Finnan

Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent
Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent

Megan Burns

This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living
This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living

Megan Burns

Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome
Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome

Suzie Coen

Image / Living / Interiors

Inside a house conversion brimming with Scandi-Galwegian chic


By IMAGE Interiors & Living
27th Oct 2023
Inside a house conversion brimming with Scandi-Galwegian chic

Artistic dynamo Aoibheann MacNamara has loved every moment she’s spent converting a rundown carpenter’s workshop into an original urban home for a modern family.

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Here she explains how, between running Ard Bia at Nimmos restaurant and co-owning The Tweed Project clothing label as well as caring for her son Oni, she found time to transform a 150-year-old building in Galway’s West End into the bohemian home of her dreams, using a mix of reclaimed materials, bespoke solutions and buckets of artistic flair.

I WAS LOOKING FOR somewhere specific for years but knew I’d never find a New York-style loft building in the middle of Galway city. Eventually, I saw the potential in this place, and its location (in supersonic, real Galway), and was delighted when I struck a deal with the owner.

MY ARCHITECT SUGGESTED putting three bedrooms upstairs, but it’s only me and Oni living here and I didn’t want to lose the lovely ceiling height of the main structure. We added a floor on one very high section and Oni’s bedroom is up there now. It’s a cosy space with a low ceiling.

A GOOD BUILDER AND ARCHITECT ARE EVERYTHING. Without them, a project will easily fail. I can’t understand why anyone would think they can undertake a refurbishment without engaging experts. Once mine understood my ideas, he embraced them and really went for it.

HELPFUL HINT: The underfloor heating meant I didn’t need to compromise on space for radiators, which allowed me more room for art on my walls!

Words by Jillian Bolger, photography by Doreen Kilfeather, styling by Michelle Hanley. This article was originally published in August, 2015.