Interiors expert Patricia McGinnis shares her favourite room at home

With everyone stuck at home because of Covid-19, we’re looking for some home interiors inspiration. Here Patricia McGinnis, co-founder of Maven, shares her favourite room 

Patricia McGinnis co-founded Maven, a furniture and homeware shop in Belfast, with her sister Catherine. They believe everyday items should be enhanced by great design, and their collection of Scandinavian and Irish products is carefully curated to ensure you leave their store with a smile.

Given her excellent taste in interior design (browse her website if you don’t believe us), we asked Patricia to tell us a little bit about her home. Here she kindly opens up about her favourite room, as well as the meaning of the furniture and colour scheme within it.

My living room

“My favourite space is definitely my living room,” Patricia tells us. “Well, it’s an apartment so it’s an open-plan living room, dining room and kitchen and it is where my 11-year-old son Lalit and I spend most of our time.

“It’s the heart of our home,” she says. “In the winter, we draw the curtains, put on the lamps and light candles and it feels like the cosiest place. In the summer, the sun streams in through the south facing windows and is light, bright and airy. It’s perfect. It feels like a warm and welcoming space where friends and family constantly drop in for a bite to eat or a cuppa; or where Lalit and I can curl up under a blanket and watch a film.”

As for her favourite piece of furniture in the room, Patricia tells us, “My dining table is my most treasured item. My parents bought it second-hand in Manchester in the seventies and it was our family dining table as we grew up. It was central to very many happy times. Now, it continues to be surrounded by friends and family as I love to cook and get a gang together around it.”

“I love the black kitchen,” Patricia explains. “As the space is open plan, I was determined that the kitchen itself should feel like a piece of furniture to help with the flow of the entire room.  Little details like black plug sockets and the oak-insert really elevate it into something special.

“I painted my last place completely black – walls, ceiling and woodwork – and I absolutely loved it. But when I moved in here, I just wanted to do the opposite. Painting it completely white was unusual for me as I love colour and am not scared of being fairly bold.”

This colour scheme won’t be here forever, Patricia tells us. “It will no doubt change soon, however, as I definitely see my own home as a place to experiment.

“The black furniture came as a natural consequence of having the black kitchen and wanting the room to work as a whole.  The orange bits, like the Ligne Roset chair, I’ve had for years.  I’m a believer in going for the colour you love and are drawn to, rather than playing it safe and not getting something because you’re scared you might not like it in the future.

“Just go for what you love.”

See more of Patricia’s design picks at WeAreMaven.co.uk.

This article first appeared on IMAGE.ie in March 2019.

Photos: Patricia McGinnis, Maven

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