Design Lessons from Killarney, Ireland

Our workroom captain, Teresa, was lucky enough to visit Ireland early last month and had a wonderful time. She came back with some very interesting design ideas, so we’re sharing:

After touring around Galway and vicinity, Teresa’s group drove to Killarney, County Kerry. Regarding driving, Teresa says: “It was crazy. Don’t do it!” All travel arrangements were made through Costco Travel (!) and it was pretty much perfect, but the Killarney stop was her favorite. They even stayed an extra day because they all loved it so much. It’s a lively town filled with “beautiful, well-dressed people”, castles “all over the place”, great shopping, and “absolutely massive rhododendrons”.

Teresa loved everything about the Great Southern Killarney Hotel. Every single design detail was perfect, accessible, and luxurious without feeling stuffy. Teresa thought she recognized the paint color in her room, and when asked about it, realized that it was Benjamin Moore’s “Killarney” (CC698) which she had chosen for her own home sewing room and daughter’s room years ago, before this Ireland trip was even a twinkle in her eye! When you think about the millions of paint colors in this world, this is an incredible coincidence and maybe explains why she loved this town so much!

In the wine-colored hotel lounge, Teresa made another discovery: the fabric on the sofas that were flanking a giant fireplace were upholstered in the same fabric that she had just ordered a chair from HR! Not a similar fabric, but the exact same, and Teresa knows her fabrics. Unbelieable coincidence, again. And yes, go ahead and light your bookcases!

This is the most incredible, and obvious design idea from her trip. Cover up your mini splits with a wooden cabinet! Duh! It can provide a shelf for display or plants, could be wallpapered, certainly painted and just makes the whole thing disappear. We had seen painted mini-splits at the Claremont in Southwest Harbor, but this is next level. Again, Duh!!

Utterly brilliant.