RESTORATION
A SHOW OF
restraint
Photographs by james fennell
The expertise and
impeccable taste of
interior designer
David Hogan was given
a fresh outlet when
he acquired a
new home in one
of Dublin’s most
architecturally
distinctive districts
eautifully
finished,
personalised and discreetly
luxurious describe the
interiors designed by interior
designer
David
Hogan.
A stalwart of the interior
design scene in Ireland for
more than 20 years, his gentle
unpretentious style and respect
for clients’ privacy have secured
for him a seamless pipeline of coveted commissions over
the years. Being so busy, it also meant his name has been
largely confined to those in the know. “It is all word of
mouth,” he says. “And I find, I am now working for the
children of my original clients and helping some downsize,
others trade up.”
Hogan’s exceptional taste and expertise are matched
by a confidence in the team of craftsmen and suppliers
– all Irish – he uses, and by his love for Irish art and
antiques. He prefers to find pieces before they have been
26 | Spring 2014 | T h e G l o s s interiors
Interior designer David Hogan, top. In the hall, RIGHT,
with its wall of pictures, a laylight, restored using glass
from Capital Glass, conceals the Velux above it. The panel
window above the door to the guest bedroom is original.
In the hall, LEFT, an 18th-century table, topped with
Arabescato marble, is from Artefaction. The mirror is
19th-century French. The 19th-century blue and white
vases and jars were collected over the years and the
Hundi lantern was found in London.
The drawing room, above, with walls and woodwork
painted in French Grey distemper by Little Green,
offers a glimpse to the adjoining dining room. Original
floorboards were scrubbed and limed, the Kilkenny
limestone fireplace restored. The mirror is Louis XVI.
A pair of directoire fauteuils are covered in horsehair,
the sofa and armchair in linen from Brian S Nolan, with
cushions in plum velvet by Colefax and Fowler. The black
gilt-edged table is papier-mâché. Irish antique furniture
and paintings were collected by the owner.
T h e G l o s s interiors | Spring 2014 | 27
RESTORATION
repaired or polished so he can oversee the work himself
and control how they look. However, while antiques
feature prominently in Hogan’s own home, his work for
clients is diverse, spanning all genres of interiors from
very contemporary, to Art Deco to classic. The type of
interiors matters less than the level of service he provides:
Hogan goes all out to create a home for a client that is
cognisant of how they like to live. He devotes himself
totally to the project in hand, even tailoring site visits to
anti-social hours. “It can’t work if the client feels under
pressure to make decisions – I am there to facilitate and
I do. It actually helps me design the interiors around the
client if I know how they live and have to function: if I am
asked to meet as dinner is being cooked or the school run
finishes, what I observe informs my approach.”
As the cost of gorgeous houses plummeted in the city
in recent years, Hogan kept an eye out for something
that might give him more space to entertain and an
28 | Spring 2014 | T h e G l o s s interiors
opportunity to create the kind of urban base in which
he could enjoy city living at its best. The distinctive
19th-century architecture of certain streets in Dublin
city were always a draw and in 2011 he spotted a nearderelict villa-style house, a protected structure built in
1836, for sale in the area. Although barely fit for human
habitation, its period features were intact. Its potential
was obvious to Hogan who loved the fact that the old
floorboards and flagstones and fireplaces and cornicing
were relatively undamaged. He set to work on the
restoration and, with the help of conservation architect
David Sheehan of Sheehan & Barry Architects, adjusted
the layout and planned an extension to the rear. A year
after the main work finished, Hogan is now attending to
the finishing touches, though with his impeccable eye,
there will always be another element to make perfect or
another piece of furniture to be swapped or painted or
upholstered.
The dining room, ABOVE, with antique Irish table and
chairs, the latter upholstered in a tan leather which
David Hogan discovered in New York. The gritstone
fireplace orginally came from downstairs and a
needlepoint rug from Vaughan was made into heavy
curtains. In the living room downstairs, opposite,
panelling, inspired by that found in the Huguenot
houses of Spitalfields in London, is painted a soft white.
A stone sits in the brick opening while bookcases,
designed by David Hogan, fill the recesses. Vintage
linen sheets, bought in a market in France, were made
into loose covers for the sofa.
T h e G l o s s interiors | Spring 2014 | 29
RESTORATION
A flight of granite steps leads to a bright and elegant
hall which opens to two reception rooms, originally
separated but now interconnected. The room to the
front, overlooking the street, is a lovely calm space
furnished with antiques and paintings by Irish artists.
A comfortable sofa made in Ireland by Orior in a
traditional English style faces the Kilkenny limestone
fireplace, and is covered in linen with scatter cushions
in plum velvet. The seagrass carpet by Crucial Trading
from TC Matthews is bound in linen. Central to the
adjoining dining room is a mahogany dining table and
chairs upholstered in a tan leather which Hogan found
in New York. The gritstone fireplace, taken from its
30 | Spring 2014 | T h e G l o s s interiors
original home downstairs, was stripped and polished
and given a new brass inset. A needlepoint rug from
Vaughan was made into heavy curtains and, in both
rooms, subtle differences in paint shades add interest
and depth. French Grey from Little Green is used on
the walls, with Hogan selecting a deeper shade for
woodwork, and a deeper one again for radiators. The
everyday living spaces are concentrated downstairs
where a blue-accented kitchen leads into the extension
which, with three sets of French doors leading to the
terrace, benefits from sun all day long. Here, a warmcoloured brick floor from Regan Tiles unites kitchen and
garden room, resulting in a perfect space for summer
In the garden room, left, a tabletop made from
wood left over from the Oskar Ono flooring for the
eveningroom was placed on Victorian workman’s
trestles. The chairs are from Habitat, painted in
Farrow & Ball’s Cornforth White, with Skimming
Stone used on the wooden doors, which conceals
storage for laundry machines, butler’s sink, vases and
glass. French doors, made by McNally, open to the
Indian sandstone terrace bordered in box, designed
by Martin Brady. The lantern was made in Dublin and
bought on Francis Street. In the kitchen, above,
painted cabinets by Lennon Bros have pewter
drawer pulls from Knobs & Knockers. The worktop is
Silestone and the warm brick floor, which unites both
garden room and kitchen, is from Regan Tiles. The
enamel worktable was found in Blackrock Market.
T h e G l o s s interiors | Spring 2013 | 31
Strap
RESTORATION
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dining. At this level too, a neat sitting room with a
stove and the master bedroom both feature very simple
panelling designed for comfort, with a mix of old and
new furniture and carefully chosen fabrics. At the end
of the hall beyond the picture wall, a stairs leads to the
ground floor and to a small lobby off which a small
cloakroom and study-cum-guest bedroom are situated.
In the latter, a painted directoire daybed and a Regency
faux bamboo chair painted by Christopher Moore add
lightness to the quaintly-shaped room. ^
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nihici dest quam quis adis volum volupti
amust, sum adis modis repra commolore
sequate mporro vere conem dolorro cone
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A 19th-century painted bed and Regency faux-bamboo
chair in the study/guest bedroom, ABOVE, with Irish
Georgian lead and crystal mirror and 18th-century bureau.
In the cloakroom, LEFT, fern prints in rosewood frames
which were found in charity shop, are hung on the wall.
Above left: Evelesse quiamustia qui
bersperibus et ommodi berum il esed
evenima deratio optatquiania sunt
que enest, que iume susapel millitibus
consende debis milliquas estiandam quid
quo maiorehendae sequibus magnit et
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fugitEhenditincid magniscimet
dissim non nihici dest quam quis
adis volum volupti amust, sum
adis modis repra commolore
sequate mporro vere conem
dolorro cone ma dolecust omnis
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usamentus, alis consed unt
The master bedroom, left, features a panelled wall
and curtains in a linen union from Brian S Nolan. The
ottoman, ABOVE, was reupholstered in a needlepoint
fabric.
32 | Spring 2014 | T h e G l o s s interiors
Above left: Evelesse
quiamustia qui bersperibus et
ommodi berum il esed evenima
deratio optatquiania sunt
que enest, que iume susapel
millitibus consende debis
milliquas estiandam quid quo
maiorehendae sequibus magnit
T h e G l o s s interiors | Spring 2013 | 33