Pink Party

Pops of pink lend a warm and welcoming festive vibe to Lynn and Dan’s Waterford home.

- PENNY CRAWFORD-COLLINS

Happily renting a quirky little house in the pretty village of Dunmore East, Lynn Ferrari, a creative director for an American publishing company, and her partner Dan, a solicitor, were not in any mad rush to buy a property. ‘We weren’t actively looking for a house when we spotted this one on daft.ie back in 2018. On first viewing it seemed to be exactly want we wanted, it was in the right location in Waterford city, it had plenty of character, with a free standing bath, a Butler sink, a stove and it needed a bit of renovation, which was what we both wanted,’ explains Lynn. Once the purchase was complete the couple took their time to assess what needed to be done, initially thinking the major bulk of the work would be cosmetic. ‘We didn’t realise quite how much work was needed, there was wallpaper on the ceilings hiding cracks, the floors were all in bad condition, the laminate worktops in the kitchen were all stained green from the sun, the plumbing needed attention and the whole place felt really dark,’ says Lynn.

Taking a pragmatic approach the couple decided to split the work into two phases. Phase one included updating the kitchen, which was supplied and fitted by Jimmy O’Donoghue. ‘We turned one of the bedrooms into a walkin wardrobe, we re-plastered the ceilings and fixed a leak in the ceiling above the dining room, which meant we had to replace the roof. We also fitted new floors.’ This phase took four months to be completed, once done the couple moved in ready to embark on phase two.