The Interior DIYer
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When in Rome

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of our first date, last week Robert and I ran away to Rome for some sun, warmth, food, lazy aimless wandering and to take in some sights. Did I mention food? So much food. 

There was fantastic weather for the four days we were there [two full days and two half days traveling on either side], the hottest being on our third day where it reached between 25 and 30 degrees. During our first full day we managed to lazily hit all the sites. We walked from our hotel to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum, all while stopping for copious amounts of pasta, pizza, gelato, beer and wine in between [ahem, iced tea for me] … 

The following day we went to the Vatican as I’ve always wanted to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The chapel itself is not very big at all, but has a towering ceiling that is ridiculously gorgeous. It’s hard to know where to look; other than up. There’s a strict no photos and even no talking rule in the Sistine Chapel. There’s a security guard whose sole job is to enforce both rules by pressing a microphone to his mouth and loudly mumbling both repetitively and breathing heavy at the same time. The no talking rule we especially sniggered at like idiots because he was clearly the loudest person there. 

Oh, for the record, if you tell me to not take a photo of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, I’ma take a photo of it … 

While Rome wasn’t exactly what we expected [we had a lot of interesting encounters], we still had a lovely time in the sun wandering aimlessly. I also managed to sit a funny way on a bus on our first day and my back is still yelling at me for it. I’ve never had problems with my back! KNOCK ON WOOD. I blame all these damn pregnancy hormones. I think the only remedy would be for me to find some gelato in Dublin today … 
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Laser cut Arcade

I’m not sure about where you are, but today the weather in Dublin is fifty shades of meh. In an effort to cheer up my afternoon I thought I’d share this amazing laser cut wood silhouette of George’s Street Arcade by Alljoy Design that I spied in Jam Art Prints last weekend. It’s not often that I see something and immediately have to have it [I usually think about something a lot before buying it, even if it’s a pair of tights], but I actually had to have this piece. 

The George’s Street Arcade is one of my favourite buildings in Dublin City Centre and even though I’ve passed it regularly for close to 12 years I still stop, stare and dream about living up among the turrets. This laser cut representation is so beautifully detailed and perfectly reflects just how amazing the Arcade is.

I wasn’t too keen on the font that was used for the engraving across the front so I covered it with a piece of Dymo that says the same as underneath [the engraving says George St Arcade but the correct name is George’s St Arcade]. I’m sure that’s me being pedantic, but I can easily remove the label if I change my mind or if a sweltering level of guilt hits me. There’s of course the option to frame this piece but I quite like how it looks perched on our living room shelf against the dark walls. I’m very glad to have this quirky piece added to our embarrassingly small collection of artwork, but I’m working on it!

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#OpenHouseDublin

This past weekend Dublin played host to its 10th annual Open House Dublin where, as you can probably guess by its name, buildings across the city that are usually closed to the general public are open with guided tours over 3 days. Most of the tours happened in the city centre, but for the most part we decided stayed local. 

On Saturday we started with the Memorial Court / Islandbridge Court / Sarah Place tour which consisted of three local housing schemes [above is Memorial Court which is home to 66 apartments for senior citizens]. Robert and I pass all three buildings on a daily basis so it was interesting to walk around the grounds and be able to be a tourist so close to home.

From there, we hopped on a bus and headed into the city centre [where the majority of the Open House Dublin tours were] to check out the College Green Apartments. Unfortunately, after standing in line for almost an hour we were told the queue ended with the woman standing directly ahead of us. I was dying to see the recently refurbished apartments [you can see here] so I could daydream about owning one and feel horrible about my own life in general. I suppose in the long run, they were saving me from myself. Silver lining? 

On Sunday there was a tour of Inchicore School which underwent an upgrade last year. I spent most of said year craning my neck to see what was being built behind that behemoth of a wall, so I was looking forward to going in. The old schoolhouse against the new building was really amazing and they worked so well together when it was broken down and explained by the architect. My photos do it zero justice … 

The original schoolhouse [which I failed miserably to get a decent picture of. It’s a beautiful building] was built in 1853. Due to population demand it became necessary for additional space to be added to the school, so in the back corner of the grounds a 3 storey building was constructed to house 6 extra class rooms and a hall [aka, gym] on the ground floor. 

With huge chestnut trees on the property and a public park across the road, the area doesn’t feel as stark as my pictures may portray. One of the architects gave us a thorough tour of the premises and it was a real treat to learn more about a place I’ve been eyeing for so long. I mean, look at that view from the classrooms … Robert and I literally died. 

It was a bit of a shame that out of the 5 buildings we visited [3 in Islandbridge, one on College Green and Inchicore School], we only got into one building. Inchicore School was a real treat and such an inspiring restoration job coupled with an environmental and well-being-conscious new build. It was a lovely weekend exploring in our own backyard. Next year we’ll sure to get out and see more. MOAR!