Location: Tramore, Co. Waterford
Type of house: Semi-detached 1970s house
How many bedrooms: Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, playroom
When did you move in: 2016
Name: Jac Sinnott
Age: 34
Occupation: Administration
Others in the house: Husband and two children
What made you choose this house over others?
We were looking in other areas in Waterford but everything was a new build and that’s just not something we were really into. Because the house was built in the seventies, the proportions are really big. There is a large living room and dining room. That was definitely what attracted us to the house. Also the house is south-facing so it’s really bright and sunny. There is a really nice feel to it.
I really like mid-century modern. Houses from 1950s/1960s California, that kind of style. I know it’s not California, it’s Tramore, but I love that style. Those houses had big proportions and open plan was just coming about then. It’s timeless and it doesn’t ever age.
Which place in your home do you love the most (and why)?
My favourite room is the dining room. It’s at the back of the house and it’s south facing so it gets the sun. Whatever time of the year, it’s bright. It’s such a nice space to be in. It’s also the room where I have my sideboard that I love to stare at.
Even when I’m on my own in the house and I sit and have a cup of tea or coffee, I still end up sitting there even though I’m sitting at a table and not at a comfy chair. I just love sitting in that room.
Which place in your home do you love the least (and why)?
It’s another room which is off the kitchen and we call it the ‘back room’. It’s just a dumping ground. If anything is retired from the house, it goes into that back room and you forget about it then. It’s just a pity because it get such lovely light and it opens out onto the garden, but time and money!
Take us through a day, in your house, room by room.
8am: We definitely congregate in the dining room all the time. We have a playroom but if I get up in the morning and I’m making breakfast for the kids, I will bring a few things into the dining room and it leads into the living room as well. They’re close to me and they can be near me while I’m cooking. We have our breakfast there.
12pm: I’m at home half the day and my husband is at home the other half of the day.We kind of just potter around the living room, the dining room and the playroom. We don’t use the other half of the house at all!
5pm: We do sit down in the dining room for all our meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner. We only started doing that when we had kids. It was definitely dinner on our laps before that.
8pm: At night, I love to spend time in my living room. That’s my little sanctuary. I love it. Candles, lamps, curtains closed. It’s the only room where there’s darkness because I have one wall painted a really dark navy so it’s kind of the snuggly room.
Is there anything you’d do differently if you were doing it again?
What attracted us to the house was that we knew it was a project. We were looking for a fixer upper. We knew when we moved in that it wasn’t going to be the way it was going to be in three, five, ten years. I like to take a little project every so often.
At the moment, I’m planning to do the kitchen on the budget so that it looks nicer without ripping out anything.
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