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FOR TV COOK and food author Donal Skehan, home in his tiny Dublin cottage is all about family and a curated selection of meaningful objects with purpose.
“Myself and my wife Sofie have moved around a lot since we met. Since moving back to Ireland we’ve moved five times. As recent homeowners, after 17 years of renting, I think we have really honed in on the things that matter and the things that we want to bring into our home.”
Having recently moved with Sofie and their two sons into a tiny cottage on Dublin’s north coast near his childhood home, and having launched his new brand Wind Shore Goods, Skehan says it has been important for him to think a bit deeper about the things with which he wants to surround himself and his family.
“In Sweden they have a concept called ‘loppis’. It can appear in various guises but essentially it’s a secondhand shop and every local area has one. Myself and Sofie used to spend hours going in and out of these places buying things like vintage weighing scales and plates for 50c,” says Skehan.
“When we came back from California we had a storage unit full of this stuff and realised it would not fit into the cottage but also that we had moved on in terms of taste and requirements. I think you evolve and you leave a chapter of your life behind when you discard certain things. There are one or two things that still have pride of place in our home but we’ve also had our Marie Kondo moment.”
This idea of having fewer, but more purposeful, things was a starting point when setting up Wind Shore Goods, the first release of which sees him employ the talents of Rosemary Durr to create tactile espresso cups and West of Dingle for quality Atlantic sea salt.
“We were definitely in the process of grounding ourselves and rooting ourselves back in Ireland,” says Skehan. “Because of the size of the cottage, we’ve had to only bring in things that have purpose and meaning and that’s where the idea for the brand came from. I think more and more these days, people are reaching for things that are purposeful and considered.”
“About 10 years ago I had a magazine called Feast,” continues Skehan. “The idea behind it was that people could read about brilliant artisans across Ireland – whether in food or craft. There are so many people here who are really passionate about what they do. In some ways Wind Shore has the potential to be a platform for that, but is also an opportunity to collaborate with fantastic food producers and craftspeople. The concept seems to be resonating with people so far.”
When it comes to craft, one space that Skehan was keen to get right in his new home was, unsurprisingly, the kitchen. “We were thrilled with what Neptune did for us and a real selling point of their Suffolk kitchen is that all the various elements are freestanding so that if you extend or you change your kitchen around you can remove the facades and the pieces can be repurposed elsewhere.”
A fan of Mid-century design thanks to time spent in LA and Scandinavia, Skehan was nonetheless aware that a minimalist or Mid-century style kitchen would not lend itself to a 1930′s cottage.
“It wasn’t really the appropriate vibe for the cottage. I’ve always really admired the dreamy kitchens of Neptune and the space lent itself really well to their style. I think they were expecting us to say we had a huge space to work with but they’ve created the perfect little functional family space.”
While he admits that the kitchen is so small it causes “carnage” if there’s two people in it, Skehan says that it is a perfectly formed kitchen for one that is connected to a small, but convivial, dining area which houses the fridge and pantry.
“I’ve been in huge kitchens that are completely dysfunctional because of their size. Dictated by the size of the cottage, our kitchen is tiny but it forces you to be quite specific about what you have and how you use it. My mum also has a small kitchen but she has fed 18 or more for Christmas dinner every year and always says that you can do a lot in a small space as long as it’s functional and you’ve made it your own.”
While Skehan may have had his “Marie Kondo moment” one item that has endured at the heart of his home for many years is the second-hand table himself and Sofie picked up at an auction for €100 – a splurge at the time – when they first moved in together.
“This table has been in storage, it’s been on TV sets for various cookery shows and the boys now do their homework on it. When we talk about purposeful items, this table had history before it got to us but now it has another layered generational thing going on,” says Skehan. “Where it might fit in in the future I don’t know, but we just celebrated the boys’ birthdays and had a ridiculous amount of people in a tiny space all gathered around this table – it brings back lovely memories and has the potential to create many more.”
Skehan has now also ditched his 50c secondhand Swedish plates for something more in keeping with the philosophy of buying less but buying better and his collection of crockery by Fermoyle Pottery takes pride of place in his kitchen now.
“We have gone through so many different plates and bowls that last year I decided to invest in some really good crockery – dishes that I know will make the food look good and bring me joy at every meal time. The manifesto for my new brand is that the products have to come with that mindset and it also extends to our home – we want to buy things that have longevity and that we are not going to throw out after six or nine months.”
Another treasured item in Skehan’s cottage is a typewriter from Leo Molloy at Vintage Typewriters Ireland who specialises in the repair and restoration of vintage typewriters by companies such as Remmington, Smith-Corona and Empire.
“I love that Leo almost interviewed me before he agreed to sell the typewriter to me,” says Skehan. “I was so sick of writing in Google Docs and having edits suggested to me. I just wanted to be able to write something in my own words without the distraction of suggestions or other apps and programmes being open on the computer. I think it harks back again to that idea of using a storied item with purpose.”
Skehan used the typewriter to compose the introductions to the chapters in his most recent cookery book Home Kitchen: Everyday cooking made simple and delicious and the typed pages appeared in the book itself on publication.
“I have to park time to type on it because it is a tactile thing and the boys will, of course, want to press the keys,” says Skehan. “With the rise of AI and all these things that are supposed to help us, I think we are losing touch with the things that ground us. In finding those tactile things that really ground us there is joy to be found.”
Watch ‘Donal’s Real Time Recipes’ each Wednesday until the 18th of December on RTE One or catch up on RTE player. Wind Shore Goods will be at the Newbridge House, Courtyard Kitchen on the 14th, 15th, 21st and 22nd of December at Newbridge House. Cookery demonstrations by Donal will takes place each day at 12.30pm. Follow @donalskehan and @windshoregoods for all the latest updates. www.windshoregoods.com.
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