Programme 2 – Ashetown Walk, Portlaoise, County Laoise
Presented by top interior designer Neville Knott, Showhouse RTÉ’s interior design show sees two professional interior designers take over two identical new houses and compete to create the winning Showhouse.
For the second instalment in the fifth series, Neville Knott and the team travel to Ashetown Walk, Portlaoise, County Laoise. The development offers a variety of house types from 2 and 3 Bed semi-detached houses. They are traditional concrete block built houses, with a ten year structural guarantee. They are gas fire central heated properties.
The two interior designers taking on this week’s challenge are Sandra Dunne and Sharon Johnston.
Sandra hails from Cabinteely in Dublin. She entered the world of Interior Design as a ‘mature student’ and completed a two year home study diploma course with Limperts College of Design in 2007. She now runs her own interior design company with her business partner and life long friend. Projects to date have included private residences, homes for resale, de-cluttering and recently Sandra completed a bar re-fit in Berlin, Germany. Sandra describes her style as ‘marmite’ you either love it or hate it!
Sandra’s competitor in the Showhouse challenge is Sharon Johnston. Dublin based Sharon set up her interior design business Aura Living interior design in 2007 after deciding to make a career out of her hobby. Sharon offers showhouse and apartment fit outs along with colour consultations for both private and commercial properties nationwide. She also hand paints individual pieces of artwork on canvas to coordinate with any colour scheme and space. Sharon teaches arts and crafts to afterschool care children in Skerries.
The designers have several weeks to plan and purchase the interiors and then just six days to turn their properties into Showhouses, on the seventh day the public will vote on the winning interior.