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Room to Improve 2025 – Episode 2 – Palmerstown

Sunday January 12th 9:30pm

In 2019, Katie and Jason Rehill and their two children moved into their new home in Palmerstown.  They had come from a one bedroom apartment in Kilmainham, and this 1970s semi d was everything they wanted it to be, including a long garden. 

Cut to five years later and what was originally a dream space turned into a damp, cold and cluttered house, in need of a complete renovation.

In this episode of Room to Improve, Dermot and Claire have to address what many families up and down the country have to deal with – bigger kids with bigger lives, and with that comes less space for everyone. 

When meeting Katie and Jason at their house for the first time, Dermot is taken on a tour of a very cramped household.  The front room is filled with children’s toys and accessories, from a gymnastic mat to a goal post.  As Dermot says, the house is a shrine to the kids’ family life.  In the kitchen, the adults aren’t doing much better, with this small space barely able to seat people at the table. 

One of the most distressing parts of the house for Katie, is the damp.  With their son Harry having asthma, it’s a constant worry to Katie and Jason, seeing the damp creep down the walls.

Dermot understands all their concerns and so gets to work on the design.

Dermot wants to add a large extension from the kitchen down one side of the house, taking it into the long unused garden. This will be a kitchen and living area where the family can relax. In the original downstairs area, there will be a kids’ room and also a cosy room for Katie to relax in.  There will also be four bedrooms and an office for Jason.

Katie and Jason live extremely busy lives and the decisions that come about are overwhelming.  Asbestos needs to be dealt with, internal versus external insulation is initially confusing, toilets need to be chosen, but Quantity Surveyor Claire Irwin is always there to support them and keep an eye on the budget. 

The big feature of this house is the new extension and there’s no surprise that Katie and Jason differ on some elements of the design.  One such feature is the design of the kitchen.  Jason wants everything shoved away, out of eyesight, closed off, even the sink!! Katie laughs, but Dermot gets it. As Dermot says, when one person in an open plan space is relaxing, and the other one is working, it creates tension.

With a deadline looming – getting in before Christmas, a decision is made that effects the build, but ultimately makes everyone happier.