Carla Benedetti studied graphic design but when she bought her first house, she discovered she loved decorating so combines her graphics with interior design. Now on her fifth home, she still loves changing her own surroundings and does a lot of the practical work herself
Graphic artist/interior designer Carla Benedetti in the large kitchen of her home in the Wicklow mountains. The kitchen units are from Dunne’s Design in Wicklow. She added glamour by installing a bronze light pendant by Paola Navone. Photo: Tony Gavin
People have all sorts of emotions when they sell their home; often even when they’re upsizing they experience feelings of sadness, loss and nostalgia, even regret. Carla Benedetti, who has bought and done up five houses in the last 20 years, says she never regrets moving from one house to another. And Carla’s homes were not just any old houses. One appeared on the first Home of the Year series ever, while two others, including her current home, featured on The Great House Revival. She poured her heart into them all – all were gutted and then beautifully renovated in a style that suited the house.
They included a regular starter home, a Victorian three-storey and a stables conversion. She is proud of those achievements but doesn’t hanker after them. And she says she never took on a house just to flip it, in every case the move was due to circumstances – for example, she and her husband Trevor Athey bought their current gorgeous home because they were living in Dublin and they craved the outdoors during the pandemic.