{"id":280277,"date":"2026-01-12T03:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T03:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/280277\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T03:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T03:45:11","slug":"killarney-woman-reveals-what-its-like-to-have-dermot-bannon-transform-her-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/280277\/","title":{"rendered":"Killarney woman reveals what it’s like to have Dermot Bannon transform her home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Go on, admit it. Who hasn’t imagined the scenario \u2014\u00a0Dermot Bannon arrives at the front door, camera crew in tow, ready to reinvent your home?<\/p>\n

Kerry woman Norita O\u2019Donoghue (n\u00e9e Casey) and her husband Meath native Louis O\u2019Donoghue were longtime fans of RT\u00c9 One’s Room to Improve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They moved into their property in Raheny, Dublin, in 2017 with their three daughters, Joanie, Bessie and Jimi \u2014 more recently joined by their collie-spaniel cross, rescue pooch Murph. \u201cWe had been talking about doing a project on the house for the last eight years,\u201d Norita tells Home. \u201cWe\u2019re always glued to \u2018Room to Improve\u2019 when it\u2019s on television every January.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the show, there\u2019s a message asking if you\u2019d like to take part. My husband always talked about applying. I would never have applied myself \u2014 I don\u2019t know why! \u2014 but I told him to go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as soon as the application was dispatched, Norita discovered she wanted it to succeed: \u201cI was fixated on getting it! You find your head is in that space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HomeownersHomeowners Norita and Louis O’Donoghue.<\/p>\n

Norita, a primary school teacher, and Louis, who works for Dublin City Council\u2019s planning department, were relaxing during midterm last February when the eagerly anticipated news arrived.<\/p>\n

They were in Kerry, visiting Norita\u2019s mum and dad, Joan and Jim, at their home in Inchicullane, Kilcummin, when they discovered they had been selected for the series. \u201cWe actually did the Zoom call, with the producers, from my parents\u2019 living room,\u201d says Norita.<\/p>\n

Television viewers get to see what happened next in episode two of the TV series this Sunday night at 9.30pm as Norita and Louis prepare to transform their much-loved Raheny home with an ambitious renovation.<\/p>\n

The couple are ready to future-proof the property through a full retrofit of their living space. Enter the celebrated architect who plans to modernise the house with the couple\u2019s budget of \u20ac275,000. \u201cWhen Dermot came around, he grilled us!\u201d says Norita. \u201cHe\u2019s brilliant \u2014 great fun, very personable. But \u2014 the casting phase? It was really tough!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArchitectArchitect Dermot Bannon.<\/p>\n

What does the seasoned TV host himself have to say about this? \u201cWhen I meet homeowners first, I\u2019m trying to establish what I need to do \u2014 if clients come into the office and they give me a wish list, or a brief, it\u2019s a different process, but when you\u2019re on television, you need to be able to tell the story quickly,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to get an architectural storyline: Is there enough meat in this for it to be exciting for an hour-long show? I need people to tell me what the problem is in three minutes. If they can\u2019t do that, it\u2019s going to be difficult to explain it to an audience in three minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NoritaNorita and Louis visited Four Winds, by Brennan Furlong Architects, during \u2018Room to Improve\u2019. Pictures: Ruth Maria Murphy<\/p>\n

Many issues Norita and Louis faced were \u201cinvisible\u201d, says Dermot. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of obvious if the place is a vacant or derelict property,\u201d adds the architect. \u201cThey had a really good sense of style \u2014 they\u2019d peppered all the walls with pictures and painted their home, and this was good in a way because I could get to know who they were, but it also papered over the cracks. The house was mouldy, it was damp. That wasn\u2019t apparent when you first saw it, but I needed them to be able to tell me [what the problems were].\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Norita agrees: \u201cWe loved our house, but it was never comfortable. Our house was well built \u2014 but really cold. The one thing we did do when we moved in was replace the windows. But we knew we would be doing a bigger project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two decades ago, if someone had \u20ac200,000 to lavish on a property, the entire sum might be spent \u201con a huge extension\u201d, adds Dermot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, all of that might go into \u2018invisible\u2019 work, to bring it to an A-rating. There are grants, because not everyone can retrofit. There\u2019s no point in having really cool rooms if you\u2019re sitting shivering in them. I\u2019d much rather live in a tiny house that\u2019s warm and cosy and energy-efficient than a big house that\u2019s draughty and freezing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NoritaNorita and Louis visited Four Winds, by Brennan Furlong Architects, during \u2018Room to Improve\u2019. Pictures: Ruth Maria Murphy<\/p>\n

Norita is a keen gardener, and the entire family adore the outdoors and their sun-trap south-facing room outside, so the O\u2019Donoghues were embarking on a build and design journey that also brings the outdoors in.<\/p>\n

To better connect with the garden, Dermot thinks in terms of a pavilion-style extension. \u201cGardening is Norita\u2019s passion in life. She wanted a pavilion. The quintessential glass box. I\u2019m always accused of glass boxes, but I\u2019ve never actually done one \u2014 this is my first one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no patio outside the back door, but it\u2019s all about the plants. The house is up at a fairly high level, you couldn\u2019t see the garden from anywhere, and they had brought pot plants into the house to counteract this. I suppose a lot of people walk out into the garden and want a connection to the garden, but Norita wanted to be submerged in the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HomeownersHomeowners Norita and Louis O’Donoghue with their daughters Joanie, Bessie, and Jimi. <\/p>\n

Even though they\u2019d long been fans of the series, being at the other side of the lens delivered \u201cunexpected layers\u201d to the endeavour, the couple discovered. \u201cAs well as filming, you are going to other places for inspiration,\u201d says Norita. \u201cWe were both working and juggling that with three kids and the project. Finding time to film and getting the kids minded \u2014 we called in huge favours from friends!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe family dog Murph.<\/p>\n

And of course, life rolled on, delivering highs and lows throughout the build. \u201cWe had an awful lot going on during the year. Louis\u2019 dad passed away, and in many ways, returning to the project was a good distraction for Louis,\u201d says Norita.<\/p>\n

\"ArchitectArchitect Dermot Bannon and quantity surveyor Claire Irwin.<\/p>\n

Both appreciated the role that Dermot, quantity surveyor Claire Irwin, the production team, and the construction crew played in their day-to-day routine, as well as the revamp. \u201cWe were very lucky \u2014 they were massively respectful and hugely professional, and the amount of hard work and dedication was phenomenal,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got on very well with the builder also, and we were lucky that in our approach to the build, we knew what we wanted and what we didn\u2019t want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NoritaNorita and Louis visited Four Winds, by Brennan Furlong Architects, during \u2018Room to Improve\u2019. Pictures: Ruth Maria Murphy<\/p>\n

The couple, who didn\u2019t require planning for their renovation, lived in Clontarf, in Louis\u2019 father\u2019s house, while the project was being completed. \u201cThis [the Raheny property] was the only home that we\u2019ve had together as a family,\u201d says Norita. \u201cComing back [to their renovated Raheny home] made us realise how much we love the area and how much the children love the area, walking to school with their buddies \u2014 and we had missed that sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n