\nDarren Kennedy gathers some expert tips from interior designer R\u00f3is\u00edn Lafferty\n<\/p>\n
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Ro\u0301isi\u0301n Lafferty on her white boucl\u00e9 Bryan O\u2019Sullivan croissant sofa. Photo: Barbara Corsico<\/p>\n
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Hall by Kingston Lafferty Design. Photo: Ruth Maria Murphy<\/p>\n
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Victorian homes can feel both exhilarating and intimidating. They come with grandeur, craftsmanship and layers of history, but also a quiet pressure to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d. To help strike that balance between past and present, I spoke to interior designer Ro\u0301isi\u0301n Lafferty.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictorian houses already give you so much to work with,\u201d Lafferty says. \u201cOrnate cornicing, ceiling roses, high ceilings, sash windows, sweeping staircases. The key is to celebrate those elements rather than compete with them.\u201d Colour, she believes, is one of the most powerful tools you have. \u201cBold colour isn\u2019t the enemy of heritage,\u201d she explains. \u201cWhen it\u2019s used with intention, it actually frames the architecture and allows it to shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Ro\u0301isi\u0301n Lafferty on her white boucl\u00e9 Bryan O\u2019Sullivan croissant sofa. Photo: Barbara Corsico<\/p>\n
The entrance hall is where she often encourages clients to be bravest. \u201cIt\u2019s the first emotional moment of the home. Painting both walls and ceiling in a confident tone draws the eye upward and immediately honours the scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one Dublin project, she used a rich, enveloping shade to wrap the hall and created a dramatic backdrop for a Murano glass chandelier. A deeper tone grounded the staircase, while original tiles were enhanced by surrounding colours. \u201cWhen the palette feels cohesive, original features feel elevated, not lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Hall](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768674858_130_6dabd88c-989a-49e2-8668-4b06a9181818.jpg\")
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Hall by Kingston Lafferty Design. Photo: Ruth Maria Murphy<\/p>\n
In living areas, she advises letting the architecture lead every decision. \u201cJoinery should follow the rhythm of the coving, not cut across it.\u201d Fireplaces can be refreshed with new tiles or softly reworked with a custom arch. A continuous colour across walls and built-ins can create what she calls \u201ca cocooning effect\u201d, allowing texture, art and furniture to layer naturally on top. Flooring plays a bigger role than people realise. In another Victorian residence Lafferty worked on, original timber floors were stained darker to accentuate the grain. \u201cIt grounds the space and adds a sense of authenticity and depth. It feels sophisticated without feeling new for the sake of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bedrooms are where she often introduces drama in a quieter way. \u201cI love taking colour onto the ceiling in Victorian bedrooms. It draws attention to the cornicing and medallions, and makes the room feel considered rather than decorated.\u201d Painting window frames to match the ceiling heightens the effect, while tall, elegant headboards work with the room\u2019s proportions. Light is often the final piece of the puzzle. \u201cMany Victorian homes are darker at ground level so relocating main living spaces upstairs can completely change how the house feels.\u201d Mirrors placed in kitchen or dining alcoves help bounce light and visually connect interiors to the garden.<\/p>\n
And those Victorian nooks? \u201cThey\u2019re not awkward,\u201d she smiles. \u201cThey\u2019re opportunities.\u201d A hallway alcove becomes a seating nook and a stained-glass landing becomes a reading spot. \u201cEvery arch and corner has potential. A Victorian home should feel timeless, but it should also feel alive.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darren Kennedy gathers some expert tips from interior designer R\u00f3is\u00edn Lafferty Ro\u0301isi\u0301n Lafferty on her white boucl\u00e9 Bryan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[144680,18,117,19,17,4746],"class_list":{"0":"post-289643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-darren-kennedy","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-life-magazine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115911882550779466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}