Well, here’s the latest in the ongoing fashion for breaking down walls and going open plan: bulldoze the wall between your bedroom and bathroom and create a sanctuary, no less. Now we’re not talking about a little ensuite here for a quick shave and shower of a morning, but an aspirational luxury country house hotel sort of arrangement that one might hanker for after a weekend away.  You know the sort of thing where you’re woken by the gentle chirping of birds, and from the comfort of your six-foot wide bed in your vast boudoir, you catch a glimpse of a claw-footed bath perched in the middle of the bathroom floor. To the side, his ‘n’ hers matching wash basins studded with high-tech, non-touch chrome taps elicit a cascade by a simple wafting of the hand across a sensor. Perfect for hygiene enthusiasts who can’t bear to touch where the filthy fingered have been before. The loo is consigned to a separate compartment  –  or at least secreted behind a panel  –  so as not to offend the carefully orchestrated aesthetic to be viewed from the bed.

For most of us mere mortals, however, removing the adjoining wall will mean the break of day is heralded by the loo flushing, followed by the bedroom being enveloped in a cloud of steam as the beloved tackles their daily ablutions. As you open a tentative eye the aesthetic is likely to be comprised of wet towels flung on the floor, so it’s not really what you hoped for is it?

Perhaps it will require children leaving home to free up the adjoining bedroom for conversion into your sanctuary but, if not now, at some point in the future it may become a reality.  Keep dreaming, and in the meantime consider some of the options.  A bath is a must, and whatever the eco warriors might tell us about conserving water and having a shower instead, as they start to whinge I can’t help but think of the late poet Sylvia Plath who quite rightly pointed out, “There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them’. So now you can assuage your guilt and try claiming baths are not a luxury but a medical necessity.

If space allows try a free-standing model in the middle of the room. Slipper baths have a touch of nostalgia, look beautiful and are remarkably comfortable with one high end on which to rest your head. This feature will appeal particularly to the short-legged among us who struggle to stay afloat when stretched out in the tub.

Those preferring something modern with therapeutic value might opt for the whirlpool bubbly option with ferocious jets of water to pummel away at cellulite-ridden thighs.  Corner bath options are considered to be space hoggers, but if you can’t accommodate a centre of the floor free-standing number, the corner tub offers some light relief from the relentlessly straight lines that can characterise bath design.

 When the bath is installed and you are installed in it, don’t forget to pour yourself some other light relief from a chilled bottle of something delicious, light a scented candle, lie back and sigh with contentment.

by Carol O’Callaghan (first published in the Irish Examiner 09/07/11

The very kind and lovely Lorna Sixsmith of interiors blog Garrendenny Lane interviews Carol O’Callaghan on her work and interior life….http://www.garrendennylane.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/09/guest-interview-with-carol-ocallaghan-journalist-and-editor/

In London this weekend?  The place to check out is the Saatchi Gallery where Collect, an invitation-only expo of some of the finest craft in the world takes place until tomorrow.

The Irish contingent, led by the Crafts Council of Ireland (CCOI),  includes Nest Design whose principals Neil and Annabel McCarthy, are showing their beautiful new console, WinterTwenty10. Described as being inspired by the harsh winter of 2010 and the play of light on snowdrifts, the finished product is characterised by the sharp lines we associate with work by this duo, but brought together in this piece with a surprisingly tender result (€7,500 from www.next-design.com).  See  it featured on The Great Indoors Magazine.com’s front cover (www.thegreatindoorsmagazine.com), top line, second from the right. And if you get to Collect this weekend, the console is perfectly placed at the front of the CCOI stand, hard to miss surrounded as it is by a growing band of admirers.

One to watch is ceramicist Sara Flynn whose trio of ceramic vessels is perched atop WinterTwenty10 to striking effect. Her celadon  green exterior finish is off-set by a black interior for an effect that marks Flynn out as one of Ireland’s premier ceramic artists (www.saraflynnceramic.com).

Exquisitely beautiful glass by Karl Harron and Roisin de Buitlear is shown alongside ceramics by Jack Doherty, Marcus O’Mahony and Derek Wilson, and furniture by Yaffe Mays.

At the vanguard of Irish furniture design stands Joseph Walsh who is attending independently under the banner of his London representation. His furniture  continues to manifest  imagination, underpinned by ever-evolving technical skill into objects that combine an art aesthetic with the function of design.  His console table and chair on show  are a visual journey of design intrigue, exposing new forms and layers with each successive viewing. But what a shame that its location in a narrow aisle did not lend itself to much-needed distance viewing (www.josephwalshstudio.com).

Entry to Collect is €15 with concessions, at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, Sloane Square, London SW3. Nearest tube station is Sloane Square (District and Circle Lines).

I loved it, and so will you.

 ……..Collect at the Saatchi Gallery, London, and from there to the Interior Design and Art Fair, RDS, Dublin, and while in The Pale we’ll pop by Bang For Buck at Malthouse Design Centre, all in the next three weeks.

I’m particularly interested to see what Irish designer/craftsmen  -  ceramicist Sara Flynn, furniture makers Neil and Annabel McCarthy of Nest Design, potter Marcus O’Mahony, and glass artist Karl Harron  –  will be up to in Ol’ Blighty when they participate at Collect, an invitation-only showcase of works by some of the best international applied artists.

Zipping north-west to Dublin, we’ll check out the lovely and intimate Interior Design and Art Fair where some of our most renowned designers, under the banner Cream of Irish Design, will show to local and international buyers, led by that stalwart of the Irish Design scene, Shane Holland.

Some of these visits will yield content for a special feature with a very nice angle which will be published in the design section of The Great Indoors Magazine.com, so keep an eye out for that.

I’m particularly excited about dropping into Malthouse Design Studios, also in Dublin, to see Bang For Buck, an affordable design shop selling work by some of our fantastic young Irish designers. If you’re in the market for a piece of Irish designed furniture at a wallet friendly price, this may be the place for you. I’ll let you know my findings.

Welcome to the first blog by The Great Indoors Magazine.com. 

It seems that over the last two years since the magazine launched, the reading emphasis has been shifting significantly towards art and design, so to keep our readers happy we‘re currently working on more of these features which will appear in the coming weeks.

It means we’re dropping the Cheap & Chic section (hurrah!) and the travel section which, sadly, was not terribly popular even though we focussed on art and design events and activities abroad.  We’re also saying farewell to the dedicated book review page and, instead, will slot books into articles where there is a connection between the subject matter of both.  I for one am delighted at the prospect of no more late hours spent tapping out my views on nine books, while abandoning my dear novel of the moment.

Probably the biggest change of all is The Great Indoors Magazine.com will become a rolling publication, so rather than changing the entire content every three months, we’ll post new features regularly and let you know by email, and by what is proving to be highly effective social media networking. This new format will allow us to keep the magazine fresher and to include more news-driven stories about design, art and interiors. We’re pleased, and hope you are too.

Keep visiting and do let us know your views, or make a comment. We’re always delighted to hear from our readers.

 Carol O’Callaghan

Editor