Hello everyone! I’m Lauren, the newest member of KLD.
Delighted and excited to be here and a part of this wonderful team!
So, a little bit about myself. I am a final year student in Dublin University of Technology studying Interior & Furniture Design, hopefully if everything goes well I will graduate this year to go on and develop my career in all things design.
My passion (apart from design of course) is traveling- I love to explore new and interesting places. Anything from staying in a trendy hotel and trying unique cuisines, to taking strolls through lush gardens and parks.
I adore absorbing new and exciting inspiration from places I have never been before.
I recently visited Sydney, Australia and this has always been one of my top places to visit.
Although it was not my first time being there, by no means did that take away from my awe and admiration for this city.
The view of the Sydney Bridge when driving into the city is just as breathtaking each and every time.
The architecture and engineering of this bridge is amazing and you really feel this as you drive across the bridge. To think that this landmark was built by manual labour amazes me. And don’t forget to look up!
I was lucky enough to actually climb the bridge and get an in-depth history of the bridge and how it was built, the fascinating story thankfully distracted me from being 134meters above sea level.
Not particularly a fan of heights but definitely a top of the list thing to do if you ever get to Sydney. The views of the city are absolutely sensational.
My inspiration comes from the everyday, I tend to not turn off my interior design eye. At the weekends I love to check out pop-up restaurants/bars that come through the area.
Not only am I obviously a sucker for the interiors but also sampling food and the occasional cocktail or two!
One of my favourite pop-ups is the Super Miss Sue restaurant in Dublin.
The food divine and the basement interiors are fabulous; leather booth seating ideal for a wine and dine night with a group of friends. Although the toilets caught me off guard at first as both male & female lead to the same room! Above is an image from the SMS Facebook.
Another restaurant that has caught my attention recently is Angelina’s just off Baggot street, a sister restaurant of Sophie’s in the Dean. The interiors are stunning and draw you in through the amazing LED panelled glass front. The photos below are from their Facebook as well.
A step in the door onto the decorative tiles leads your eye through a wonderful mixture of deep rustic tones, a mix of red leather and mustard yellow velvet booth seating, metallic gold framed windows and a beautiful mix of herringbone parquet flooring and decorative tiles.
There is so much going on yet it all cohesive; you truly feel as though you are somewhere in New York City.
Another pop-up on the top of my list would have to be 777 South Great George’s St. Where do I begin. You would walk past this gem unless you knew it was there, only for the pumping music penetrating through the black font door I would of walked straight past.
From the outside its nothing but a blacked out shopfront but when you walk through the door your hit with a complete visual overload.
The electric orange bar counter along with the neon lights runs your eye right through the restaurant with interesting sights of tattooed lovers embracing and Cadillacs in feature panels on the tiled walls along the way, as seen in the above image by Dine in Dublin.
The double height distressed tile ceiling is a key feature as the restaurant is quite small, it really does open up the space completely.
The ambiance in the restaurant is busy and the interiors absolutely reflect this, you would be lucky to get a table here any night of the week.
Dublin city and its surroundings are booming with new restaurants, bars and cafes, it is a wonderful sight to see the city centre following in London’s footsteps with new and exciting places to go.
It can often be quite easy to miss whats right under our nose, but I encourage people to go out and try these exciting new places. You most certainly will not be disappointed.
On that note I will leave you with this Jonathan Swift quote:
“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”
That’s all from me – Bye for now.