The Home Concepts Book is designed for self-builders who are looking for a variety of ideas, designs and information on how to do it right, with style and in keeping with planning regulations. ISBN 095501450

We are featured in The SelfBuild & Improve Winter Edition 2014.

When Breda and Simon Cassidy decided to extend their Co. Kildare home, they had a fair idea of what they wanted – a large bright space where the whole family could spend time together.

“We really needed an open plan area for kitchen, dining and living. Before the extension, we would have spent our evenings in separate rooms and now, we’re together in this beautiful, light-filled space” says Breda.

Breda and Simon’s four bedroom detached house is located in a housing estate in Co Kildare. They have two small children aged two and four years of age; the youngest was only one when construction began.

Once the idea of a new extension to the rear of the house took root, the next step in the process was to start thinking about what it would actually consist of. “We ended up going to an exhibition and looked through magazines to get a more defined idea” says Breda.

The physical location of the house also played a role in the design. “The back is south west facing so it gets lots of sunshine in the evening, which we wanted to maximise,” adds Simon.

Full Online Article "Breathing space"

House hunting is fun, but it soon begins to lose its glamour after you’ve been doing it for two years and are eager to set down roots and buy your first home! After this long wait, the option that was presented to Niamh Donnelly and her boyfriend Michael Kiernan was arguably the next best thing to a self-build: buy a house they could truly put their stamp on.

“We knew which neighbourhood in Co Dublin we wanted to live in,” says Niamh, “which is a good thing but it did narrow our options. We were always outbid on the homes that were in a liveable state so we decided to buy a cheaper house that was in need of complete refurbishment. We wanted one with period features – that was very important to us, to have a house with character. The huge attraction to this alternative was that we could really put our stamp on it.”

Full Online Article "Fresh Start"