Teachers Ally and Wes Carter have found the perfect balance of style and practicality in their ICF (insulating concrete form) self-build in Kilkenny where they live with their three daughters
Two teachers have managed to completely transform an old cottage into a modern home - we spoke to Ally to find out how her and Wes did it:
The families became great friends with Mrs Cahill living in the house until her early 90s. Myself and Wes then lived in the cottage for 10 years before we eventually had to demolish it in 2021.It had long surpassed its sell-by-date and the only option was to knock and rebuild. Our architect Mark Bannon, of PBA Architects, designed our house and MGM Construction built it. We couldn’t be happier with the finished product.
Our home is bright, modern and minimalist except for the playroom which is chaotic, busy and hard to navigate! We have kept all walls white and styled most rooms with black or grey accents which made it easy to pull the overall look together with splashes of colour. There is a nice flow to the house and a big part of this was choosing the same high spec laminate throughout.
One of our favourite pieces in the house is the vintage trunk. In 1963, Mr and Mrs Cahill made a trip from New Jersey across the Atlantic with all their belongings in a steamer trunk.
Of course there are regrets, we made some poor electrical decisions, such as placement of switches and types of external light fittings. And something we didn’t really consider was air conditioning. Modern houses are so well insulated but they really do absorb the heat during the summer time.