Wearing many hats, this interior designer envisions the possible

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You might think of Diane O’Halloran as a design counselor, or interiors archeologist, digging for the “good bones” of spaces that fail to live up to their potential. The kitchen of this New Hampshire home is a good example. “It was a dreary, dark rabbit warren of rooms. Residential designer, Matthew Beebe and I collaborated, knocking out and rearranging walls, to create a 31 x 16 foot kitchen-and-dining Great Room with back-to-back, see-through gas fireplaces.

 

In the kitchen, we added an expansive wall of windows that overlook new stone steps and a freshly landscaped, in-ground pool framed by a woodland vista. Buttery yellow walls with creamy white bead board now accent beautiful tigerwood floors that we installed throughout the house. The deep-toned tigerwood, which also forms the island’s magnificent top, has hints of ebony and gold, resembling the patina of old-factory pine floors.” The relationship between house and land inspired O’Halloran’s design, which touched every aspect of the home, indoors and out. The 30-year-old colonial now feels like a sunny farmhouse cottage, a charming “antique” but polished for today’s lifestyle.

 

No two Diane O’Halloran projects look alike yet each reflects a sense of color and fabrics developed during her earlier career in fashion design. Each also reflects her desire to express the personalities of those who will live and work there. O’Halloran stresses the importance of her relationships with homeowners, architects and contractors throughout the seacoast with whom she designs complete homes and offices, as well as smaller projects. “I want to finish every project as friends with my clients.”

 

Diane O’Halloran Design, LLC

East Kingston, N.H.

603 702-0858