Inspiration on the tellybox: 'Mo Thinteán Féin'

In honour of the fact that interiors show Mo Thinteán Féin is an Irish language programme, broadcast on the Irish language television channel TG4, I started to write the introduction to this post as Gaeilge.

Then I remembered that, as bad as my conversational, spoken Irish is, I have no confidence at all in my written Irish, so it was back to the Béarla with a bang.

Anyway, Mo Thinteán Féin follows Eimear Nic an Bhaird as she does up her new-to-her gaff in Kilmainham, Dublin 8. Interiors junkies like myself will no doubt recognise the name: Eimear was formerly the editor of Irish interiors mag House & Home, so it's fair to say that the lady knows her arse from her elbow when it comes to decor and design. 

Every week, Eimear tackles a different space in the house, visiting gorgeous Irish interiors like Bellinter House and The G Hotel for inspiration. She also travels around the country to top craftspeople who help her create some gorgeous bespoke pieces for her home. 

At a time when "craft" has almost become a dirty word thanks to the proliferation of Martha Stewart wannabes and the kind of rubbish that you see every day on Regretsy ("Where DIY meets WTF"), I think it's fantastic that Mo Thinteán Féin showcases some of the truly awesome Irish craftspeople that are out there. 

I was particularly enamoured with the stained glass panels that Eimear and Bianca Divito created for the bathroom and bedroom doors:

... and the hand-printed wallpaper made with Paget in the Dublin Textile Workshop that eventually adorned the stair risers:

This lovely white lightshade with its geometric, textured design also caught my eye:

There's lots of DIY - and DadIY, my kind of girl - here, and it's refreshing to see a homes show that's really focused on creating an affordable personal space. 

As opposed to one that's focused on throwing telephone number sums of money at a new build (Grand Designs, where the windows are always late and the missus always winds up pregnant halfway through), painting everything magnolia (oh hai Property Ladder, where the presenter always winds up pregnant halfway through), or confusing the words "classic" and "classical" in every episode (*cough* Showhouse *cough*).

All images via TG4

Note: Mo Thinteán Féin has now finished its run on TG4 but, as of today, you can catch the final three episodes here, on the TG4 Beo Player.