Hi all, Louise here, I'm a student at the Interior Design Academy of Ireland and wanted to tell you about a project I just finished working on. As well as studying at the school, I work for Adverts.ie; Ireland's largest marketplace for buying and selling online. We are the sister website of Daft.ie, Boards.ie and TheJournal.ie, and until recently had all been living under the same roof together - due to the team growing, the Adverts.ie gang moved out and into an exciting new space.
Our new office sits on the top floor of a listed building in Dublin's City Centre and resembles that of a New York loft; old in style with beautiful parquet flooring and large windows. We re-painted all the walls white, including the previously lilac partitions that made for 3 individual meeting rooms. We wanted to remove the suspended ceiling to give it an industrial edge but unfortunately couldn't due to the air conditioning unit installed.
Before the designing commenced, we agreed that everything bought to style the office was to be bought on Adverts.ie, whether it be second hand or brand new. We wanted to show our users that you can transform a room using things from our website, and with over 600,000 items for sale on Adverts.ie we knew it would be easy! One of the best things about buying a pre-loved item is getting your hands on something really unusual and unique. Some of the items we bought had been in families for decades; like the Chesterfield sofa, record player and "chopper" inspired bike that we hung on the wall. Not all of the items bought however were second hand - there's over 200,000 brand new items for sale to browse through as well which is where we found the Eames inspired chairs, beanbags, blackboard paint, road signs and wall stickers. We even got the bespoke coffee table and lunch bench made by a carpenter we found!
The design concept for the office was to be quirky, fun, relaxed and to reflect our company's brand. We wanted it to be a space for creating more brilliant product, have open discussions, and be a place where people want to come and work. The 3 meeting rooms were transformed into spaces that reflected just that. One became the 'Ideas Room' with only white boards for brain storming and high stools to perch on (bought from a pub doing a clear out!). Another became the 'Polka Dot Room' with plants and artificial grass on the floor to bring the outdoors in. Then the third (which is loved by all) is the 'Bean Bag Room'; created for lazy lunches and FIFA championships.
Over all, using a mix of vintage and retro inspired items and mixing them with modern features, allowed us to create an eclectic and expressive space that we're all very happy to call our office.
