New Build Interior Design Package in Ireland: Plans, Kitchen, Bathroom, Lighting and Flooring

What a good new build package includes

A review of your architectural plans and spatial planning, so furniture, doors and storage actually work before anything is fixed. This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that prevents the most regret: the bed that only fits one way, the sofa blocking the radiator, the dining table that cannot pull out chairs.

Kitchen design direction: layout, drawers versus presses, worktop and cabinet finishes, appliance positions, and where the kettle, toaster and bins will actually live. A kitchen that looks good in the showroom can still be awkward to cook in; the layout work is what makes it both.

Bathroom and en-suite: tiles, fittings, and where to be bold. A downstairs toilet is the perfect place for wallpaper or a deep colour, because it is small, cheap to do and seen by every guest.

Lighting: layered ceiling, wall and lamp lighting, planned while the electrician can still move points. Downlights everywhere is the default and nearly always the wrong answer; a good plan mixes task, ambient and accent light so rooms feel warm in the evening.

Flooring, tiles and a colour plan that runs through the whole house, so rooms connect. This is what makes a new build feel designed rather than decorated room by room.

The decisions that are expensive to change later

Some choices are cheap to change (paint, cushions, lamps) and some are very expensive (flooring, tiles, kitchen, electrical points, built-in storage). A new build package concentrates its effort on the expensive list, because that is where mistakes cost thousands rather than a Saturday afternoon.

Electrical points are the classic example. Adding sockets, moving a pendant position or wiring for wall lights costs very little at first-fix stage and a great deal once the walls are plastered and painted. The same goes for flooring: choosing the right floor once is far cheaper than living with the wrong one for ten years.

Timing matters

The best time to bring in a designer is before your builder's selection deadline, ideally while plans can still change. That is when lighting, flooring, tile and kitchen decisions are cheapest to get right.

If your deadline has already passed, do not panic. Paint, lighting fittings, furniture and soft furnishings can all still be planned properly after you get the keys, and a good plan will tell you which of the fixed decisions are worth revisiting and which to simply work with.

January sales are a good time to buy tiles and sanitaryware once the plan is set, and the same plan lets you pounce on furniture sales through the year without guessing.

New estates, same questions

Most Irish new builds share the same bones: a 3 or 4-bed semi or detached, an open-plan kitchen-living space, a separate sitting room, an en-suite and a family bathroom. That is good news, because it means the common problems are well understood: where the TV goes in an open-plan room, how to zone a kitchen-diner with a rug and lighting, how to make a small fourth bedroom work as an office, and how to stop the hall becoming a dumping ground.

How The Orla Edit does it

The Orla Edit packages: The Design Edit (€149, a one-hour consultation plus a written action plan), The Room Edit (€249, one full room), The Home Edit (€449, two connected rooms) and The Signature Home Edit (bespoke whole-home, price on enquiry).

Everything is done online, so it suits people relocating or living outside Dublin. You share your plans and a few photos, and Orla works back and forth with you by video call and email with mood boards, layouts and shopping lists. You get a qualified designer's eye on every fixed decision without paying for site visits you do not need.