Jackie’s splendid interiors a big hit
MOYVANE INTERIOR DESIGNER JACKIE O’CONNOR TALKS TO EVE DOWLING ABOUT A JEWEL OF HER PORTFOLIO - HER OWN STUNNINGLY DECORATED NORTH KERRY HOME
DEMAND for the talents of a Kerry native interior designer are fairly booming following a lavish two-page spread published in The Sunday Independent’s LIFE magazine on one of her greatest achievements – the exquisite appearance of her very own home in the North Kerry village.
Jackie, who graduated from Griffith College in Dublin with a degree in Interior Architecture just last November is already seeing her career taking off in style – helped in the past week since the appearance of her home in the nation’s biggest-selling Sunday newspaper.
Her own home is far from Jackie’s first steps in the interior design world, however.
She credits her flair for the craft to her parent’s business she practically grew up in.
“Growing up, my parents had a furniture showroom that my Mom ran. She has a great eye for furniture, and when we would get a delivery of new stock, it was always a big highlight for me, I would stay up until all hours with my Mom staging the new furniture in our showroom and picking out my favourite pieces.
“It never dawned on me to take it as a career when I finished school as it was more like a hobby to me. It wasn’t until many years later when I came back to work in the family business that I realized that I was at my happiest when I was taking part in design projects.” Jackie told The Kerryman.
Jackie has worked hard over the years to make her own print on the design world but says that she learned most of what she knows from her dad James Vaughan.
“My inspiration comes from my father James Vaughan, he is a very talented designer himself and being a cabinet maker by trade he has the capability to fully complete projects himself right from the concept stage straight through to the final move in stage.
“He taught me that there is no such thing as ‘can’t’, everything can be done and achieved if you plan it right and ‘steady yourself’ and that everything is fixable which is always good to know when you are starting out in your career.
“I got into this career because of my father, and his ability to see and identify how spaces could and should be in order to make them work better, how he could transform unused spaces in houses into beautiful practical living areas for families to enjoy, and make it all happen from a workshop in our backyard. That to me is pretty inspiring.” Jackie said.
Jackie described the feeling of opening up the magazine on Sunday morning of last week as ‘euphoric’:
“It didn’t really sink in until the feature was published, I feel very fortunate to have been recognized for my work quite early in my career” she says.
Jackie and her husband Stephen began work on the house in February 2014 and had moved in by May of that year.
While the whole house turned out beautifully, Jackie tends to favour the kitchen as the room of her choice stating: “My favourite Room in my house is my Kitchen.
“I designed it myself with the help of my father”. Jackie now owns her own business called Jacklyn Vaughan Interiors based in Moyvane.
She has been fortunate enough to be involved in many big projects around the county including a recent development at Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre.
She designed a demonstration kitchen there in 2015.
“It was fun to design a kitchen for a beautifully large light-filled space, and to work without a lot of the restrictions that are involved in a domestic kitchen design, Vaughan’s carried out the work on the project,” Jackie said. The family company was also recently involved in the new design renovations that took place at the Rose Hotel Tralee.