It wasn’t a case of love at first sight when luxury jewelery entrepreneur Chupi Sweetman viewed the Dublin property which last year became home to her, husband Brian, daughter Aya, three, and her mother Rosita.
Looking at it now, it would be hard for any interiors enthusiast not to develop a strong crush on this 170-year-old beauty, built in the early Victorian era, but bearing the features of the Georgian period — lightsome rooms, elegant proportions and original features, including wooden floors, window shutters, and decorative stucco work worthy of Palladio.
The kitchen/dining room in Chupi Sweetman’s home. 
“I had a clear idea of what we wanted,” Chupi says. “This house didn’t tick all the essentials but Brian saw the bones of it better than I did.”
A later viewing brought her around after selling their previous home, a decision prompted by a number of factors.
“We were first-time buyers in our late 30s. We did a full reno, and then six months later Covid happened. I was pregnant and mum was looking to move closer to us.”
Now their “one house, two homes”, as she describes it, is where she, Brian and Ava occupy the top two floors, and Rosita lives on the garden level.
“Proximity is happiness,” she says. “Everyone I love is now within a 30-minute walk.”
Taking on their second renovation, the kitchen is like no other, playing to Chupi’s particularity when it comes to gold.
“I saw an insanely beautiful gold kitchen on Pinterest from New York with gold countertops. Our previous kitchen was €400 so we spent on this one, but it’s not a statement kitchen where no one cooks. I’m cooking here twice a day.”
Brass sheeting fronts built-in units for the gold effect in what Chupi describes as “a living, breathing work of art”.
For all this glamour, however, it’s a family home where nothing is precious about the markings of Aya’s tiny fingerprints on the shiny metal finish. Opposite, alcoves on either side of a marble fireplace host walnut larder cupboards.
A wooden herringbone dining table top is surrounded by chairs upholstered in a tarnished gold hue, giving the space a cohesive design.
Venturing through double doors to the living room, the pink sofa and chair upholstery are accented with smaller furniture with gold detailing. It creates a flow and theme between these interconnecting rooms supported by paint choices.
“It was traumatic doing two renovations in 18 months,” Chupi says, “but we learned from our mistakes. We spent a lot of money on the bathroom in our previous home and it was a waste. We went statements with colors and ended up hating it.”
This time she sought input from Dún Laoghaire-based interior designer Po McNamee, who introduced the concept of colour-drenching walls, doors and skirtings.
“We lived in a dark country so we went light, playing from the same palette,” Chupi says.
It means variations on warm neutrals wash the home, punctuated by black cast iron radiators and a standout black staircase to which Chupi made adjustments recently, upgrading the risers in gold. The effect is eye-catching and a touch of glamor you now anticipate.
But a balance between glamor and common sense prevails by not leaving two spare bedrooms idle.
“One is my office and walk-in wardrobe,” Chupi adds. “Brian has his man cave and office.”
The spacious master bedroom recently saw the installation of new wardrobes, with a difference.
“They’re Ikea units with bespoke doors,” Chupi says, which just goes to show how far a little imagination can go. Her choice of bed is, “the size of a small country, the biggest bed we could find and quite a statement”.
Rising up on the wall behind it is Chupi’s gold leaf sun motif project, a response to not wanting to buy art too early. But far from having swathes of empty wall space and an unfinished look, self-assembled “art” is evident throughout the house.
Her grandmother’s hanging is framed in the hall. On the landing, a vignette of 12 gold frames tells a story in photography of family and friends, another example of closeness to loved ones.
So, is there anything left to do?
It seems the theme of a desire for proximity continues but in a practical way.
“We’re future-proofed for five years,” Chupi says, “but I would love to have steps from the kitchen to the garden.”
- Instagram.com/chupisweetman/
