The availability of cheaper home furnishing has democratised interior design, offering people a chance to make their homes stylish without breaking (into) the bank. However, sometimes it’s good to get some advice or inspiration. Interior designer Catherine Malone and architect Bernie O’Meara have launched a new service to help people revamp rooms in their own time and budget.

Room Prep offers either an online, questionnaire-based consultation which will give you a blueprint to transform a room. “You can have a complete room make-over without ever having a designer visit your home,” says O’Meara. Included in the cost (€190) will be room layout drawings, paint colours, wallpaper and fabric samples, flooring and light recommendations. Alternatively, O’Meara and Malone will give a one-hour consultation in your home (Dublin/Wicklow area) for €95.

Contact them on maloneomeara@eircom.net or tel: 085-7118483. It might make a nice gift for someone planning a revamp in the new year. Pictured below is the kitchen, living and dining room in the showhouse at Mariner’s Point, Wicklow, which they designed for Showhouse on RTÉ television.