Rachel gets expert home decor inspiration at a free interior design consultation with Foy & Company

Did you know that your home interiors are a reflection of your personality? For me, that is floral all the way. 

I gravitate towards floral patterns in clothing and in homeware, and my bedroom is a visual assault of flowers at the moment – floral chair, floral bedding, floral canvas prints, floral accessories. It needed some professional help.

So when I was invited into Foy & Company in Letterkenny to talk to interior designer Miriam Mullan, I was excited to see how I could calm down the room. 

The one thing I had to keep was my statement reading chair – it’s my ‘happy place’, as the cushion says – and it’s where I work and read most of the time.

My statement floral chair

Foy & Company has five interior design consultants in their team who provide free in-store advice to all customers. Miriam has over 20 years’ experience in the industry and within minutes of seeing my room she had developed a beautiful plan.

“What we do is ask questions, listen, get a feel for the person and find out about their budget,” Miriam said.

Interior design consultation with Miriam Mullan at Foy & Company

The team are experienced in working with all budgets. And for me, this involved recommending that I paint my furniture instead of buying new pieces.

“Your interiors are a reflection of yourself,” Miriam said, and she only had to take a look at my dress to see I liked floral patterns and feminine styles. 

Using the chair pattern as a statement to work around, Miriam suggested switching to neutral greys and soft pinks. It was a deeper colour palette than what I have now, but it’s all the one palette, and that’s the important part.

Customers are encouraged to bring pictures and videos of their rooms to show to the interior design consultants
The paint, blinds, cushions and carpet ideas suggested by Miriam

The master plan we came up with was:

  • Paint the bed stand, wardrobe and lockers in neutral grey (Cove Point)
  • Paint the walls a complimentary light grey (Cottonwood)
  • Changing the bedding to plain or striped, with deeper pink cushions and a throw at the foot of the bed
  • Change the carpet to a dusty pink or warm neutral grey 
  • Swap the canvas prints: 
    – No picture above the bed to keep the focus on the coloured cushions.
    – Replace the left wall canvas with a large round mirror to open up the room with more light
    – Or add a floor length mirror to this wall, to avoid drilling into the wall
  • Add a silver Hollywood Mirror to my dressing table
  • Instead of curtains, put up Roman blinds outside the recess. The Foy & Company team chose two beautiful options with cream or rose gold metallic detailing, which work with florals and the colour palette

I can already imagine how warm and luxurious these changes would be.

After this, we went for a walk around the store to see what accessories would work and there’s a huge selection of beautiful homewares in-store.


Miriam’s colleague Edel helped us to find a standing overhead lamp to place behind my reading chair and there were many more dusty pink and rose gold bedside lamp options to choose from. 

We found the perfect round mirror which had a pewter detail to tie in the grey walls and furniture.

With all the paints, blinds and fabrics available in store, I could get the essentials to start the project there and then. And the visit took less than an hour.

Foy & Company create customised curtains and blinds in their fabric centre

The Foy and Company team have a wealth of advice to share during these interior design sessions. The service is free and ideal for people who are starting from scratch with a brand new home or want to update existing rooms. Some expert advice on a simple change like paint or upholstery can be all you need to revamp a living space.

“We work on interiors from every angle. Some projects can take months but the most rewarding thing is to see everything come together,” Miriam said.

Catriona Bradley, Miriam Mullan, Fidelma Doherty and Catriona Mulhern – The Interior Design Consultants at Foy & Company Letterkenny

Foy & Company’s team of interior designers also do home consultations at a charge of €75, which is redeemable against purchases in Foy & Company over €500. With their expert guidance, home projects can be completed quickly and easily.

Foy & Company stocks great quality brands and paints to suit a variety of budgets and their team of fully trained colour consultants are on-hand to help you pull together the perfect colour scheme for any space. 

The team at Foy & Company Letterkenny
Back Row L-R: Catriona Mulhern, Catriona Bradley, John O’Connell, Edel Melaugh
Front Row L-R: Miriam Mullan, David Foy, Mary T Nelis, Mandy O’Connell and Fidelma Doherty

Looking ahead to the interiors trends of 2020, Miriam said that people are getting bolder and opting for dark colours. Deep greens and navy colours are in and kitchens are going dark along with dark panelling and wallpaper. 

Foy & Company Letterkenny

The interiors team has so much insight to share, so why not call in and see what they can do for your home? Call into Foy & Company Letterkenny on Port Road Letterkenny or Foy & Company in Ballybofey for more. Call (074) 912 1925

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