Dunmoe home gets major makeover in RTE's 'Showhouse'

The home of a Dunmoe, Navan, family will get a makeover in the new series of 'Showhouse', which airs on RTE 1 television on Tuesday 27th April at 8.30pm. Martin and Fiona Casey live at Dunmoe with their two children, Aoife (11) and Conor (9). Their home was selected from thousands of entries for a makeover in the new series of 'Showhouse', hosted by interior designer Neville Knott. This year, the format of the programme has changed and, instead of featuring two showhouses on each show, one home will get a makeover in each programme. Ms Casey said she applied for the show after hearing Neville Knott speak about it on 'The Mooney Show' on RTE radio. "We were thinking about spending some money on the house and changing our kitchen, so I applied. The idea is not to do just one room but they do the whole house and I thought it would be amazing to have a designer come in and do your house from top to bottom in a week," she said. The Caseys were among the 12 entries shortlisted and, after the show's producers visited their home, they were delighted to hear they were selected for the makeover. Ms Casey said they used a lot of local businesses for materials and services and he thanked those businesses for the discounts they gave them and for all their help, including Albany Home Decor, Tony Blake & Sons, painters and decorators; Creative Rooms, Patrick Deane Construction and Dardis Furniture. All the work and filming took place over the course of a week from 13th-20th December last. Ms Casey explained that two designers looked at their house and presented their plans to them and they chose one designer. "We were over the moon with our designer's work. It turned out much better than we ever expected," she said. "We built our house here 12 years ago and it was at the stage where the children were older and we all had our needs. Conor has special needs and we wanted to address his needs and wants, as well as Aoife's and also our own, and to make the house more functional. There is much more storage and there is a much better flow and atmosphere in the house. The colours are very refreshing. It was a huge challenge for everybody involved and we are delighted with it," said Ms Casey.