Former Cork city shop gets an artistic makeover on Great House Revival

The latest instalment of The Great House Revival sees Hugh travel to Cork to visit a property with plenty of artistic flair, just like its owner.

During Sunday's episode, he meets with artist Cora Murphy who has always dreamed of owning her own studio at her home and managed to make that dream a reality just as she reached a huge life milestone.

As she hits the big five-oh, Cora has stumbled across a great find in the heart of Cork City.

The property, a run-down Victorian terrace on Douglas Street is the perfect fit for her aim of having a space that works as a home and artist's studio.

It formerly contained a shop on the ground floor and first-time homeowner Cora will have her work cut out for her to try to bring it up to scratch

Her plan is to use the shop space as a studio while converting the rest of the space into her living quarters.

As she chats with Hugh the enormity of the renovation job begins to set in but Cora never falters in her goal despite facing setback after setback.

Those include grappling with mortgage uncertainties and planning complications.

During one hugely frustrating moment, Cora also unearths asbestos at the property and leans that her windows are unsalvageable.

Her dream is quickly turning into a nightmare as she learns that period restoration is anything but simple.

That said the end result is a masterpiece with Cora infusing the home with her own love colour to create a cosy environment.

The tired green exterior paint is now a muted yellow with rows of plants lining the upper shop front window.

Heading inside and the dark hallway and dingy carpet have been upgraded to a welcoming space with salmon walls and the original wood flooring peeking through colourful rugs.

The biggest change might be in the kitchen which was extremely dated at the outset of the project.

Now it has gone from a tiled green mess to light pink walls, units and even a fridge that make the room look airier and much more spacious.

The living room was another interior nightmare that has been transformed into a sunny room perfect for entertaining with soft green walls.

Again Cora has here removed the old carpet to allow the original floorboards to take centre stage.

'She faced over a year of challenges but somehow remained inspired. She just has such doggedness in a very calm way

'Cora is all about colour, her personality is colourful and because of that her home is colourful. What Cora has is this community who are all craftspeople and creatives and she has encouraged them to participate in creating her home and they and the wider community here in historic Douglas Street have encouraged her and that's what gives authenticity to this home,' says Hugh.

See more photos from the renovation below:

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