'I didn't hold back': See inside Cork interior designer Cathy Angelini's home
CATHY ANGELINI could not be happier than when she’s watching a good movie or series that whisks her back in time to any moment from 1950 to 1979.Not because of the sharp dialogue or plot, says the Cork interior architect: “It’s the feeling I get from them, and it’s the look of them. I love that whole period. Everything, the cars, the clothes, is so beautifully made. There was less to make, so the demand wasn’t so great; we didn’t have to mass-produce things back then.” “The 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were a golden age in many ways.” Unsurprisingly, mid-century modern is a theme that recurs room-to-room through her own residence, in Waterfall, Cork.Cathy created a 1970s vibe in her kitchen with ceiling-mounted cabinets and her mid-century orange kitchen units give her joy. As soon as Cathy spotted the labourer’s cottage in 2015, she knew precisely how she would transform it into her dream home.Cathy, who owns and runs Flamingo Interior Design, shares her quarters with her husband Louis and their daughter Nancy, 13, and son Jim, two. “This is a very small cottage that had basically three rooms and a little add-on with a kitchen and toilet,” she says. “We knocked the add-on and built a flat-roof extension. “This means our home has two personalities.
The older part has what I would describe as quite an Irish style, with antique pine and cast-iron beds, and then the extension is very mid-century modern and Californian in style.
The designer, who devises interior spaces she describes as “soulful, considered and a little bit unexpected”, was gung-ho about taking on the entire renovation and extension project herself. “I drew what I wanted — I kept it super-simple,” she says.This is super-simple as viewed through a Los Angeles filter. Because the Cork woman’s ideal design is none other than the Stahl house — that symbol of mid-century modern architectural design perched in the Hollywood Hills.It was created by architect Pierre Koenig, with the support of the Case Study programme, a project spearheaded by the editor of Arts & Architecture magazine, John Entenza, to use new materials and techniques. “I love all the mid-century architects and the Case Study houses from California that were done in the 1960s,” she says.The Stahl house became Case Study house No 22, and construction began in May 1959.Soon after, the architectural photographer Julius Shulman took an iconic image of the property through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It shows two women seated in the residence’s living area, but seeming to float over the LA skyline.The living area features one of the interior architect's favourite purchases, a George Nelson pendant light. Pictures: Lynda KennyThe cantilevered property went on the market in November 2025 with an asking price of $25m.“The Stahl house is my favourite house in the world,” says Cathy. “I actually went to visit it a few years ago. It’s basically just a glass box with a flat roof.” Back in Waterfall, Cathy has incorporated design and functional elements of the flat-roofed/glass box creation into her own residence. “Obviously, our climates are very different,” she says. “In that house in California, there are no drainage Issues, but I adapted it for an Irish climate — less glass, more insulation.” No matter the project, sustainability is always a big focus for Cathy, who includes vintage pieces in all her designs while encouraging her clients to do the same.Doing this comes naturally to her, she believes, as her mother was very “hands-on” with DIY, painting and curtain-making, and her father is a retired builder. “I grew up in Clogheen, near Blarney, and we lived in an old farmhouse, which my parents were always changing and updating,” she says. “They were just really into making our house a home. I definitely think I got it [interest in design] from them.” Cathy completed the three-year degree in Interior architecture at the then-Cork Institute of Technology (now Munster Technological University). “It was a new course at the time, and it gave me my starting point,” she says.Favourite spot: Cathy Angelini in her kitchen.Two years working in high-end kitchen design with a company in Douglas followed which instilled in Cathy a love for cabinetry. “And I was there about a year, and there was all this talk about recession. I was in my early 20s, and I didn’t really care or listen. And then there was no work,” she says.After a year of travelling, Cathy realised she wanted to work for herself. “When I came back, I thought — why not open a vintage clothes shop? In a recession!” she says.Turquoise Flamingo was the name of the boutique on Cork’s Washington Street, which launched in 2010, as a bricks-and-mortar store as well as an online business. “I named it after my favourite colour and my favourite animal. It worked — people didn’t forget it,” says Cathy.This in turn led her to establish her interior design consultancy, Flamingo Interior Design. “I had rented a unit for the vintage clothes shop and discovered my favourite part of the process was doing up the interior of the shop, so I just decided in 2016 that I would set up my interior design business. And so Flamingo Interior Design was born in 2016. After a few years of working on interior design projects in my spare time, I felt it was time to immerse myself back into what I love most.Cathy Angeline loves a mixture of old and new: Master bedroom in the Angelini residence.
My approach to every design project is to consider the users’ needs and requirements, the function of the space and the building itself and to create a design that is unique, empathetic and meaningful.
Where possible, I try to include vintage pieces and natural materials that not only add character and depth to a space but result in a more sustainable, environmentally friendly design.” The flamingo has flown along with Cathy on both ventures. Citing the motivational quote, the designer adds, “I always liked the idea ‘Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons’. I’ll be 10 years in business at the end of this year.” Cathy’s own interior décor is very much her own creation. “Totally. I wouldn’t let anyone else touch it. I’ve very strong ideas,” she says. “I knew what elements I wanted to include. Even my husband has no say, but he doesn’t care. If he did, I don’t know where we’d be.” In the past couple of years, Virgin Media’s The Salvage Squad came calling. “When I heard the premise of the show, I felt I’d be the perfect person!” says the designer. “It’s a great show to be a part of; it’s totally in line with my ethos. It’s not easy, though.Three days is hard enough to turn a room around, and the €1,000 budget is tricky, especially as everything we buy has to be second-hand/vintage or sustainable in some way. There’s no smoke and mirrors; everything is done by the rules.” Presented by Brian Dowling Gourounlian, The Salvage Squad is a home makeover show with a difference as Cathy and her fellow designer, Peter Irvine, work on a budget by upcycling and repurposing. Cathy’s favourite spot in her own home is her kitchen. “I just went full-on with it,” she says. “You know when you’re making decisions in your house, you can often think of other people for some weird reason? And I said, no. I’m designing this for me, for my family. The orange for my kitchen units may not be to everyone’s taste, but I love them, and I wanted it full-on mid-century-inspired, and I didn’t hold back.” Aspects of 1970s design have found their way into Cathy Angelini's home, from bathroom spaces to the kitchen.The designer also wanted to feel transported to the 1970s every time she reached for her breakfast cereal. “I have ceiling-mounted cabinets that run over the [kitchen] peninsula,” says Cathy. “It’s really a dated kind of look — you’d often see them still in Irish houses — they were fine kitchens in the 1970s, and now everyone gets rid of them but here I am saying, No, I’m putting one back in. My mom did not understand that. It is retro. Love it. Don’t regret anything about it.” Cathy also adores creating bespoke rooms for the youngest residents of a dwelling — with subtle themes. “These would not be obvious, more like a secret, like Easter eggs,” she says. “We did up my daughter’s room last year because really it had to grow a little bit with her age. She is a big Taylor Swift fan — but you’d walk in, and you would not know it’s a Taylor Swift-themed. If you know anything about Taylor Swift, she drops Easter eggs in all her videos, so we thought, let’s make this room one giant Easter egg. We have Cole & Son wallpaper featuring bare trees with stars, inspired by a Taylor Swift album cover Folklore.“Red handles on the wardrobe doors are a nod to the album Red, and the wardrobe doors themselves are lavender — a nod to Taylor’s song 'Lavender Haze'. There’s also a pink ukulele hanging on the wall, and Taylor Swift has a pink guitar.” “There is a framed poster over her bed, and it’s a UFO beaming up someone, and it’s a reference to ‘cosmic girl’, a lyric in one of her songs. It was so much fun to do.” Moving on to Cathy’s boudoir, her wardrobe features plenty of vintage fashion pieces, all with their own story. “Half of my wardrobe would be vintage, and I try to wear it where possible, also on 'The Salvage Squad' — which is not always possible where you're trying to get work done!” she says.Her wedding dress, a buttery yellow sequinned 1960s number, is one of these. “I just bought it online on Etsy. I didn’t try it on or anything. It was bizarre, it was fate — when I put it on, I zipped it up, and it just fit perfectly. “I’d say it was probably a prom or evening dress; it wasn’t originally a wedding dress.” And as for Cathy’s favourite home interiors purchase? For that, we must move to the living room, where a George Nelson pendant hangs over a lovingly tended fern on the sideboard. “The light off it doesn’t give the big-light glare,” says Cathy. “It’s gorgeous, diffused and soft. I bought it online — but it’s not a budget-friendly fit!”
