My favourite room: ‘It’s important to do good basics. You can change things like colour later’ - Interiors dream team Antonia and Ruslan Sandulescu

Antonia and Ruslan Sandulescu didn’t use their degrees when they came here from Moldova. Instead they developed new skills — and their glamorous home is a testimony to their success

Ruslan and Antonia Sandulescu in the dining area. The sliding doors lead to the living room. They love to entertain and the lacquered table which extends to seat ten is custom-made. Photo: Tony Gavin

Mary O’Sullivan

When doing up a house, it’s all about decisions: big ones such as which windows and floors to put in and smaller choices such as which colours to use and the kind of wall switches and door handles to go for. Then there is the endless decision- making about furnishings. And most decisions are made on the basis of budget.

Antonia Sandulescu really hankered after a Quooker tap when she and her husband Ruslan were renovating their home in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin. Quooker is the tap that provides it all: boiling, filtered, chilled and sparkling water.