From the back of Brendan Courtney‘s completely refurbished two-bedroom bungalow, you can see the sea, the rooftops of the rest of the single-storey suburban estate, and then nothing but sky. It was this open-top view – and sunshine – that prompted the TV and radio presenter and fashion designer to depart Dublin and move to just north of Wicklow town. “The sunny southeast is a fact,” he says, adding that although it’s a notion he used to sneer at, now he swears the weather is, “that bit better here”. In addition to the climatic gear shift, tempo-wise, life is also that bit easier-going than in the capital, Courtney finds. READ MORE “I started sea swimming and there is nowhere like it,” he says. The relocation allows him to go take a daily dip and to take Nancy, his Jack Russell, for 5km runs on alternate days. It also helps to put some distance between himself and an assault he suffered in the city in February, which followed a homophobic attack on him in 2015. The detached house is set high on a hill above the town, a glute-busting 10-minute walk from its centre. The decision to move is also rooted in family, something Courtney really values: his sister Deboragh, her husband Jeff and their son have lived in this estate for more than two decades. “I would escape here all the time,” he says. Brendan Courtney: 'The sunny southeast is a fact,' he says of Wicklow, his adoptive home. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw As a result, he knew the house type and its layout really well, having reimagined his sibling’s home as his own many times. Deboragh getting the all-clear from cancer, and the loss of his mother last December, were factors too. As was turning 50, says Courtney, adding: “I wanted to simplify my life.” [ Interiors: The era of the antiseptic white bathroom has ended. It’s time to break open the colour chartsOpens in new window ] He used the money from the sale of a flat he had bought in London to fund the move. That was the first place he had bought on his own. But Courtney has bought and sold several properties during his lifetime. His father was a builder, so maybe it’s in his DNA? Not a chance, he says. “He did everything for us. He wouldn’t let me put up a shelf.” The kitchen features recessed strip lighting under the counter. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Rear of house. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Homewares from the Lennon Courtney line. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw When he lived in London with his then partner Wayne Shires, a club promoter, they bought not one but two houses in South Africa, in De Waterkant, what he describes as the Primrose Hill of Cape Town. The pretty pastel houses were former miners’ cottages and had views of the sea and Table Mountain. But it was a 12-hour flight to get there and in the days before casual short-term renting became the norm, it was, he says, a money pit. “It was Wayne’s dream ... I invested in his dream. Never invest. It’s their dream, not yours.” It is sage advice. The couple were renting in London and paying mortgages on the Cape Town homes. It was a lesson too in only buying a home within easy reach of your life. The Wicklow house is near Dublin so, as Courtney puts it, he didn’t have to change his whole life. Bedroom. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Bathroom. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The front door opens into a large hall also used as a home office. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw It was in probate for a long time, he says, which gave him plenty of time to figure out what he was going to do with it. “It’s very stripped back, but that is my thing,” he explains. [ ‘I wanted a Japanese feel to the house’: Renovating a 1960s Dublin bungalowOpens in new window ] He met a number of builders but felt “they were interviewing me,” he says, rather than the other way around. He saw the work of Larkrock builders in a friend’s house in Portobello, and was impressed by the level of finish. Plenty of light and a good flow to the interior were the key changes he wanted to bring in. The night he got the keys, he and Nancy the dog bedded down on a mattress in the front room. He wanted to see where the light fell in the morning. “It was freezing cold. We didn’t last the night,” he recalls, instead legging it down the road to his sister’s. He remapped the layout so that the front door now opens directly into a large hall that he also uses as a home office. Adjacent to it is a stylish shower room and behind it is the property’s second bedroom, colonised by Courtney as a dressingroom. Andy Warhol mugs: 'Wayne got three. I got three.' Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Sue Tilley art. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw A selection of stemware and a pitcher and glass set from Lennon Courtney's new homewares collection at Kilkenny Design. Photograph: Miki Barlok Coloured glassware in Brendan Courtney's home. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw This frees the principal bedroom from clutter; situated on the other side of the front entrance, it has a large shower en suite, and its window has been turned into double doors that lead out to the sun-drenched front garden. Internal ribbed glass and steel frame doors bring light into the heart of the house. Courtney ordered these direct from the fabricator, Deanta, after a supplier told him his order was too small. He ordered five or six of them. The rest of the property’s 90sq m is given over to a large, open-plan L-shaped livingroom-cum-kitchen. Here, a wall of sliding doors opens out to the good-sized garden. Clerestory windows on the two outside walls bring in more light, without compromising on privacy. There is also a separate front door here that will reimagine the floor plan, bringing you into the heart of the home first. “I designed the kitchen,” Courtney says of the soft white space that has under-counter units only. The same tiles that floor the space, large 90cm squares, have also been used to create a tall splashback. Installed by Cooney Kitchens and Bedrooms, based near Mullingar, he pushed the fabricator to install recessed strip lighting under the counter, which discreetly illuminates the space on winter evenings. It is very simply appointed but there are several pieces on the top shelf that hint at the designer’s range of interests and friends groups. There is a porcelain baby’s collar, the kind infants wore in mother-and-baby homes, that was created by artist Fiona Kerbey to fit on a hangar. A painting by another artist friend, Sue Tilley, who was one of painter Lucian Freud’s favourite sitters, leans against the kitchen splashback. Up top are vintage Andy Warhol mugs, bought as a set of six by Shires. These were split between them when they went their separate ways. “He got three. I got three,” Courtney says. The pair remain good friends. As one half of design duo Lennon Courtney, he has used the label’s new homewares collection, available from Kilkenny Design, to bring in vibrant pops of colour – their signature style. The tablescaped kitchen includes lacquered salad and serving bowls, made of mango wood, and jewel coloured glassware, including a textured glass jug in peridot green, an amethyst-coloured pitcher and glass set, ideal for bedside hydration. [ Five simple ways to spruce up your home for springOpens in new window ] A series of two-tone coloured lidded jars that could be used for grains or tea bag, in a kitchen setting or for cotton balls or salts in a bathroom add a point of interest to the otherwise clutter-free countertops. Other features of the range include small mango bowls for dips or nibbles and coloured glass serving boards that are ideal for cheeses or charcuterie. Their stemware comes with discreet colour-coded rims that allow users to easily identify which glass is theirs. It was important to Courtney that the property be futureproofed. Because of the solar panels on the roof he can charge his car from the grid. The house has been insulated using an exterior wrap, the heating system is air to water, and it has triple-glazing throughout using standard sizes to keep costs down. All these measures ensure smaller utility bills. All told, the renovation cost about €270,000. He had wanted to extend its footprint but for now that’s on pause as he has run out of money. In time he plans to install a naturally filtered pool to do lengths, and pave the rest of the garden. Kilkennydesign.com