Rip It Up: The Renovations Podcast

We launched a business!! If you are facing a renovation, check out thehomepage.ie, and don't forget to grab one of the remaining tickets to our Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November at 7:30pm. Now, on with the show...
Would we ever buy a new build? We're two women who have spent years renovating old houses, and helping clients do the same, but are we missing a trick? Would life be easier if we just bought something brand new?
This week we're weighing up new builds versus older homes, and it turns out there's quite a lot to love about both.
Kate shares her experience of buying an unfinished new build in Galway, and we talk about how to give a brand-new house some personality without trying to make it look like an ersatz Victorian mansion. From choosing your own kitchen finishes to avoiding endless spotlights and echoey porcelain floors, there are lots of little changes that can make a big difference.
We also get into overheating in modern homes, the appeal of low-maintenance apartment living, and some truly spectacular examples of modern architecture. Plus, one rather extraordinary €2 million house in Limerick that gives us plenty to discuss!
And before all that, there's a healthy dose of Halloween enthusiasm, sick children, and Christmas tree disasters.
What we cover:
New build or doer-upper: what would we actually choose?
Buying off-plan, and which decisions to influence before the developer finishes your house.
How to add character to a new build without forcing traditional features into a modern home.
The importance of flooring, lighting, window treatments, and natural materials.
Why some well-insulated new homes can become unbearably hot in summer.
Beautiful modern houses that have us dreaming of lottery wins.
New builds versus renovating older homes: maintenance, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
Links and things we mention:
Balsam Hill – the artificial Christmas tree brand Kate has ordered from.
HUF HAUS – Jenny's dream modern prefabricated house.
O House, Dublin 6 – the incredible modern house designed around a circular internal garden..
Róisín Lafferty – inspiring contemporary design and wonderful use of natural materials.
Suzie Mc Adam Design – beautiful Irish interiors.
We'd love to know what you think. Would you rather buy a brand-new home or an old house with character? And would you renovate again?
Visit our new renovation platform at thehomepage.ie and join our live Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November 2026 at 7:30pm - tickets €29 available here.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

We're back to regular programming after an exhilarating and exhausting week launching thehomepage.ie last week! Check it out if you haven't already, and don't forget to grab one of the remaining tickets to our Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November at 7:30pm. 
OK, on with the show...
It seems like every dream kitchen these days comes with a enormous island, a row of uncomfortable bar stools, and enough worktop space to land a small aircraft. Do we really need all that?!
We love a good kitchen, but we're not convinced that every kitchen needs one. We're discussing what makes them so popular, where they earn their keep, and when they can end up getting in the way of a good kitchen design.
What we cover:
Why everybody seems to want a kitchen island.
The importance of getting your barstools right.
The real advantages, from storage and prep space to entertaining.
The downsides people forget: cost, clutter, awkward seating, and poor layouts.
Islands versus peninsulas, kitchen tables, and other alternatives.
Practical dimensions, clever storage ideas, and tips for planning your kitchen.
What we'd choose for our own homes, and what we'd do differently.
And we barely scratched the surface on pendants...
Whether you're planning a kitchen renovation or just wondering why yours doesn't work quite as well as it should, this one's for you.
Items mentioned:
AYTM barstools.
HAY barstools.

Visit our new renovation platform at thehomepage.ie and join our live Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November 2026 at 7:30pm - tickets €29 available here.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

We've been keeping something from you…
After over two years, more than 80 podcast episodes, and countless conversations about renovations, we've spent the past year working very hard on something very special.
We're launching The HomePage!
We've taken everything we've learned from renovating our own homes, helping other homeowners, and making Rip It Up, and turned it into a new platform designed to make renovating a home a little less overwhelming.
In this special episode, we're telling you the whole story. How we went from two Home of the Year contestants chatting about renovations over glasses of wine to podcast hosts, business partners, and now founders of The HomePage. We talk about what we've learned, the many twists and turns along the way, and why building a business (and a tech platform!) has been quite a bit harder than either of us anticipated.
Most importantly, we explain what we've actually built and how we hope it will help you plan, budget, and manage your own renovation with more confidence.
What we cover:
How Rip It Up began, and why we decided to take things further.
The biggest challenges we've seen homeowners face when renovating.
How The HomePage evolved from an idea into a renovation education platform.
Our new Personalised Renovation Roadmap, with tailored advice, indicative costs, and next steps for your own project.
Our upcoming renovation webinar, detailed renovation programme, workbooks, and practical tools.
What we've learned from a year of building a business together.
Our first live Renovation Webinar is on Wednesday 4 November at 7.30pm! We'll take you through the renovation process from start to finish, the big decisions you need to make, and the common mistakes to avoid. Places are limited, and bookings will be open from Friday 16th October.
Explore The HomePage, see a sample Renovation Roadmap, and book your webinar place at https://www.thehomepage.ie
We're also officially launching at the Ideal Home Show in the RDS on Friday 16th October, where we'll be joining Jo Linehan on the DFS Interiors Theatre stage at 4.20pm. Come and say hello!
And finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has listened, shared the podcast, sent us questions, or helped us with research over the past year. Your support and feedback have genuinely shaped what we've built.
We're not going anywhere. Rip It Up continues, and we're very excited about what comes next.
Love,
Jenny & Kate.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

Jenny thinks tiles are one of the great joys of interiors and would happily spend the entire renovation budget on them. Kate… would not.
This week, we’re asking when expensive tiles are actually worth the money, when you can achieve almost exactly the same effect for far less, and which choices we’d make differently after living with our own renovations.
We talk overpriced porcelain, real terrazzo and limestone, Zellige tiles, trends, grout colours, clever layouts, outdoor tiles, mosaics, and the surfaces that are much harder to upgrade later.
We cover:
Why we wouldn’t pay premium prices for ordinary porcelain
How to make cheap tiles look expensive with layout and grout
Where it is worth investing in tiles
Why floors require more thought than walls
Real stone and terrazzo versus imitation finishes
Whether you should avoid “trendy” tiles
Jennifer’s enduring love affair with Zellige and terrazzo
Kate’s limestone floors, and the pattern she’s already slightly tiring of
Why outdoor tiles need particular thought in an Irish climate
The cleaning problem with mosaics and lots of grout
The big takeaway: work out whether tiles are something you genuinely care about. If they are, spend deliberately on materials and areas you’ll live with for years. If they aren’t, simple inexpensive tiles can look fantastic when the layout, colour and grout are well considered.
Visit our new renovation platform at thehomepage.ie and join our live Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November 2026 at 7:30pm - tickets €29 available here.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

You’ve just spent a fortune renovating, your bank account is empty, and now you've a load of empty rooms and a massive shopping list...
Couch. Dining table. Chairs. Beds. Side tables. Armchairs. Coffee table. Console. Bar stools…
This week on Don’t Waste Your Money On…, we’re talking furniture, and why one of the most expensive mistakes you can make at the end of a renovation is trying to furnish the entire house at once.
We talk about why rooms often come together better when you buy slowly, how living in a space changes what you realise you actually need, and why we’d rather invest in one key piece and let everything else build around it over time. 
We also get into secondhand furniture, Adverts finds, vintage pieces, IKEA stopgaps, reupholstery, recovering old sofas, clearance finds, and how some of the best pieces in our homes cost almost nothing.
What we cover
Why there is no deadline to have your home “finished”
The danger of panic-buying furniture at the end of a renovation
Why we’d invest in one anchor piece per room
Living in a room before deciding what it really needs
How furniture layouts can change once you actually use the space
Buying the bare minimum when you move in
Adverts, DoneDeal, Marketplace, salvage yards, and secondhand shops
Why patience makes you better at spotting good vintage pieces
Kate’s half-price dream dining table
€50 Aldi nesting tables that became one of the most asked-about pieces in Kate’s house
IKEA sofas as temporary or long-term options
Buying furniture with removable and replaceable covers
Jenny’s €50 Vision Ireland couch
Kate’s free BoConcept couch
Reupholstering and recovering furniture instead of replacing it
When custom furniture really is worth spending on
Why mixing old, new, inexpensive, vintage, and custom pieces gives a room more character 
The big takeaway
There's no deadline to have your home furnished
Buy the things you genuinely need. Invest in the important pieces. Then give yourself time to collect the rest.
Once you’ve lived in the house, you’ll know where you actually put your drink, which way you naturally sit, how many dining chairs you really use, what storage is missing, and which empty corner needs filling. 
Places and products mentioned:
Adverts
DoneDeal
Facebook Marketplace
Vision Ireland
IKEA HILLTARP sofa
Bemz / replacement IKEA sofa covers
CA Design
The Vintage Hub
Gaff Interiors
Second Story Furnishing
Visit our new renovation platform at thehomepage.ie and join our live Renovation Ready webinar on 4th November 2026 at 7:30pm - tickets €29 available here.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines