Melissa’s Perfect Lightbulb Moment

Melissa Connaughton WEDS25SEPT24

hen Rathdown Park raconteurs the Connaughtons decided to give up the wiles of Greystones for the wilds of Ashford, the lady of the house had one thing on her mind.

To make her new country house a real home.

And for Melissa, having studied interior design for years, that was all about making their new abode as comfy, inviting and beautiful as possible.

“There’s just this burning desire to get everything just right, and now, when you move into a new house,” she says when we swung by this morning. “It’s a passion of mine, getting the right furniture, the right fittings, and I’m a firm believer in the small details really making a room…”

Small details like the right lampshades throwing some colour and warmth onto your blank canvas. Only trouble was, Melissa couldn’t find anyone who made lampshades to order, being faced again and again with factory favourites.

“And so I thought, feck it, I’ll try and make one myself…”

Three months later, the lady had packed in her job in fashion and started her own business, cleverly titled Mellumiere.

“I almost feel guilty, given that I love making one-off lampshades that are all about a person’s exact desires for a room,” says Melissa, “and yet, I get to call this my job, something I can do every single day. How lucky am I…?

With prices starting at €55, you can check out some of Melissa’s bespoke, handmade lampshades on the Mellumiere website here, follow on Instagram page here. You can also get in touch by email here, or by phone here.

In the meantime, we sat down with the lady of the very fine house to discover just how she saw the light…