As is often the case, Eimear Nic An Bhaird found that when one door closed, another one opened. Last year, the 29-year-old psychology graduate and salvage-yard junkie lost her job as editor of a glossy interior design magazine. But now, she's the face of a new budget interiors programme on TG4, although she is loathe to describe herself as a designer.

"Oh I'm not hugely into that, in that arch 'design' sense. It's more about making a home, not just for me, but a place where family and friends are able to relax, where my young nephews can play in the garden without someone having a breakdown if they get mud on the sofa. I'm not precious about things," she says. She indicates same sofa, a secondhand green wool 1970s design from Wild Child Originals that she's had her "eye on for ages but couldn't afford", but then spotted at half price in a sale. Lots of things are like this – one-offs that each come with a story.

Nic An Bhaird deplores the 'everything-beige, showhouse' look, insisting that in real life, rooms shouldn't be too "matchy matchy". As the Sunday Tribune photographer's arrival is imminent, she shares some tips from the lazy woman's guide to high-speed cleaning when guests are coming up the path. "Kitchen wipes" she says, hurriedly ripping out a handful and giving her painted staircase a quick once over, before taking the same stairs two at a time in bare feet to tidy her bedroom. When she tells you she wasn't a bit fazed by going from print journalism to standing in front of a television camera, you tend to believe her.

She appreciates the irony of hosting a programme about decorating a home, having lost her own job last year. But the house is very true to its spirit of DIY and the renovation of existing items, and all to a very limited budget – simply because that was what she has had to do.

"Working to a tight budget makes you more creative. You have to be more hands-on. But I couldn't have done a lot of the work here without the help of my family. My dad got stuck into tackling the overgrown garden, planting veg as well as flowers so I wouldn't starve. My brother lives seven doors down the street and I ended up living with him and his family for three months while the heavy renovation was going on."

It was the same brother who alerted her to the two-bedroomed period townhouse in Dublin 8 coming on the market, "one cold, chilly January morning almost two years ago. I had been looking for a house for years and didn't want to just buy because prices were dropping. But the minute I walked in here, I got that feeling people talk about, you know that sensation where it feels perfect."

She took the advice she often gave to others as an interiors editor by living in the house before deciding how she would re-configure the living area. Now, sitting room and dining room interconnect through wooden double doors. Open-plan wouldn't have suited her as in one corner of the sitting room is her work desk, complete with sewing machine and shelving stacked with fabric, paint charts and wallpaper samples; in the other corner next to the pretty fireplace is her beloved piano, the one she learned to play growing up at home in Longford. Living in your house before doing a thing about it is all very well – but what was the worst she had to put up with?

"The original bathroom was vile. I used to have to shower by attaching a shower hose to the wash-hand basin and stretching it across to the bath. Then there was the two weeks I spent sitting on the stairs with paint stripper. Have you ever tried stripping decades of paint from a staircase?" she asks, raising her eyes skywards. The piece of advice she didn't take was to paint every room white initially. It's too harsh and cold, she says, and so she opted for varying shades of grey from Simply Colour by Dulux.

"I found it really useful in the way they laid out colours – obviously I wasn't going to go for the one shade entirely throughout, but instead picked complementary tones of grey with varying intensity. Grey, as opposed to stark white, really makes vibrantly coloured furniture and accessories pop out."

Aside from white paint, outdoor decking is another big no-no. "I got period cast-iron tiles from Deck Clad. I think decking must be the most ridiculous surface to use on an Irish patio because of our climate. Low maintenance is a big thing with me."

Such opinions freely given promise that television's latest venture into interiors will be anything but showhouse bland. More like lively, eclectic and nothing too "matchy matchy". Just like the woman herself.

'Do Thinteán Féin' airs on Thursday, TG4

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»Wild Child Originals (Harold's Cross): the sofa is a 70s one off

»Anthropologie, New York: the odd trip there unearths detailed things like little doorknobs

»Target (www.target.com), also in New York: good for funky tablecloths and table mats; the wall clock was got here

»Amazon has brilliant movie posters

»Christy Bird (Portobello): frames for movie posters

»Conran Shop (Arnotts): the Utensilo wall organiser holds everything up on the wall beside the work area

»Retrospect (Temple Bar): for the pair of vintage Louis Poulsen ceiling lights

»Buckleys auction rooms (Sandycove): great for picking up chairs to restore

»ST Salvage (Sth Circular Road): the coffee table was unearthed here

»Oxfam Home (Francis Street): bedside lockers which were restored