Professional house stagers who decorate properties to get them ready for sale – typically with great vats of light-grey paint complemented by similarly coloured bland furniture will be baffled by 14 Long Lane, off New Street in Dublin 8. The end-of-terrace red-brick – all 73sq m/785sq ft of it – is a riot of colour: pinks, purples, greens, even some rag rolling with stripped pine everywhere.

Altogether it’s an interiors look last popular nearly 20 years ago which is when the house was bought by its current owner. He gutted it, renovated throughout and by raising the ceiling to roof level at the rear, with rooflights and leaving the cross beam exposed, opened up the living space.

It’s a one-bedroom house – the large double bedroom is to the front and further along the hall is a good-sized bathroom, and then it’s into the open-plan living area – made up a room-sized seating area in front of a gold-painted cast-iron fireplace, and then the kitchen/dining area opening out to the patio-type garden. The pine kitchen was custom-built for the space and there is good storage.

Paint job

Off here is a small room used as a study although prospective buyers might use it as a small single bedroom. It also looks out on the back patio.

There’s no doubt that buyers will do exactly what a house stager would do – neutralise the colour scheme. There’s no need to replace the kitchen – a paint job there will make a huge difference in terms of updating the look. The bathroom, however, does need a makeover if only to make better use of the space. There is a chunky bath but no standalone shower.

To the front there is tiny strip of garden behind a high hedge and parking is on-street.

Prices on Long Lane, a narrow road off Heytesbury Street with a terrace of small houses facing the granite wall of the former hospital, are strong even by Dublin 8 standards. Its walk-to-town location is a significant draw for buyers. Number 14 Long Lane has an asking price of €475,000 through Quillsen.