Upgraded Kimmage bungalow with lofty interior for €650k

Bungalows tend to be flexible in terms of how people choose to use the rooms, something which the owner of 180 Kimmage Road West took advantage of when she moved in in 2014.

The semi-detached 1930s bungalow, with its distinctive front door surround, had already been extended by previous owners – to the side, rear and into the attic. It was how some of the 159sq m/1,710sq ft was used that she decided to change. She converted a downstairs double bedroom into a living room and installed double doors through to the living area to the rear.

Upstairs she converted two bedrooms into one with dual aspect – there are two dormer windows to the front of the house – and adjacent is its own updated shower room. The reorganising still left her with three bedrooms, including the good-sized main bedroom, which opens out to the rear garden.

There’s often one standout room that sells a house to viewers and, for this owner, seven years ago it was the open-plan kitchen-dining-living extension at the rear with its bank of roof lights in the near double height ceiling.

She was already sold on the area having been a disappointed underbidder on a house nearby before she found number 180 – and she says of this room, “I loved it the first time I saw it.”

She reworked that open-plan area too, wanting a more industrial, loft-like feel to the space. This was achieved via the exposed brick wall, timber floor, industrial-influenced light fittings and the wood-burning stove. It’s such a bright and airy space it can easily take the smart dark blue paint colour she chose for it. Indeed, strong colours feature elsewhere in the house – not in the hall though where the most colourful details are the original stained-glass panels in the front door. There is also a good-sized utility room.

Updating the bathroom, she says, took some time because she wanted to create a look that was in keeping with the age of the bungalow and she spent months sourcing different elements.

Another alteration very much of the moment was converting the detached garage in the back garden into a comfortable home office that doubles as self-contained guest accommodation. As it can be accessed from a side passage to the front, it might also work as separate accommodation depending on what new owners want. There is off-street parking for a couple of cars to the front too.

Number 180 Kimmage Road West is on the market through new agency Mullery O’Gara seeking €650,000.