Creatively upgraded cottage with bedroom balcony for €550,0000

Around the corner from the promenade and Strand Road in Baldoyle, in a terrace of cottages, is Sea Breeze, at 7 Parochial Avenue. The quaint cottage has been upgraded by its current owners since they purchased it in 2019 for €365,000, according to the Property Price Register.

While most structural alterations had been completed by past owners, “we decided we wanted to peel everything back, so we replaced the kitchen and turned what was a downstairs bedroom into a dining room as we love entertaining”, say the owners, who are moving to Wexford.

The open-plan kitchen and living area now have a wall of exposed original brick on one side of the room. They decided to add a backsplash in the kitchen to echo this wall, so they exchanged what were grey tiles for red brick. But they are not full-size bricks, as they would have been far too deep, they are slices of old brick, which they sourced at a salvage yard. The effect works and gives the space an individual feel.

Another change made was the addition of the balcony during lockdown. It lies off, and is accessed from, the principal bedroom upstairs, where the owners grow tomatoes, lilies and an abundance of black tulips, which bloom in July.

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When they built the balcony, it created a covered space under which hangs a cool swing, a delight of visiting children and adults alike.

They say they will miss their neighbours who they describe as “just wonderful”.

“When we first arrived one of our neighbours asked if we would like a slice of a tree,” say the owners. They duly accepted and with the clever use of industrial legs, made a structure to hold the stainless steel sink for the shower room upstairs.

More creativity led to a second slice of wood being used to create the top of a fireside table. The property has a B3 Ber, which, given its age, is a decent reading. They were advised against putting a stove into the living area “as we would die of the heat” so installed a bioethanol box-shaped fireplace that sits in a crate with ceramic logs so they still have the effect of an open flame. They sometimes take the box up to the roof terrace to create ambience on late summer evenings.

A smaller detail is how they removed newel posts on the staircase and replaced them with two horizontal cables, which now allows a greater flow of light into the room downstairs, while also giving a contemporary feel to the place.

The lovely cottage would make a fine starter home or indeed a great alternative to an apartment. It has two bedrooms and extends to 93sq m (1,001sq ft) behind its quaint duck-egg blue door, and is now on the market through Gallagher Quigley, seeking €550,000.