Recipe for better living

Award winning chef and restaurateur Kevin Thornton and his wife Muriel are selling their Dublin townhouse and moving to a larger home in the area. The family has lived in 7 Mount Argus Close in Harold's Cross since the development was built nearly 10 years ago, and the four-bedroom house is now for sale by private treaty through Sherry Fitzgerald for £245,000.

The Thorntons were first attracted to the neat house by the well-laid out estate, and keen on its location because it is a handy commute to the city centre. The terraced house was originally a three-bedroom home, but they soon outgrew the traditional layout and had to extend up and out to get the home they really wanted.

First, they converted the attic to create a bright, comfortable double bedroom. The other big change they made was the addition of a very large and attractive conservatory, which more than doubled the size of their livingroom and allowed them to create a reception room significantly larger than you would expect to find in a house of this size. The room is a light-filled livingroom with room for two large sofas as well as giving the family a roomy dining area. Working such long hours in a kitchen made Thornton want as much light as possible flooding into his own home, he says.

They also laid a wooden floor in this room and replaced the original fireplace with a good-looking cast-iron and tile one. Interestingly, the house of one of Ireland's top chefs does not include a state-of-the-art kitchen because Thornton does all of his cooking in his Portobello restaurant, and the family tends to eat there more than they do at home. However, the kitchen in his home is a good sized eat-in one which, unusually, is at the front of the house. It is lined with a good selection of fitted units. The house has been decorated throughout using a bright, neutral colour scheme. There is a well-planted patio off the conservatory through double doors.