From the front 98 Pembroke Cottages in Donnybrook looks dinky and doll-like, but once inside it has been extended and remodelled to make the optimum use of space, colour and light.

The present owners spent over a year renovating the mid-terrace cottage, which is for sale by private treaty through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of £340,000 (#431,710). Other artisan cottages in the area, which is tucked away off the Merrion Road, have been selling for in excess of £200,000 (#253,950) in recent years, but few would have been as cleverly remodelled as this seemingly modest cottage. The results of the couple's painstaking efforts are stunning. The original house, once two small bedrooms and a tiny living area is now an open-plan livingroom/diningroom with a high beamed ceiling, polished oak floors and two beautifully refurbished cast-iron fireplaces. The colour scheme is muted with cream walls, exposed redbrick, recessed lighting and plenty of richly stained timber.

The 710 sq ft house is awash with light, thanks to two Velux roof windows in the living area and a large skylight as well as the two large sash windows to the front of the house. Off the living area, there is an expertly finished galley-style pale yellow Shaker kitchen with a beechwood worktop. The redbrick on the exposed wall in the living area was salvaged from another period cottage. The black slate on the fireplaces is also similar to the original.

The couple also installed gas central heating and knocked the original extension to make way for a new bedroom wing.

A corridor leads to two double bedrooms. The main bedroom room has extensive panelled wardrobe space and a shower en suite with polished sandstone tiles. French doors lead out to the dramatic mosaic-tiled pathway to the rear yard. Two sash windows further brighten the room. Both the en suite and the main bathroom are tiled with skylights and crisp white sanitary ware.

There is residential disc-parking for two cars.