Dublin 7: €485,000:The owner of a design shop uses Modern furniture to good effect in his compact home, writes Alanna Gallagher

The house at 9 Viking Place is an artisan, two-bedroom property on sale for €485,000 through the Property Shop.

It is the home of the owner of the 20th century classic furniture shop Wild Child Originals, Will Walsh, and his partner Deirdre. The layout is chic and simple with multiple 20th century design classics lending the home a contemporary feel.

And this is a house that, despite its petite size, really is designed to fit the needs of family life.

The mid-terrace property is one of the few in the area to maintain the original two-room divide. "This is a practical solution to an aspect of small-house life that is often overlooked by first-time buyers seduced by the aesthetic aspects of open-plan living. A second room is essential to allow a family space to breathe," says the father of two.

Their front room functions as a diningroom, with an opaque glass window offering privacy from the street and dispensing with the need for curtains.

The room showcases an Eames dining suite, in yellow.

The adjacent livingroom-cum-kitchen has preserved the property's original features and the use of bright white walls help to make the space feel airy. The 12ft high ceilings help too. Décor is restricted to carefully selected vintage posters and Murano glass, which add dashes of colour.

Buying furniture to fit the space you live in is another piece of small-house living this family adheres to. A double sleeping bench by Marten Visser makes clever use of their understairs space. The slimline sofa bed leaves room for other feature furnishings. "Furniture with slender legs, that allows you to see the floor beneath, work best in a small space," says Will. A pair of Rudolph Wolf chairs sits here.

The galley kitchen to the rear is painted bright turquoise.

A small decked terrace is painted white to maximise the outside space. This terrace has pedestrian rear access in the form of a laneway, which provides bonus storage and is ideal for bikes and wheelie bins - items that can eat up free space in small homes.

The bathroom is, as was traditionally the case, on the ground floor but the sybarite in this couple found room to retain a bath, another family life essential, while not compromising on size.

The retention of this original floor-plan means the two bedrooms upstairs remain decent in size.

This couple keep decluttering to a minimum by editing their wardrobes.

They rotate winter and summer selections and store the out-of-season stock upstairs in the attic, which is floored and accessible. The next owner might capitalise on this fact by applying for planning permission to install Velux windows and use the attic as a home office or children's playroom.

This is the ideal starter home for city slickers not ready to hang up their urban existence.

Since the furnishings are all for sale you could simply pack your bags and move into the ready-made mod house.