Trading up: Waterford/Cork border €260,000

SET against a rural Blackwater Valley backdrop is this smartly upgraded four-bed bungalow, with a vaulted ceiling in its large added-on kitchen/dining area - an ideal room for out-of-town parties.

Painted a slate grey/blue, and decorated with lots of marine paintings and seascapes, the 1,700 sq ft home is for sale for €260,000, in walk-in order, on a half-acre site, with raised veg beds, glasshouse and large timber shed/store.

It was all redone and upgraded in 2008, when it was reroofed, and rewired and extended to the south, and now has a bright, modern kitchen with part timber and part-tiled floor, with contemporary tiled splashback, and garden access by the dining end.